Eternal Indian, (sculpture).

Eternal Indian, (sculpture).

Taft, Lorado Zadoc, 1860-1936, sculptor.

Prasuhn, John G., 1877-1947, sculptor.

Summers, Leland, engineer.

Eternal Indian, (sculpture).

Black Hawk, (sculpture).

Blackhawk, (sculpture).

Cast Dec. 1910. Dedicated July 1, 1911.

Digital Reference:

Reinforced concrete.

Sculpture: approx. H. 42 ft.; Base: approx. H. 6 ft. (100 tons).

Indian standing with his arms folded across his chest and his head turned to the proper left.

Figure male -- Full length

Ethnic -- Indian

Portrait male -- Black Hawk

Portrait male -- Garland, Hamlin

Outdoor Sculpture -- Illinois -- Oregon

Administered by State of Illinois, Illinois Department of Conservation, 524 South Second Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701

Located Lowden State Park, 1411 North River Road, P. O. Box 403, Oregon, Illinois 61061

Formerly located Heckman, Wallace, Oregon, Illinois

Formerly located Eagles Nest Camp, Oregon, Illinois

Work on the statue was begun in 1910, on land owned by Chicago attorney Wallace Heckman, and the site of "Eagles Nest Association," a local artist's colony of which Taft was a member. Hamlin Garland, the nature writer and a member of the Association, served as a model for the statue, which was to be an ideal type, rather than a portrait per se of Blackhawk. IAS files contain related newspaper clippings and a brochure by Jan Stilson, "The Construction of The Blackhawk Statue," Oregon, IL: Oregon Chamber of Commerce, 1984, which describe the commissioning history of the piece and its subsequent restoration. The cement for the piece was a gift of the Portland Cement Association, which later used the picture of Black Hawk in its advertising.

Dedication ceremony was attended by Lorado Taft, Frank O. Lowden, Dr. Eastman, Laura Cornelius (the daughter of a chief of the Oneida Iroquois), Edgar A. Bancroft, Elia Peattie, and Hamlin Garland. Details about the construction of the piece appear in the March 1911 issue of Popular Mechanics, which refers to the statue as "The World's Biggest Indian." In 1942, the land was purchased by the State of Illinois and the Lowden Memorial State Park was established. Repairs to the statue were made in 1990/1991.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, IL0156, 1989.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Illinois survey, 1992.

Monumental News, March, Nov. 1910.

Popular Mechanics, March 1911.

Stilson, Jan, "The Construction of The Blackhawk Statue," Oregon, IL: Oregon Chamber of Commerce, 1984.

Monumental News, Nov. 1910, pg. 795-796.

Chicago Tribune (May 7, 1995), section 12, pg. 14.

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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