The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-12-12

with concaye sides and rounded cor
ners.
| "A bronze figure of q Battalion
man is mounted upon the front cor
ner. Thanking him on two sides Of
the triangle are cut in high relief,
on the left, the scene of the enlist
ment of the battalion under the flag
Of the United States Of America; on
the right, scene Of the march
where the men are assisting in pull
ing the wagons of their train up and
over precipitous ascent while still
others are ahead widening cut to
permit the passage of the wagons
between the outjutting rocks.
"The background is representa-
tion of mountains of the character
through which the battalion and its
train passed on the journey to the
Pacific.
Just below the peak in the CEN
ter and in front of it is chiseled a
beautiful head and upper part of a
woman symbolizing the Spirit of the
West She personifies the impulsive
power and motive force that GUS
tanned these battalion men and led
them, as a vanguard of civilization,
across the trackless plains and
through the rugged mountains and
over trackless wastes.
"Hovering over and above him
the beautiful female figure, with an
air of solicitous care, guards him In
his reverie. Her face stands out in
full relief; the hair and diaphanous
drapery watt back mingling with the
clouds while the figure fades into
dim outline in the massive peaks and
mountains, seeming to pervade the
air and the soil with her very soul.
''The Spirit of the West is but one
of the many attributes Of Deity
symbolizing that Infinite Love and
care which the Deity has for all his
children, and it represents the hope,
courage and determination which
moved and impelled the battalion
man, his comrades and all the others
who have followed in their footsteps
in the settlement and development
of the great west.
at is the Spirit back of the break
ing of the soil by the farmer, back Of
the institution Of our schools, back
of our mines, back of our govern
ment and Of our very hearthsides.
1t permeates the air, the soil and the
hearts of men, 1t tempers the
character of all who come within the
influence of the boundless plains and
hno MI
make a garden of desert and a
treasure house of the mountain. 1t
has justified and approved every
sacrifice to make this part OF the
world better place to live. 1t is
constant, never ending-infinite.
at is pleasant to contemplate
these thoughts as expressed in the
model, at this time when the world
| is all but overcome with the idea of
individualism, and while new gov
eminent, shifting as the sands, con-
ceived in greed, envy and malice
daily are born, struggle and die.
"Our proposed monument repre-
sents and commentaries such ideal
in cooperation, steadfastness and
| progress as should be lesson and
an inspiration to this and to succeed
ing generations.
1.-The back of the monument has
been most happily designed.
ut is the third side of the triangle
and remains to be described.
"The central idea is the dimly
suggested figure of an Indian wo-
man, of the southwestern type,
whose head shows in relief against
the background peaks and whose
body and outstretched arms draped
in the customary blanket are family
suggested in the crags and rocks. In
fact the head is the only part Of the
figure that is chiseled clear in out