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Found Remnants / Sculptural Decorations
End of the Trail
Regrettably, Fraser never saw a penny in royalties from the sale of reproductions of this work. The Exposition Company’s sculptural contracts specified that the designs belonged to the Exposition. From a legal standpoint, the artists had performed “work for hire” and couldn’t copyright the work themselves. Through some egregious lapse, the Exposition failed to apply for its own copyrights which left every sculpture produced expressly for the PPIE unprotected. As a result of this gaff, enterprising entrepreneurs were free to make and sell copies of any of the sculptures produced for the Exposition without having to pay royalties. Furthermore, individual artists were placed in the position of having to request permission from the Exposition Company to make reproductions of work which they had created, but had no rights to reproduce.
Fraser’s, End of the Trail and Solon Borglum’s, The Pioneer escaped the fate of the other sculptural decorations. While most of this work had been disposed of in landfills by the end of 1917, these two sculptures — perhaps a few others -- were still intact in 1919. In September of that year, Thomas Jacob, a member of the Tulare County Forestry Board, came forward to accept the Exposition Company’s offer of “free” sculpture for any California municipality that wanted it, provided they would remove it at their own expense. Acting on behalf of the city of Visalia, Jacob had the two sculptures cut into numerous pieces, loaded these onto a railroad flat car, and had them transported to the city of Visalia at a cost of $400.
Upon their arrival, the two sculptures were reassembled, seams were patched and replastered, and the faux patinaed bronze paint job they had worn at the PPIE was replaced with an all white one. Their transformation complete, they were installed within the precincts of Mooney Grove Park, located on the outskirts of town, where the wood armature and plaster over burlap covering deteriorated due to assaults of weather, and vandalism for the next 47 years.
It is unclear just how the sagging sculpture of End of the Trail came to the attention of the directors of the recently established National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center located in Oklahoma City, but in 1968 they sent emissaries to Visalia hoping to purchase the dilapidated statue which they planned to restore and use as the Center’s “signature” image. After a good deal of heated opposition from residents who didn’t wish to see their bedraggled, but much loved, sculpture depart, a deal was finally struck which gave what remained of the plaster statue to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in exchange for a bronze copy. After its arrival in Oklahoma City, extensive restoration was performed on the original. Then, plaster molds were “pulled” from it. These were air shipped to Pietra Santa, Italy, and were used in the process of casting the bronze reproduction that was to be given to the city of Visalia.
The restored plaster version, was placed in the “purpose built” Payne-Kilpatrick Memorial Building at the “Heritage Center”, and unveiled on December 13, 1970. It’s odd that the directors of the “Cowboy Museum” chose to paint the restored statue a stark white, which has the effect of suppressing its details, rather than restoring the patinaed look of the original.
After many aggravating delays, including a Port of Los Angeles dock strike, the bronze replacement finally arrived in Visalia, and on December 19, 1971 a dedication ceremony was held celebrating the return of End of the Trail. After 55 years, the desire to have his statue cast in bronze, which Frazer had failed to realize during his lifetime, had finally been fulfilled. At least 23 bronze reproductions ranging in height from 48 to 25 inches, are to be found in museums across America.
Borglum’s, The Pioneer, survived until some unspecified date in the 1980s when it suffered extensive damage as a result of a local earthquake. The remaining pieces were stored for a time in a Parks Department warehouse, and were ultimately carted off to the dump though a few of its pieces are thought to have been secreted away by private collectors in Tulare County. No known copies exist of this sculpture.
To see photos of End of the Trail at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center and learn more about that museum you’re invited to visit their website at http://www.cowboyhalloffame.org/index2.html