Cyrus E Dallin and his Paul Revere Statue

Utah Historical Quarterly

Vol. 44, 1976, No. 1

Cyrus E. Dallin and his Paul Revere Statue

BY RELL G. FRANCIS

NEAR THE OLD NORTH CHURCH in Boston, the nation's Bicentennial activities have centered around a bronze statue of the silversmith who made a dramatic ride across the countryside to warn the patriots that the British were coming. The vital message Paul Revere carried on that midnight ride over two hundred years ago rallied Americans in the fight for independence and brought fame to the courageous rider. However, few people who admire the equestrian statue of Revere know the name of the sculptor, Cyrus E. Dallin of Utah, or the facts of his half-century struggle to get Boston to fulfill its promises to erect his Revere statue.

If his name has been forgotten, Dallin's work is known. His public monuments in major cities remind Americans of their national heritage. The memorable Indian equestrian statue, Appeal to the Great Spirit, once almost as popular as the Statue of Liberty, still stands in front of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. His Massasoit at Plymouth, Massachusetts, is also remembered for its vivid portrayal of a Native American. In Utah, Dallin is represented by his monument Brigham Young and the Pioneers in downtown Salt Lake City, the Angel Moroni on the spire of the Salt Lake Temple, a replica of Massasoit on the State Capitol grounds, and his Pioneer Mother at the Springville City Park.

The story of Dallin's struggle to gain acceptance for his Revere statue—once described as "perhaps the most incredible tale in the history of American art" —has never been fully told, nor has the controversy been unraveled satisfactorily in previous accounts. After careful study of original sources, most of the story has been reconstructed here.

EARLY TRAINING IN UTAH

While the Indian, not Paul Revere, was Dallin's principal subject, the Revere equestrian was his obsession. It was his first and last major work. Dallin himself believed it to be his masterpiece out of some two hundred fifty works, including several public monuments. In his persistent, fifty-six-year effort to get Boston to erect his Revere statue, Dallin often reflected upon his youthful inexperience and humble beginning in the West.

When one of his Boston critics asserted that Dallin "came from the Godless city of Salt Lake and must be a Mormon," the sculptor denied that he or his parents were members of that church. But it was true that his grandfather, Tobias Dallin, and his father, Thomas, sailmakers from England, were converted to Mormonism in 1849 by a missionary, Cyrus Wheelock, from whom young Cyrus was to receive his name. Dallin's father met his mother, Jane Hamer, also a Mormon emigrant, when they crossed the plains to Utah with other pioneers in 1851.

The Dallins eventually settled in the small frontier town ol Springville, fifty miles south of Salt Lake City. Here Cyrus, second oldest of nine children, was born on November 22, 1861, in a log cabin surrounded by an adobe wall intended to keep out hostile Indians. Cyrus, better known as "Bird" or "Birdie" by his family and playmates, learned to get along with the Indians, ride their ponies, and shoot their bows. In fact, the outdoors was his first classroom and studio. The nearby Wasatch Mountains, so sculptural in form, fascinated him and became an important stimulus in his life. In their shadows he molded figures of toys, animals, Indians, and playmates from clay he found along the spring-fed creeks and ponds. In such an environment he indulged in fantasy to develop his imagination, but it was from his gentle mother that he gained an appreciation for art:

I owe my art to my mother, Jane Hamer Dallin, who loved beauty. In childhood days she modeled things out of clay and baked them in the oven. It was a case of heredity. I always liked art and began sketching and modeling when just a child and she, with my father Thomas Dallin, gave me every encouragement.

At eight years of age, Cyrus attended the small neighborhood schools where he excelled only in drawing sketches on his slate. Later he gained additional education, devoid of any art instruction, at a mission-type school sponsored by the Presbyterian church. The Dallins, who soon found that they could not conform to the strict requirements of the Mormon faith, changed over to this denomination. had been a bodyguard for Joseph Smith. At age fourteen Cyrus "had a definite purpose to be an artist," but without formal training he sketched from nature and copied from available prints.

