Feature
Sacajawea Sculpture in Permanent Home
Story by Ken Graham • Photo Courtesy of Cheryl Ray
Dedication of
Sacajawea Monument
October 10th, 2009
3:00 p.m.
Sacajawea Celebration & Monument Sponsors
Washington State Department of Transportation
National Scenic Byways Program
Broughton Land Company
Bar Z Ranch
Frame Ranch
Mead Ranch
Wenaha Gallery
RES America
Developments Inc.
Puget Sound Energy
Vestas American Energy, Inc.
Robinson Brothers Construction, Inc.
MSE Power Systems, Inc.
Goodfellow Bros., Inc.
Pacific Power
In the spring of 1806, the explorer Sacajawea traveled along with Lewis and Clark beside the Touchet River and Patit Creek as the group headed east from the Pacific Ocean. To commemorate Sacajawea's great contribution to the Lewis and Clark expedition, the late artist Carol Grende created a beautiful bronze sculpture of Sacajawea, called "Arduous Journey".
As the October Blue Mountain News went to press, final preparations were being made to install the sculpture in its permanent home in Dayton, at the corner of North First Street and Commercial Avenue. On October 10, during the Dayton Art Walk, a formal dedication ceremony will be held in front of the sculpture at 4:00 p.m.
The sculpture was on temporary display in Dayton during the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial commemoration in May of 2006. A local group of volunteers decided then that they wanted to find a permanent home for the sculpture in Dayton, and a fund-raising campaign for its purchase was started. Working in conjunction with the Blue Mountain Heritage Society and the Dayton Development Task Force, the group raised the $125,000 price for the sculpture. Generous contributions were received from many donors. The donors are listed in the box at right.
The sculpture will sit beside the newly completed Dayton Historic Pathway, which runs from the Dayton Depot, at Second and Commercial, west to North Front Street. Contractors completed work on the pathway in late September.
In October, the Blue Mountain Heritage Society hopes to move the historic Smith Hollow School from its current location to a new site at North Front and Commercial Streets at the west end of the historic pathway.