The
End of the Trail is a familiar symbol of the American West. The lone Native American, looking sadly defeated on his weary horse, is a popular figurine. Some regard it as a tribute to the tenacity of the wild west. Others see it as a symbol of the defeat of a proud and valiant people. The sculptor of The End of the Trail, James Fraser, never gave an interpretation of his work.
In 1915, James Fraser was commissioned to create a sculpture for the Pan-American Exposition in San Francisco, California. He created The End of the Trail, an 18-foot plaster sculpture. The exposition featured 1,500 sculptures, and The End of the Trail won the gold medal as an outstanding work. It also caught the public’s fancy, and even then miniature reproductions were made and sold.
James Fraser hoped The End of the Trail would be cast in bronze and placed on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It certainly would have been a beautiful sight, but the country was on the verge of World War I, and the funds needed to cast the sculpture in bronze and purchase the land by the sea were not available.
When the Pan-American Exposition ended, The End of the Trail was placed in a dump along with most of the other statues from the exposition. Eventually, the town of Visalia, California, learned of the sculpture’s fate, and after much effort, successfully purchased and transported it to their Mooney Grove Park. By that time however, The End of the Trail was in such poor condition that it needed extensive restoration which the city could not afford. The End of the Trail stood forgotten and crumbling in a corner of Mooney Park for 48 years.
In 1966, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, made an agreement to purchase The End of the Trail and provide Visalia with a bronze casting. The End of the Trail was transported to the hall of fame, and restored to its original beauty. Plaster molds were made and sent to Italy, where a bronze casting of the statue was made.
Fifty-one years after he created The End of the Trail, Fraser’s dream of seeing the sculpture cast in bronze was finally fulfilled.
Today, Fraser’s original The End of the Trail plaster sculpture is beautifully displayed at the entrance of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, and the bronze cast sits center stage at Mooney Grove Park in Visalia, California.