In the spring of 1879 Dallin went to work at his father's silver mine, the Golden Bell, a speculative venture in the Tintic Mining District about thirty-eight miles southwest of Springville. One day the miners struck a vein of soft white clay that Cyrus, with improvised tools, modeled into two life-size heads of a man and a woman. These busts, which were exhibited that fall at the territorial fair in Salt Lake City, attracted the attention of the Tintic miners and citizens — particularly Levi E. Riter, who owned a store in Silver City, and C.H. Blanchard, a Bostonianwho had mining interests in the area. Both men recommended that Cyrus should have the opportunity to go back East to study sculpture. The Dallins favored the proposal, but they had no means to support such a pretentious effort. Blanchard, convinced of the importance of having the boy receive the finest education, enlisted the financial support of a wealthy mine official, Joab Lawrence of Salt Lake City, and together they raised enough money to send young Dallin to the sculpture school of T. H. Bartlett in Boston in April 1880.

THE MOVE TO BOSTON

Birdie Dallin's transition from the uncomplicated life of the West to the cultured environment of Boston is best described by Mrs. Cyrus E. Dallin:

So the boy from the mountains went east, ready to meet adventure. There he expected to find the land of culture of which he dreamed, where people talked as they did in books. When he arrived, the awakening was heart-rending for the homesick, mother-sick boy. The following days were those of loneliness, disillusionment, and even hunger, for he had little money. He entered the studio of Truman Bartlett, who was noted for his art criticisms, but not for any creative work, that gift having been bestowed on his talented son, Paul. At the studio much of Dallin's time was occupied in chores by which he earned his instruction.

Truman H. Bartlett, an academic sculptor, critic, and teacher who was fairly well known in the area for his monumental statues, had the only sculpture school in Boston. In his first day of class Cyrus started a small head of a tiger that he later cast under Bartlett's direction. During the following months the novice sculptor modeled various figures, reliefs, and parts of the human body; and he studied many art books provided by the public library, Bartlett, and his fellow students.

Bartlett was impressed with Dallin's rapid progress. His own gifted teenage son, Paul Wayland Bartlett (1865-1925), was away from home at this time studying sculpture in Paris, which may account for the empathy Bartlett expressed toward the youthful westerner:

... I have had in my School of Sculpture and Modelling for a few months a young lad . . . from Springville, Utah, by the name of Edwin Dallin, his board is paid by his family and some few friends who are interested in him. He has made such encouraging progress that I wish you to know about him. ... As his father is not a man of means it is not probable that he can afford to pay his son's expenses very long. The tuition of the lad is free, and all that he needs is enough to pay his board and furnish him with clothes.The lad has a fine talent for sculpture, and if properly educated will be an honor to himself and to those interested in him. . . . Natures so evidently artistic are rare anywhere, but for such an one to spring out of the life of the far west is something to be wondered at and admired. . . . Why could not some project be undertaken for the erection of a statue in [Salt Lake City] of some worthy citizen, and the commission be given to Dallin.

In the fall of 1880, Bartlett gave up his Washington Street studio and moved his sculpture classes to his private studio. Here Dallin made an enlarged copy of Algerian Panther by Antoine Louis Barye, a French animal sculptor whom Cyrus greatly admired. By reproducing the model in terra-cotta, he was able to sell several copies. He earned additional money by working part-time at the adjacent Boston Terra-cotta Works. His first commission, for which he received two dollars, was a seal for the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic's Hall, a new building in Boston.

Early in 1881, when his money ran short, Cyrus was permitted to sleep without charge at Bartlett's studio on bedding his teacher had generously provided. Despite this initial kindness, however, Bartlett began to display increasing annoyance and harshness toward the boy. During this troublesome period Cyrus was befriended by W.C. Griffin and Clare Hubbard. The latter introduced him to Vittoria Colonna Murray of Roxbury, the girl Cyrus was to marry nine years later. Vittoria Dallin, who later recalled this event, also explained Bartlett's behavior:

When modelling he [Cyrus] had confidence in his ideas, and naturally, this clear view of his aims and purposes annoyed the academic and conservative Mr. Bartlett. Soon he became impatient at the independence of the "wild western colt," and there was little sympathy between them.

