Trail of Governors
The Trail of Governors is series of life-size bronze statues of former governors of South Dakota in Pierre, the state capital. The project's goal is to place statues of every former governor; as of 2019, twenty-five statues have been placed.[1] Sculptors who have created statues for the project include John Lopez, James Van Nuys, James Michael Maher, Lee Leuning and Sherry Treeby.[2]
Statues have been added to the trail each year since 2012:
- 2012: The trail's first statues portrayed Arthur C. Mellette, Harlan J. Bushfield and Walter Dale Miller.[3]
- 2013: Statues were added of Frank Farrar, Harvey Wollman and William J. Janklow.[4]
- 2014: In conjunction with celebrations of the South Dakota's 125th anniversary of statehood, the trail added statues of Robert S. Vessey, Peter Norbeck and George S. Mickelson.[5]
- 2015: New statues were added portraying Charles N. Herreid, George T. Mickelson and Richard F. Kneip.[6]
- 2016: The trail added statues of Warren E. Green, Nils Boe and M. Michael Rounds.[7]
- 2017: Four statues were added to the trail, portraying Tom Berry, Leslie Jensen, Sigurd Anderson and Joe Foss.[8]
- 2018: Statues of William H. McMaster, Merrell Q. Sharpe and Ralph Herseth were added to the trail.[9]
- 2019: The most recent statues to join the trail are Samuel H. Elrod, Archie M. Gubbrud and Dennis Daugaard.[10]
Plans for a 2020 unveiling of Charles H. Sheldon, Coe I. Crawford and Carl Gunderson were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] Once those three are unveiled, there will be three remaining former governors to be added to the trail: Andrew E. Lee, Frank M. Byrne and William J. Bulow. A statue of Governor Kristi Noem, the state's current governor, will be added once she leaves office.
References
- ^ https://www.jamestownsun.com/news/government-and-politics/4626344-statues-former-gov-daugaard-two-others-unveiled-pierres-trail
- ^ https://www.ksfy.com/content/news/Four-new-statues-unveiled-along-Trail-of-Governors-in-Pierre--428931263.html
- ^ https://www.capjournal.com/news/first-trail-of-governors-statues-unveiled/article_c15dbdd4-b6aa-11e1-b2f0-001a4bcf887a.html
- ^ https://listen.sdpb.org/post/trail-governors
- ^ https://www.ksfy.com/home/headlines/Latest-Trail-of-Governors-statues-unveiled-281200281.html
- ^ https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2015/06/12/sd-trail-governors-statues-unveiled/71121908/
- ^ https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2016/06/17/south-dakota-unveiling-statues-former-governors/86064054/
- ^ https://www.ksfy.com/content/news/Four-new-statues-unveiled-along-Trail-of-Governors-in-Pierre--428931263.html
- ^ https://www.capjournal.com/news/a-fence-a-fish-and-a-fuel-can-latest-additions/article_d8d00a8c-729a-11e8-806c-c3f3f38b02d7.html
- ^ https://www.jamestownsun.com/news/government-and-politics/4626344-statues-former-gov-daugaard-two-others-unveiled-pierres-trail
- ^ https://www.drgnews.com/trail-of-governors-2020-statue-unveiling-postponed-due-to-covid-19/