Bear Flag Monument, (sculpture).

Bear Flag Monument, (sculpture).

MacQuarrie, John A., 1871-1944, sculptor.

L. De Rome Foundry, founder.

Bear Flag Monument, (sculpture).

Raising of the Bear Flag, (sculpture).

1914. Dedicated June 14, 1914.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: stone.

Sculpture: approx. 8 x 6 x 3 ft.; Base: approx. 9 ft. x 9 ft. x 9 ft. 6 in.

(Lower right front:) McQuarrie (Lower left front:) L. DE ROME FOUNDERS (Plaque on rear of base, raised letters:) THE RAISING/OF THE BEAR FLAG/JUNE 14, 1846 (Plaque on front of base, raised letters:) THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE NATIVE SONS OF THE GOLDEN WEST/AND THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO COMMEMORATE THE RAISING OF THE BEAR FLAG/ON THIS SPOT ON JUNE 14 1846 BY THE BEAR FLAG PARTY AND THEIR DECLARATION/OF THE FREEDOM OF CALIFORNIA FROM MEXICAN RULE. ON JULY 9 1846 THE/BEAR FLAG WAS HAULED DOWN AND THE AMERICAN FLAG HERE RAISED IN ITS/PLACE BY LIEUTENANT JOSEPH W. REVERE U.S.A. WHO WAS SENT TO SONOMA/FROM SAN FRANCISCO BY COMMANDER JOHN B. MONTGOMERY OF THE U.S. SLOOP/OF WAR PORTSMOUTH FOLLOWING THE RAISING OF THE AMERICAN FLAG AT MONTERY/JULY 7 1846 BY COMMODORE JOHN DRAKE SLOAN signed Founder's mark appears.

A man stands holding a flag on top of a rock with two relief plaques, one on front and one on the back. The man wears a neckerchief and a shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He holds a flagpole in his proper left hand and a hat in his proper right hand. On the relief plaque on the front of the base a grizzly bear stands on all fours on top of a shield with the crossed flags of the United States and California. On the relief plaque on the back of the base, men on horseback and on foot raise the bear flag.

History -- United States -- California

Figure male -- Full length

Ethnic -- Indian

Object -- Other -- Flag

Outdoor Sculpture -- California -- Sonoma

Administered by City of Sonoma, City Hall, 1 The Plaza, Sonoma, California 95476

Located Corner of East Spain & First Street East, Sonoma, California

Original casting cost $5,000. Erected by the Native Sons of the Golden West and the State of California, on the 68th anniversary of the raising of the Bear flag (June 14, 1846) by the Bear Flag Party and their declaration of the freedom of California from Mexican rule. The plaque that is currently on the rear of the base was originally on the front. It was moved sometime between 1914 and 1923. The sculpture marks the location where stood the old Mexican staff from which the grizzly flaunted his defiance. The sculpture has been designated a California Registered Historical Landmark, #7, June 1, 1932.

IAS files contain excerpts from "History of Sonoma County California: Its People and Its Resources," Press Democrat Publish Co., 1937, pg. 218; and from Merrill A. Reed's "Historical Statues & Monuments in California," Burlingame, 1956, pg. 31. IAS files also contain clippings from the Sonoma Index Tribune, June, 1914; and June 30, 1923; and excerpt from Honoria Tuomey's "History of Sonoma County," SJ Clarke Publishing Co., 1926, p. 24.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, California survey, 1994.

Reed, Merrill A., "Historical Statues & Monuments in California," 1956, pg. 32.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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