When his funds were depleted, Dallin took Bartlett's advice and went to work full time at the terra-cotta works, earning four dollars and fifty cents a week. Cyrus took little interest in this rough work that interfered with his schooling. On Dallin's occasional visits to the studio, Bartlett suggested the possibility of Cyrus going abroad to study, but the idea seemed futile and only added to his discouragement. During this time Dallin became acquainted with Sidney H. Morse, a student at Bartlett's night classes, who offered Cyrus a chance to work with him on some sculpture commissions at Quincy, Massachusetts. When Dallin told Bartlett of this opportunity, the authoritative teacher strenuously objected and accused the boy of ingratitude. Bartlett would not allow Cyrus to take the job. Believing this to be an infringement upon his rights, the young sculptor refused to be bound, and quit his job with the terracotta works. In May 1881 Dallin moved to Quincy where he lived and worked with Morse for fifteen months making cemetery statues and reliefs for a granite company.

Sidney Morse, a native of Ohio, sympathized with anyone struggling for an art education. He greatly influenced Dallin's intellectual and artistic development by encouraging him to read the philosophical works of Goethe, Emerson, Kant, and other great authors. Morse also introduced Cyrus to important Bostonians, including Martin Milmore, the sculptor who had made the Civil War Memorial on Boston Common; and Wendell Phillips, who with Morse edited and published the Radical Review, a magazine devoted to reform ideas. Phillips, who made caustic criticisms of Boston's elite sculptors, took a liking to young Dallin and later came to Cyrus's defense in the Revere statue controversy.

In September 1882 Dallin returned to Boston where he soon rented a studio at 16 Pemberton Square, across the river from Charlestown, sharing the quarters with George Peterson, a fellow pupil of Bartlett's. During the remainder of the year he made a plaster bust of E.H. Clement, editor of the Boston Transcript, and a statuette of the famous comedian William Warren. Additionally, Dallin produced a relief bust of Oliver Wendell Holmes; six half-size copies in plaster of the bust of Hermes by Praxiteles for Moyes and Blakeslee's store; and some heads to be used as models in the window of Jordan and Marsh's department store. These works and previous subjects steadily matured Dallin's sculptural ability, but they seemed to offer little preparation for the important equestrian statue that was to follow.

THE REVERE STATUE COMPETITION

In February 1883 Cyrus Dallin began an equestrian model of Paul Revere which he completed in six weeks. It is not known when Cyrus learned of the Revere statue competition, sponsored by a committee of well-known Bostonians, representatives from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, the Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Free Masons, and the Revere family. However, the committee did issue circulars in 1882 inviting artists to send in models by April 19, 1883. The entries were to be unsigned to ensure impartial judging. As inducement, three hundred dollars would be awarded to each of the three best designs submitted. Dallin was probably attracted to the competition by the cash prizes offered.

The artists were asked to incorporate in their models ideas expressed in a certain verse of Longfellow's famous poem, "Paul Revere's Ride." Dallin's entry, titled "Waiting for the Lights," was displayed at the Boston Art Club together with the other models that had arrived from such cities as Saint Louis, New York, and Philadelphia. With the exception of a standing figure of Paul Revere, all of the models were equestrian groups.

To his surprise young Cyrus learned that his entry was chosen as one of the three prize winners.

For this statue of Paul Revere, which it is proposed to set up in the city, eight models were sent in, and the committee which was to select from these the three best designs has completed its labors. These three models have been placed on exhibition in the gallery of the Art Club. For each a prize of $300 is to be paid, although this does not pledge acceptance of any one of the designs. The entries for the prizes have been closed, but it is expected that other designs will be sent in including one from Mr. [Thomas] Ball. The successful competitors have been Mr. James E. Kelly of New York, Mr. Daniel C. French of Concord, and Mr. C.E. Dallin of this city. The first shows Paul Revere on the Charlestown side of the river, just in the act of springing upon his horse, and casting a quick glance over his shoulder for the lights of the Old North Church. The model which received the second choice, that of Mr. French, shows the rider seated upon his horse, looking over his shoulder in impatient waiting for the signal. The other design also shows Revere seated upon his horse, but is less animated in pose and expression than Mr. French's model.

Unfortunately, none of the three models was accepted for the statue. One sarcastic critic, unhappy with the competition's meager prize offerings and the quality of the entries, accused French and Dallin of being unoriginal. After denouncing French's model, he continued:

The second "premiated" model, by Mr. Dallin, although much smaller, is of the same family as Mr. French's, the horse being apparently a near relative of that which has borne the bronze figure of Washington so many years on the Boston Public Garden, while his rider presents all the dignified ease of attitude which is so desirable and fashionable among equestrian statues.

