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Indian Statues (page 2)

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This page covers Chief Red Robe statues, Palacine Oil Indians, and Code Talker sculptures.

Chief Red Robe
Thief River Falls, MN
This fiberglass statue of Chief Red Robe was created by Creative Display and installed in 1976. Although the clothing was an accurate representation, the face does not resemble Red Robe. [map]

The mold for the Red Robe statue was used to produce other statues like those shown below.

Indian [gone]
Franklin, KY
 Indian
Calumet, OK

Indian [gone]
Gallup, NM
The Indian in Franklin was located in front of Dixie Discount at the Kentucky and Tennessee state line. This photo is from 2007. The statue was toppled in a storm in 2012 and removed.

The Indian in Calumet is installed in front of the Cherokee Trading Post Restaurant. It has been there since at least 2008. The business opened in the mid-1960s so the statue has probably been there much longer. [map]

The Indian in Gallup stands in front of the Navajo Travel Plaza. In 2018, the statue was knocked over by strong winds and has been gone since then.

Chief Manuelito
Gallup, NM		 Chief Manuelito
Gallup, NM
The sandstone sculpture of Chief Manuelito was carved by Tim Washburn in 1997. It is installed in front of the Gallup Cultural Center. [map]

The second sculpture of Chief Manuelito shown above was built in 1893 and installed at a trading post in Albuquerque. The eight-foot-tall Indian was created by Hermon MacNeil. He used cement over wood and wire mesh. The statue went into storage in 1993. In 2010, the sculpture was restored and put in a display case at the McKinley County Courthouse. For more, see this website.

More Chief Red Robes:
Thunderbird Motel (Bloomington, MN) [gone]
Tupelo Buffalo Park (Tupelo, MS)
Leather Outlet (Lake George, NY)
Loretta Lynn Ranch (Hurricane Mills, TN)

Palacine Oil Indian
Bartlesville, OK
This Palacine Oil Indian statue was installed at Woolaroc Ranch in 1935. Frank Phillips of Phillips 66 fame bought four of these statues for his ranch. I believe there are still two others on the property. Other than the ones in Caddo Gap and Ballinger described below, I don't know of any other statues like this that still exist. They were mass-produced in the 1920s and 1930s by the Palacine Oil Company for their Wirt-Franklin gas stations in Oklahoma. The statues are made of cast zinc-alloy and are about 11 feet tall. There were at least 18 of them produced. The faux rock bases were inscribed with the words "A Friend". For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3.

Palacine Oil Indian
Caddo Gap, AR
This Palacine Oil Indian statue was installed here around 1937. It was installed to commemorate the battle of the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his men with the Tula Indian tribe. De Soto was forced to retreat. Later, it was determined that this battle took place about 40 miles away from Caddo Gap. I can't find any books or websites about Arkansas history, where there is a mention of this being a Palacine Oil statue. One website mentions that the statue was brought to Caddo Gap by attorney Osro Cobb. Some websites say that the statue was in bad repair by 1979 and that it was restored in 1980 and dedicated by Bill Clinton. Elsewhere, it is mentioned that the copper and stone statue had blown over in a storm in 1988 and replaced then with the current bronze statue. Guy Tillman is credited with sculpting the replacement. Despite all the disagreement about dates, it's clear that the original statue originally advertised for Palacine Oil. [map]

Palacine Oil Indian
Ballinger, TX
Indian
Ballinger, TX
This Palacine Oil Indian statue was installed in Ballinger City Park in 1939. At some point, the faux rock base was replaced with a real one. The statue was damaged and dumped in a creek in the late 1950s and never recovered. In 2008, Cinnamon Carter began researching the history of the statue with her sixth grade class. This led to fundraising and commissioning a replacement statue. In 2010, a Palacine Oil Indian statue was discovered in Duncan, OK and donated to Carter. It is now in storage at Higginbotham Brothers hardware store. It is hoped that the statue's intact legs can be freed somehow from the concrete inside the barrel. The new bronze statue was installed in the park in 2012. It was created by Hugh Campbell III. For more, see this website. [map]

Navajo Code Talker
Phoenix, AZ
 Navajo Code Talker
Gallup, NM
400 native Navajo-speaking Marines were deployed during World War 2, communicating with radios in a language that the Japanese could not understand.

This 16-foot-tall, bronze Navajo Code Talker sculpture in Phoenix was created by Oreland Joe and installed in Wesley Bolin Memorial Park in 2008. There is an idential statue in Window Rock, AZ which was installed in 2004. [map]

This 10-foot-tall, bronze Navajo Code Talker sculpture in Gallup was created by Oreland Joe installed in 2005 in front of the Gallup Cultural Center. [map]

Navajo Code Talker
Phoenix, AZ
This 17-foot-tall, bronze Navajo Code Talker sculpture was created in 1989 by Doug Hyde. The depiction represents a boy with a flute, signifying peace that was achieved as a result of the Code Talkers service. The For more, see this website. [map]

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