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The Pioneers Who Founded Topeka

Introduction

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1931 relief of a frontier farm, with a log cabin, covered wagon, and a pioneer plowing by unknown artist. Copper or bronze plaque set on iron footings cast by Deggingers Foundry attached to boulder. Dedicated in 1931 by Shawnee County Old Settlers Society. Originally mounted on the archway entrance of the "Old Settlers Memorial Grounds" in Gage Park.

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  • The Pioneers Who Founded Topeka

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

A plaque set on footings displays a relief of a pioneer's homestead, with inscriptions above and below it. A log cabin, well, and covered wagon are in the foreground. A male pioneer works a plow nearby. Two trees and a fence are in the background. The plaque is set in front of a boulder.

Plaque text:

IN MEMORY OF

THE PIONEERS WHO FOUNDED TOPEKA/

DECEMBER 5TH 1854

THE SIGNERS OF THE ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT WERE/

(list of signers in 3 columns)

DEDICATED 1931

BY/SHAWNEE COUNTY OLD SETTLERS SOCIETY

JOHN E DOANE PRES. W.H. CORBETT SECY.

Similar bronze relief plaques--typically applied directly to granite boulders--were placed to mark overland trails throughout the American West in the 1920s and 1930s. 

Sources

Smithsonian American Art Museum Art Inventories Catalog Control Number KS000268. https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!326522~!0#focus. Accessed July 30, 2019.

Prescott, Cynthia Culver. Pioneer Mother Monuments: Constructing Cultural Memory. University of Oklahoma Press, 2019.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Pioneer Monuments in the American West

Additional Information