Type Sculpture Year 1908 | Created 1908 | |
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Medium Snake River granite, bronze Dimensions 10.5 m (34.5 ft); 0.76 m diameter (2.5 ft) Condition "Well maintained" (1993) Location Portland, Oregon, United States Owner City of Portland's Metropolitan Arts Commission Similar Oregon Holocaust Memorial, Washington Park and Zoo Rail, Oregon Vietnam Veterans, Washington Park MAX Station, Hoyt Arboretum | ||
The Lewis and Clark Memorial Column is an outdoor monument by artist Otto Schumann, dedicated to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark for their expedition and located at Washington Park in Portland, Oregon.
Contents
Description
The sculpture, made of Snake River granite, is a Classical column with a sphere on top. It is approximately 34 feet, 6 inches tall, with a diameter of 2.5 feet. The obelisk sits on a square base that is approximately 5 feet, 5 inches tall. The base's sides display bronze seals for the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, which once comprised the Oregon Territory. An illuminated path leads up the monument. According to the Smithsonian Institution, the work is administered by City of Portland's Metropolitan Arts Commission.
History
The memorial was commissioned around 1902 by the Lewis & Clark Exposition Commission for approximately $10,500 as a "gift of the people of Oregon in memory" of the duo. President Theodore Roosevelt laid the first cornerstone on May 21, 1903, and the piece was completed and dedicated in 1908. It was surveyed and considered "well maintained" by Smithsonian's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in November 1993.