Undoubtedly, this terse accusation and Dallin's youthful appearance and unknowTi reputation gave the committee second thoughts about its choice. There was another reason for the stalemate. All of the models were declared historically inaccurate. As Dallin later explained:

The first time we submitted models in the competition it was interesting to see that each entrant had chosen the same dramatic moment, Revere seated on the horse and turning back to wait for the light, as. the Poet Longfellow put it:

"He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns!"

But some erudite gentleman wrote a letter to Boston's classic newspaper declaring that not only the artists had erred in depicting this gesture, but that the immortal Longfellow had exceeded his poetic license, had gotten off on the wrong metric foot, so to speak. The fact was, Paul Revere did not wait to see the "lantern aloft in the belfry arch," but from other signals knew the British were coming and set out to spread the alarm.

Eager to prove himself, Dallin asked the committee chairman for permission to submit a second model in the unresolved contest, and his request was granted. Within three weeks he had completed his design and sent it to the Boston Art Club for a run-off competition limited to Dallin, French, and Kelly. The committee again considered "all the models that had been presented" but could not reach a decision. The committee then began negotiations with other artists that dragged on for more than a year. Different models were presented and considered. In an effort to speed matters, a move was made to have the commission given to some artist without asking for a model, but this idea was rejected.

The committee's failure to make a decision and the group's subsequent inaction were predicted by a critic who additionally charged that the committee was "now casting about for means of opening communication with those distinguished men who were not so reduced in purse or reputation as to contend for prizes." The committee was undoubtedly still waiting for Thomas Ball to enter his model, a surmise largely verified by a news item in the Transcript, June 23, 1883:

Mr. Thomas Ball, the sculptor, has at his studio on Bedford Street a bronze statue of "Paul Revere's Ride." It is a spirited work, and is in many respects superior to some of the models recently shown at the Art Club of the same subject. . . . The work is interesting and unlike anything yet shown. The committee have not yet seen it, and a decision will not probably be given for some time yet. Mr. Ball will probably return to Florence in September.

Thomas Ball had made his Paul Revere statue in the previous year, 1882, according to his autobiography, My Threescore Years and Ten. 20 Ball's interest in the Revere competition is also mentioned by Glad Maclntyre, who interviewed Dallin in 1940 :

Then there arrived from Italy Mr. Thomas Ball, whose statue of George Washington stands in the Public Gardens. Mr. Ball had hoped to submit a model in the Paul Revere competition and was disappointed to find himself too late. Whereupon the committee, having regard to Mr. Ball's undoubted ability, held a second competition, including Mr. Ball's model as well as those of Mr. Dallin, Mr. French, and Mr. Kelly.

Newspaperman Thomas Carens verified the above account and asserted that the three winners of the "elimination contest" had no objection to Ball's entry into competition.

While he awaited some word from the committee, Dallin completed a number of smaller works, including Little Boy, exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in October 1883; Cowboy, Indian Chief, and Greaser, three equestrian statues; and a bust of Oliver Wendell Holmes. During the summer of 1883 Cyrus gave up his Pemberton Square studio and began traveling, sketching, and reading. Upon his return to Boston he rented space at the Studio Building at Tremont and Bromfield streets." In August, Dallin's second model of the Revere equestrian was placed on exhibit at Chase's gallery where it was favorably received:

This new model presents Revere on his horse with a very spirited, unconventional and vividly dramatic pose and gesture. Reining back his excited steed, the "midnight messenger" points with a right straight arm in the direction he has come, and his tense and anxious face almost speaks the message he bears for each farmhouse by the way. The action and "story" of the statue are powerfully given, and the whole strikes the eye as singularly fresh, earnest and original.

This encouraging appraisal of his work surely reinforced Dallin's confidence, for in September the sculptor wrote to LDS President John Taylor, calling attention to his success in Boston and proposing that he be commissioned to erect a memorial statue to Joseph Smith:

Knowing the reverence with which Joseph Smith's memory is held in Utah, and also knowing the generosity of the people, I know of nothing more fitting with which to honor the prophet and the people than a portrait statue in bronze of Joseph Smith.

