Pioneer Selfies

Just off of the pedestrian-only section of 15th Avenue that runs directly through the University of Oregon stands a 13 foot tall statue of a pioneer man in mid stride. Tucked into some trees and blooming flowers, The Pioneer stands as a reminder of the arduous journey across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains of the United States that many people took to establish the West.

Sculpted by Alexander Phimister Proctor out of bronze and financed by Portland lawyer Joseph Nathan Teal, The Pioneer was the first statue to be erected on the University of Oregon campus in 1919. The Pioneer was meant to represent the trailblazing spirit of the early settlers. With a rifle on his back, a buckskin coat, weathered cap, and bearded face The Pioneer stands proudly and courageously next to the bustling walking paths and street below him. Perhaps this can be interpreted as the college student's journey into adulthood through higher education. Though many obstacles lay in between the student and graduation, the graduate can stand as The Pioneer does in Proctor's statue; stoic and accomplished. Instead of armed with a rifle, the student is armed with an education to prepare him or her for their life ahead. 

The rock that The Pioneer stands on apparently came from the Willamette River. Shaped by ceaseless currents and toughened by beating white water, the pedestal is just as strong as the man on top of it. 

Fixed just behind the point where two main walking paths meet, thousands of students and faculty walk, skate, and bike by with little acknowledgement of their bronze watcher every day. As a sorority gathers around the administrative building across the street to take a group photo all dressed in white, I begin to think that Proctor's message is lost on this university's population. Conformity runs deeply within this institution that is supposed to stand for individual thinking and self liberation. Much of the students around me are wearing the same clothes, their speech is similar, they join the same clubs, they think the same way. The administration has suppressed free speech, protest gatherings, and decided to raise tuition despite overwhelming public outcry. The hardened and solitary Pioneer stands just a few hundred feet away. I imagine what he thinks of all this. 

The University, Eugene, and the world has changed immensely since 1919 when The Pioneer was unveiled. Besides the obvious technological advancements and the changes in civil rights, has society changed? Are our value different? I assume so, but I do not know what it was like back then. I am sure that the student then was worried about much of the things that I am worried about almost 100 years later. I hope I can pass this test. I hope I can get a good job. I hope I can be happy. The Pioneer has seen the world change through his limited frame, but those things remain the same. He both represents the careful stride forward into the unknown and the rain-battered struggles of the past.

I am reminded of the George Oppen line, “there are things we live among, and to see them is to know ourselves.” When gazing at The Pioneer as I have done a thousand times and viewing his gaze as I have done only once, the message of Alexander Phimister Proctor feels drenched in irony, yet crucial still. After noticing this statue and researching its meaning I feel more prepared to walk my arduous journey with sovereignty.