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 Statue of Chief Mahaska - Oskaloosa, Ia. Posted by:  iconions
N 41° 17.693 W 092° 38.689
15T E 529737 N 4571553
This bronze statue is located on the west side of the Oskaloosa Town Square - 1st Ave., Market St., High Ave., 1st St.
Waymark Code: WMW0E7
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 06/21/2017
Views: 1
The STATUE OF CHIEF MAHASKA, on the west side of the public square, is a memorial to William Edmundson, to whom the Territorial government entrusted the organization of Mahaska County. Sherry S. Fry, an Iowan, modeled the statue in Paris. It won for him a medal of honor and a three-year scholarship in Rome.
- Iowa, a guide to the Hawkeye state, 1938, pgs. 515, 517
Mahaska (archaic Ioway Maxúshga pronounced [mõxu??k?]; contemporary Maxúhga), or White Cloud, (1784 – 1834) was a chief of the Native American Iowa tribe.
Mahaska was born into the Iowa tribe. He became chief at an early age after killing several enemy Sioux to avenge his father’s death by them.
Later Mahaska killed a French trader in an argument; he was arrested and imprisoned in St. Louis, Missouri. After he escaped, he led a raid against the Osage.
Afterward, he decided that his father’s death was finally avenged. Mahaska lay down his arms and adopted the lifestyle of the European-American settlers, building a log home and farming. He refused to let his braves avenge the death of an Iowa chief named Crane at the hands of Omaha Indians in 1833. When several Iowa killed six Omaha warriors, Mahaska assisted in their arrest.
The next year one of the Iowa escaped from Fort Leavenworth and killed Mahaska by shooting him in the back as he sat by his campfire. He was buried along the Nodaway River in Edna Township, Cass County, Iowa.
Chief Mahaska became a symbol to settlers of the virtues of his native lifestyle, and of the possibility of peace between natives and settlers.
Sculptor Sherry Edmundson Fry's earliest public commission was a bronze statue of Mahaska. Recently restored, it still stands on its pedestal in the courthouse square of Oskaloosa, which is the governmental seat of Mahaska County, Iowa, in the southeastern section of the state. At the right of the base is the artist's signature "S.E. Fry, 1907."
- Wikipedia Entry for Chief Mahaska
SCULPTOR: Fry, Sherry Edmundson 1879-1966
FOUNDER: Gruet
CONTRACTOR: McCall Granite Works
SUBJECT: Mahaska
MEDIUM: Sculpture: cast bronze; Base: grey granite
CULTURE: Indian
TYPE: Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
Sculptures
OWNER/LOCATION: Administered by City of Oskaloosa Park Board City Hall, 220 South Market Oskaloosa Iowa 52577
Located City Park Market Street Oskaloosa Iowa
DATE: 1907. Dedicated May 12, 1909
TOPIC: Portrait male--Full length
Occupation--Other--Chief
Ethnic--Iowa
CONTROL NUMBER: IAS IA000009
NOTES: Save Outdoor Sculpture, Iowa survey, 1994
Mahaska County Historical Society, "Mahaska County - Our Rich Heritage," Oskaloosa, Iowa: Mahaska County Historical Society, April 1961
SOS Assessment Award, 1998
SOS Conservation Treatment Award, 1998
SOS Conservation Notification Report, 1999
SOS Achievement Award, 2000
SUMMARY: Standing figure of Chief Mahaska of the Ioway tribe, dressed in a heavy animal skin robe, long pants, and moccasins. On his head he wears a small feathered headdress. With his proper left arm he wraps his animal skin robe around him. His proper right hand holds a large bird wing down by his side. The sculpture is mounted on a tall, stepped grey granite base. The base is adorned with four bronze plaques, one with a brief account of the life of Chief Mahaska, one with the story of the Ioway Indians, one with dedication information, and one with the name Mahaska.
DATA SOURCE: Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
- Smithsonian Outdoor Sculpture Inventory Website
Book: Iowa
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 515, 517
Year Originally Published: 1938
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