Whether Dallin received an answer from President Taylor to his proposal is not known. Coincidentally, however, Mormon businessman Hiram B. Clawson and his son William R. Clawson, an art student at the Academy of Design in New York, called on Dallin at his studio in October. Impressed with Dallin's competence, the elder Clawson encouraged Cyrus to come to Salt Lake City and promised to use his influence in securing commissions for the young sculptor."'

At the same time additional good news came from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts where Dallin had entered his Revere model in an exhibit of contemporary American art. An art critic compared his statue to Thomas Ball's equestrian of Revere which was also in the exhibit:

No feature of the current exhibition ... is in its way stronger than the statuary. Most visitors will perhaps look first at Ball's bronze figure of Paul Revere on horseback, "The Mercury of the Revolution," but doubtless not a few will confess that it does not fill their ideal. Both horse and man are well modelled, and both are intended to express the utmost speed of motion; but somehow they don't express it. At least the horse does not. ... If Ball himself were to view this lack in his work, and compare it with the spirited action of Dallin's plaster cast of Paul Revere ... he would confess that the neophyte got ahead of the veteran in one respect at least. In the young sculptor's work there is a perfect whirlwind of speed in both man and horse, while this force of expression does not detract from the reality of either. It is certainly a remarkable piece of work for so young a man, one of those things that make one fear it may be too good, as promising more than performance can redeem in the future.

The wavering Revere committee should have been moved to more positive action by this glowing evaluation, but the critic's closing statement was the key to the committee members' indecision. They, likewise, had doubts that one so young was qualified to carry out such an important commission as the Revere statue. Dallin now experienced all of the faults of the open competitions—the jealousies, lack of funds, and indecisions of legislators—that more experienced sculptors avoided.

Months passed without any action by the Revere committee. Finding little work in Boston, Dallin's thoughts again turned to the West. On January 13, 1884, he wrote a second letter to President John Taylor:

The Committee of the Revere statue have decided not to do anything at present; so I cannot tell how long I shall have to wait before a decision. In the mean time, I have to live, and as everything is so dull here I am going to try what I can do in my native Territory. If you have anything in the line of sculpture you would like done, or if you know of anyone I should be most pleased to hear from you on my arrival in S.L.C.

Having received the last of the $300 prize money for the initial Revere competition, and with funds donated by friends, Cyrus was able to return to Utah in February 1884. He had been led to believe that he would be able to make statues of Brigham Young, Joseph Smith, or other prominent men. The Boston Transcript reported that he would open a studio in Salt Lake City "with the intention to study the picturesque subjects of his native Territory, such as Indians, cowboys, buffaloes, etc., with reference to making statuettes and groups illustrating real American life." If in his optimism, Cyrus had hoped to secure profitable commissions from Mormon church leaders and public officials that could finance the pursuit of these more "picturesque subjects," the dream did not materialize. Cyrus was welcomed home with all the fanfare of a hero, and Hiram B. Clawson, as promised, introduced him to influential Mormon leaders, but these contacts produced no commissions for work.

THE THIRD MODEL—DALLIN'S FAVORITE

In mid-June Cyrus was notified that the Revere committee was ready to negotiate with him, providing he would make certain alterations in his model. On hearing this encouraging news, Dallin immediately returned to Boston where he secured a small studio in the Lawrence Building and began a new Revere model that he finished in August. The new model was studied by the committee who found it unsatisfactory. Additional alterations were suggested that resulted in still another model that Dallin completed and sent to the Boston Art Club on November 11, 1884. In the days that followed, the committee met and discussed the merits of the model and then adjourned to Dallin's studio.' The details of Dallin's meeting with the committee members are revealing:

. . . Many of them saw our young sculptor for the first time and were astonished at his youthful appearance. He was then nearly 23 years old. He was asked to leave the room, and underwent the final ordeal of suspense, walking up and down the corridor while they were discussing his fate within. At last they summoned him in, and declared their intention of giving him the contract.

The persevering youth had finally won; the year and a half competition came to a close. On November 18, 1884, the Revere committee "almost unanimously" voted to award the contract to Dallin. To his dismay, Cyrus read the announcement in the Boston Evening Transcript that "Charles E. Dallin," a "twenty one year old" from Utah was the successful artist.

