1907 was a gala-day for the citizens of
Prescott, a historic date for Arizona, as then our governor, in
behalf of the territory, formally accepted an equestrian statue from
its sculptor.
This monument which commemorates our war with Spain had been erected
on the public plaza of Prescott in honor of "Roosevelt's Rough
Riders," the first regiment of United States Volunteer cavalry.
A master-piece of modern art the statue breathes life and action in
the perfection of its every detail, representing a Rough Rider who is
about to draw his weapon while reining his terrified horse as it
rears in a last lunge. This is indicated by the steed's gaping mouth,
distended nostrils, the bent knees, knotted chords and veins of its
neck and body.
The expression of a noble beast's agony is rendered in so life-like a
manner that its protruding eyes seem to glaze into the awful stare of
death, and instinctively the spectator listens for the stifled
whimper and whinnying screams of a wounded creature.
Borglum's splendid statuary, this heroic cast of bronze which so
faithfully portrays the destiny of a dumb animal, man's most useful
and willing slave, always ready to share its master's fate, even unto
death--to my mind is a most eloquent, if silent, argument against all
warfare.
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