The End of the Trail
      by James Earle Fraser
      1876 - 1953
      This lone figure on his weary horse is one of the most recognized symbols of the American West. By many it is viewed as a reverent memorial to a great and valiant people. To some Native Americans, however, it is viewed as a reminder of defeat and subjugation a century ago.
      James Earle Fraser, who lived as a boy near an Indian reservation in Dakota Territory, created the first model for The End of the Trail in 1 894 out of a desire to depict the dispossession and tragedy of Native Americans. This monumental, 18-foot plaster version was made for San Francisco's 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition and received the exposition's Gold Medal for sculpture. The subject of immediate popular acclaim, the image was widely reproduced in postcard, print, curio and miniature form.
      Fraser hoped his master-piece would be cast in bronze and placed on Presidio Point overlooking San Francisco Bay, but materials restrictions during the First World War made the project impossible. Instead, the plaster work was cut up and discarded when the exposition closed. In 1920, the city of Visalia, California, obtained the discarded pieces and reassembled the statue in Mooney Park, where it remained, gradually deteriorating, for the following 48 years.
      In 1968, The National Cowboy Hall of Fame acquired this original plaster statue and placed it as the centerpiece in the Fraser Memorial Studio building on the Museum grounds. Following restoration, molds were made and a full-scale bronze sculpture was cast in Italy and unveiled in Visalia in 1971. The entire reclamation project was underwritten by Mr. and Mrs. Dean A. McGee, Nona S. Payne and the Kirkpatrick Foundation. In 1994, through the generous funding of the Kerr-McGee Corporation and the Robert S. and Grayce B. Kerr Foundation, The End of the Trail was moved to its current location and received extensive conservation treatment, assuring its continued enjoyment by museum patrons for decades to come.
      The End of the Trail: A Native American American View
      In 1894, when James Earle Fraser completed his model of The End of the Trail, American civilization stretched from shore to shore. Most Euramericans believed the frontier period was over and that such progress was inevitable. Many viewed Native Americans as part of the past, a vanishing,, race with no place in the twentieth century. Popular literature portrayed Indian people as "savages," noble or otherwise. Fraser's The End of the Trail reflects this legacy: a nineteenth century Indian warrior defeated and bound for oblivion -- frozen in time.
      By the 1890's Native Americans knew their trail had become steep and rocky, but they believed it would continue. Confined rarely to reservations and ravaged by disease and starvation, the Indian population declined dramatically. Indian children were forced to attend federally supported boarding schools that attempted to replace traditional tribal values with American culture. Although denied citizenship and a voice in determining their future until 1924, Indian people persisted.
      World War ll brought dramatic changes to most Native American communities. Modern warriors enlisted in the armed forces, while other Indian men and women moved to urban areas to work in defense industries. Increased cultural pride following the war led many Indian people to seek employment and other opportunities in the non-Indian world. Others supported themselves within the old reservation communities. Today almost half of all Native Americans live in major metropolitan areas. From a low of approximately 250,000 in 1890, Native American population in the United States now numbers slightly over two million.
      Modern Indian people have combined the best of traditional tribal values with the opportunities afforded by contemporary American society. Although some Native Americans still follow the time-honored ways of their ancestors, others have assumed prominent roles within society in education, politics, business, medicine and agriculture. Unlike Fraser's sculpture, "being Indian" has never been cast in stone. Today, Native Americans ride forward on a trail into the future.
      R. David Edmunds, Ph.D.
      Indiana University
      Cherokee 1994
      About the Artist
      Born in Winona, Minnesota, James Earle Fraser grew up around Mitchell, Dakota Territory, amidst stories of the "Old West" and Native American lore. The family moved to Chicago in 1890 and Fraser became an assistant in the studio of sculptor Richard Bock while attending classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. He later remarked that the sculpture exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 inspired his career in that medium.
      At the age of 20, Fraser went to Paris to study at the l'Ecole des Beaux Arts and later serve assistant in the Paris and New Hampshire studios of noted sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. In 1902 he opened his own studio in New York City and, two years later, became an instructor at the Art Students League.
      During a creative and prolific career, Fraser executed a number of prominent commissions, including, the "Theodore Roosevelt Memorial" at the American Museum of Natura History in New York City and the "Tomb of Robert Todd Lincoln" at Arlington National Cemetery. Today, Fraser is recognized as one of the leading American sculptors of the early twentieth century.

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