Mrs. Daniel Chester French in her book, Memories of a Sculptor's Wife, described Dallin's mixed emotions upon learning of his award:

... he was somewhat overwhelmed by the fact that he was not an Easterner, that he knew he would be looked upon as an outsider and that he went down to his studio the next morning somewhat discouraged and blue.The first thing he saw was a small note pushed under his door. This he took into his studio and opened. It was from Dan French, saying, "I congratulate you. Yours was by far the best model. I'm glad vou won."

Although abbreviated, his name, "C.E. Dallin," had been correctly printed in at least one newspaper, the Boston Herald, that reported that young Dallin's model of Revere had been warmly praised by eminent artists whose opinions had been requested by the statue committee. The committee had called for expert opinion because:

the monumental statues of Boston have been so severely criticised by some persons that the committee who had charge of the proposed Paul Revere statue were determined to act with caution, and before accepting Mr. Dallin's design they secured the opinion of more than twenty prominent artists and connoisseurs. One said, "The horse is marvellous; the pose is splendid." Another wrote, "The general effect surprised me as being very speaking and decidedly monumental." A third declared that "it is a spirited work of art, and if carried out will make a statue of which we should be proud."

The Transcript announced that Dallin's model would be cast into plaster and exhibited at some prominent place in the city. Additionally this newspaper made the following appraisal of the Revere group:

This is not a statue of Paul Revere, but one in which Revere is a happy accident. It may be said to represent, in a deeper sense, the fire, enthusiasm and patriotism of the Revolution. The motive of the work is the famous incident in the life of Paul Revere—his memorable ride to Lexington. . . . The face of the rider in an ideal conception and not a likeness of Paul Revere, though there is some resemblance in the general shape. The body is that of a vigorous man, and determination seems to be expressed in the whole carriage of the figure intended to commemorate the act of the Revolutionary patriot.

The Boston Advertiser best described Dallin's third model, with particular emphasis upon his horse:

. . . The narrative character of the composition is its strong point. The horse, a powerfully built animal, has been pulled up so short that he still preserves some of the momentum of his furious flight, and is full of spring and fire, elasticity and quivering life. His noble head is brought back close to his breast, the neck sharply arched, the mouth opened, by the force of the rider's restraint, and one may almost hear him pant, so well expressed is the impression of suddenly arrested motion. The left foreleg is lifted as high as possible from the ground, while the right hindleg is still in the air. . . . The mane is long and abundant. ... A thick forelock flies out between the ears, which are laid back. . . .

. . . We think Mr. Dallin has comprehended the spirit of the incident, expresses its picturesque phase well, and has given us a dashing work, well studied, not especially learned, not too profound, but effective and enthusiastic; not an inanimate lump like some of our statues, but a work whose faults are those of youth and inexperience.

The contract to start the final work seemed to be assured, but Dallin's "inexperience" was now to reveal itself in matters of business with politicians. By some oversight of the committee, Mayor Augustus P. Martin, who was to be replaced by incoming Mayor Hugh O'Brien, failed to sign the contract, rendering it invalid until July 4, 1885.

Early newspaper accounts and Dallin's writings provide some clues to the specifications of the 1884 contract. The statue was to be of bronze, double life-size, mounted upon a granite pedestal in Copley Square. Dallin would be allowed two years to complete the monument for which he would receive $25,000. "I shall probably go to Paris to do it, although I shall have it cast here," Dallin wrote to a friend.

Boston City had already donated the site for the statue and had appropriated $5,000 to be paid on completion of the monument with the understanding that the Revere committee would raise $20,000 more by public subscription. The committee had previously raised sufficient money to pay for the expenses and the prizes for the preliminary competitions, and it hoped to secure enough funds to defray Dallin's expenses in Europe where he proposed to study for the purpose of perfecting the statue. Subcommittees for advertising and finance were organized to solicit and collect funds from the public. Unfortunately, the expected contributions did not come in.

On July 4, 1885, a new agreement for the Revere statue was signed by Mayor Hugh O'Brien and Dallin. The tentative 1884 contract was revised and updated. The new restrictive specifications were full of loopholes that would limit the sculptor's artistic freedom: the Revere statue, to be completed by September 1887, was subject to any modifications the committee might suggest; Dallin was to receive $30,000 for the monument, but the cost of the pedestal was not specified in this fee; the money was to be secured by public subscription; and the mayor and the committee members were not to be held personally responsible if their efforts to raise the money should fail. The remaining articles stipulated how the statue was to be protected against loss and where it was to be cast. Although not mentioned in the contract, Boston City had pledged $5,000 to the statue to make the contract more binding.

