The End of the Trail statue has called Mooney Grove Park home for 100 years! This statue is considered James Earle Fraser’s most important piece. He has created dozens of statues that are prominently displayed throughout our country, for instance, the figure of Alexander Hamilton in front of the U.S. Treasury in Washington D.C., the equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt outside the Museum of Natural History in New York, and General George Patton at West Point. He also sculpted the figures of “Law” and “Justice” before the Supreme Court building and the brace of bronze winged horses at the plaza of the Arlington Memorial Bridge in the Nation’s capital.
The seventeen foot high, larger than life, End of the Trail statue was originally featured in the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, where it won the gold medal for sculpture. After the Exposition ended, negotiations were made to bring the state to Mooney Grove Park, with it finally arriving on September 10, 1919. The statue stood in Mooney Grove Park for nearly 50 years, when talks of relocating it began as it was deteriorating in the elements outside. In 1968 it was decided that the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma would house the original while a bronze replica would be made to take its place in the park.
The bronze replica finally arrived and was re-dedicated in the park in December of 1971. This is the statue that visitors enjoy today. The original End of the Trail statue has been fully restored and still stands in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum today.
Please join us in celebrating this exciting occasion at Mooney Grove Park (27000 S. Mooney Blvd. Visalia) at the base of the End of the Trail statue. There will be a brief ceremony at the statue including remarks from the Tulare County Historical Society, congratulations from the Oklahoma Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, and a Native American blessing of the statue. Following the ceremony, guests are invited to walk to the museum to view an exhibit and enjoy refreshments. Mooney Grove Park will be charging a $6.00 entrance fee per vehicle at the front gate. Seniors enter for $3.00.
