Erect, dignified, reflecting on the things that have been, the American Pioneer appears before us, reminding us that to him should be given the glory for the great achievements that have been made on the American Continent. He it was who blazed the trail that others might follow. He endured the hardships, carved the way across the continent, and made it possible for us of today to advance thru his lead. All hail to the white-headed, noble old pioneer who, with gun and axe, pushed his way thru the wilderness; whose gaze was always upward and onward, and whose courage was unfaltering!
Cortez
Charles Niehaus Sculptor
One of the finest equestrians at the Exposition is Cortez by Charles Niehaus. As we look upon the rider on his sumptuously caparisoned horse we are convinced that he is every inch a conqueror. He is represented absolutely motionless - his feet in the stirrups - and yet you feel that he is a man of tremendous action. You also feel his fine reserve, and yet how spirited he is! This is that intrepid spirit that desired the land of the Montezumas. After determined invasions he conquered the country in the early part of the sixteenth century.
The End of the Trail
By James Earle Fraser, Sculptor
"The trail is lost, the path is hid, and winds that blow from out the ages sweep me on to that chill borderland where Time's spent sands engulf lost peoples and lost trails."
- Marion Manville Pope.
One of the strongest works of the Exposition in its intense pathos is this conception of the end of the Indian race. Over the country the Indian has ridden for many a weary day, following the long trail that leads across a continent. A blizzard is on. He has peered to right and left, but alas! the trail is gone and only despair is his. So has it been with the Indian. His trail is now lost and on the edge of the continent he finds himself almost annihilated.
Panel from the Column of Progress