War Eagle Monument, (sculpture).

War Eagle Monument, (sculpture).

Rudokas, Peter, sculptor.

Rudokas, Charles, assistant.

Deaton, Walt, welder.

Holtze Construction Company, contractor.

W. A. Klinger, Inc., contractor.

Chris Hansen Construction Company, contractor.

Casler Electric Company, contractor.

Design Laboratories, design firm.

Brown-Singer, fabricator.

Burridge Machine Shop, fabricator.

War Eagle Monument, (sculpture).

Chief War Eagle, (sculpture).

Little Eagle, (sculpture).

Wambdi Okicize, (sculpture).

Commissioned 1973. Dedicated July 4, 1975. Relocated 1988. Reinstalled Oct. 9, 1994. Rededicated Oct. 9, 1994.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: steel; Base: red quartzite and concrete.

Sculpture: approx. H. 13 ft.; Base: approx. H. 18 ft. (2,500 lbs.).

(On plaque on base:) CHIEF WAR EAGLE/FRIEND OF WHITE MAN/1780-1851 unsigned

Full-length figure of Chief War Eagle stands on a square form on a tall pyramidal base. The figure wears a long headdress and is pointing a peace pipe held in both hands.

Portrait male -- War Eagle, Chief -- Full length

Ethnic -- Indian -- Sioux

Outdoor Sculpture -- Iowa -- Sioux City

Administered by City of Sioux City, Office of the City Clerk, 520 Pierce, Sioux City, Iowa 51101

Located War Eagle Park, Sioux City, Iowa

Commissioned by the Woodbury County Conservation Board to replace a marker installed in 1922 which had been heavily vandalized. The City of Sioux City raised funds for the sculpture, approximately $25,000 and the Board paid for the base, which was $15,000. The figure was assembled in Middletown, Ohio. Fabrication work was done at Brown-Singer and Burridge Machine Shop. Walt Deaton was the welder and Charles (Chuck) Rudokas, son of the artist, assisted in the design and assembly. The base was built by Holtze Construction Company, W. A. Klinger and Chris Hansen Construction Company. Casler Electric Company donated and installed lights in the base. Chief War Eagle (1780-1851) was a Sioux Indian Chief who befriended white settlers, notably fur trader Theofile Brugeier. Brugeier, who later married two of the Chief's daughters, persuaded Dr. John Cook to establish the City of Sioux City. Controversy arose when a small group of the Chief's descendants objected to use of the park, also the burial site of War Eagle and others, as a pow wow ground. The group's spokeswoman also maintained that War Eagle was never a Chief, and therefore should not have been depicted wearing a headdress.

On March 9, 1988, a landslide occurred on the bluff on which the monument stands. Neither the monument nor the graves were damaged, but the ground had to be stabilized in order for the work to remain at the site. The sculpture was stored in the Sioux City Airport and the site was moved 300 feet to the east on more stable ground. With the cooperation of the War Eagle Commission, a group made up mostly of the Chief's descendants, the graves were moved to the new site in a traditional Sioux ceremony. IAS files include related articles from the Sioux City Journal, a copy of a brochure which lists additional donors and biographical information about Chief War Eagle.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Iowa survey, 1995.

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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