Kansas City Pioneer Monuments
Description
Pioneer-themed monuments located in Kansas City. A longer tour is available of monuments throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area.
1927 statue by famed western artist A. Phimister Proctor. Modeled after artist's own mother to honor women who migrated West on the overland trails in the mid-19th century. The monument was celebrated at its dedication, but soon forgotten. The nearby village of Westport sought to claim the statue in the 1980s. Westport claims to be the birthplace of Kansas City.
Sculptor Cyrus Dallin displayed this statue of a mounted Sioux Indian at San Francisco's 1915 International Exhibition. Kansas City residents arranged for a temporary installation of the statue following the exhibition. In response to the statue's popularity, area school children helped to collect small donations, including nickels and dimes, in hopes of raising funds to purchase and permanently display the sculpture. The effort was successful and The Scout has been one of the symbols of Kansas City since its public dedication in 1922.
Westport businessmen wanted to put up a life-sized stone wagon train to mark the centennial of the Santa Fe Trail. Instead, local women raised the funds for this 1920 tribute "To the Pioneer Mother." It was one of the first pioneer mother monuments erected in the United States.
This 1986 tribute to John C. McCoy, Alexander Majors, and Jim Bridger is the culmination of 75 years of pioneer commemoration efforts by Westport business leaders and residents.
Bronze sculpture of a wagon train leader sculpted by Gus Shafer. It is one of several monuments in the Kansas City area that commemorate the region's connections to the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails during the mid-19th century.
This Tour is a Digital Story Map.
Pioneer-themed monuments located in Kansas City. A longer tour is available of monuments throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area.