A robe-draped American Indian stands on a square slab. One foot is slightly forward and his weight is shifted to the back leg, which gives a slight arc to his posture. His arms are folded beneath the robe and rest on his chest. The figure’s hands are tucked under his arms, and thus are not visible. The figure wears two braids in his hair, one on each side. The braids are long and partially obscured by the figure’s folded arms. He holds his head level and looks straight ahead.
This was the working model for Taft’s monolithic statue that overlooks the Rock River in Oregon. Taft’s intention in creating the work was to memorialize an idealized version of the American Indian. Since bronze monuments were expensive to create, Taft theorized that he could make a less-expensive, permanent statue from reinforced concrete. Enlisting friends and students from the art colony, and drawing on the experience and resources of the Medusa Portland Cement Company in Dixon, Taft’s idea successfully materialized as the hollow statue visible on the bluff outside of Oregon, Illinois today.