The new contract brought unexpected opposition rather than fresh hope. Early accounts mention only that the Revere project failed because of lack of funds. Later sources, originating from Dallin's public testimony in the 1930s, revealed the antagonist who had destroyed public confidence in the Revere statue: Dallin's former teacher, Truman H. Bartlett, whose troublesome personality and opinion had considerable influence in the art circles of Boston. Bartlett's interference is best described by A.J. Philpott, a life-long friend of Dallin and art critic of the Boston Globe:

The first intimation young Dallin had that anything was amiss about the Paul Revere statue was when he thought he discovered a coolness and reserve in some members of the committee. . . .. . . All he could learn was that doubts about young Dallin were being whispered around, doubts about the wisdom of awarding so important a commission to a comparatively unknown youth from the Far West. . . . And then the real reason for all this whispering and hostility came to the surface in a sensational letter to the Boston Transcript—a letter about two columns in length—written by Freeman [Truman H.] Bartlett, a local sculptor who had not been in the competition.In this letter Bartlett severely criticised Cyrus E. Dallin's model for the equestrian statue of Paul Revere and protested against the award of the commission to so youthful and inexperienced a sculptor. It was the sort of letter which sounds as if written with the best of intentions in the world and from the standpoint of protecting the public against a grave danger. It was well done, and it had its effect—especially on the committee. For without much of any excuse—and without any explanation to Mr. Dallin—that committee practically dropped the whole thing.

Although Bartlett's original denouncement of Dallin's "impossible man on an impossible horse" and the date of its issue in the Transcript have not been located, other writers verify Philpott's account. Bartlett's criticism had the desired effect. Contributions were not forthcoming and the project was once again derailed.

Dallin, out of deference for Bartlett's reputation, did not publicly accuse his teacher of injustice until well after Bartlett's death in 1923.

Reflecting upon the frustration he had experienced with the Revere competition, the indomitable Dallin later noted:

I was disappointed, but not defeated. I learned that life is full of disappointments. But I have also learned to leave disappointments behind me and go on to something else.

In hopes that he could counteract Bartlett's opposition and restore the committee's confidence in his work, Dallin set out to gain the recommendation of America's most noted sculptor at this time, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who was presently at work on his Abraham Lincoln, Shaw Memorial, and other importantcommissions. Saint-Gaudens wrote to Dallin, January 12, 1887, expressing sympathy for Cyrus's position in the Revere statue predicament. Saint-Gaudens said he would write "encouraging words," but he was reluctant to give an "entire approval" which would put responsibility on himself:

I think the horse is very good and strong and certainly if carried out as shown would be a work not to be ashamed of. The rider I must frankly say I do not like and I think you might do better. There is so much that is good in the horse, and it shows so clearly that you have a good sculptor's conception of form that, I think, with time and no worry you might make a credible figure to say the least. It seems to me that as the matter is so important to you that an offer on your part to put up the work full size and ask that the committee pay your expenses only until that is done and reject the work if unsatisfactory would make so small an outlay that they might consider it, or better still you might make other studies of the man until satisfied. You seem so just in your appreciation of situations that I am sure you will understand my position, particularly when you consider that what I have stated about your work is exactly what I think and it would not be fair to the gentlemen you mention, the public, or myself, should I commit myself to approve of a part of your work that does not satisfy me.

It is reasonable to believe that Dallin accepted the advice of Saint- Gaudens and others and worked on the figure of Revere to make the changes that are apparent in his future models.

STUDY IN PARIS

In the fall of 1888 Dallin's fortune changed when Mrs. David P. Kimball, a distant relative of his fiancee, Vittoria Murray, gave him money for study in Paris. Before leaving for Paris in August 1888, he signed for the second time an extension clause in the Revere contract, setting the new completion date to September 1, 1891. Like many of his American contemporaries who traveled to Paris, the undisputed sculpture center of the world, Dallin entered the Academie Julian where he studied under the noted sculptor, Henri Michel Chapu.

In the spring of 1889 Dallin applied for entrance into the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and although he passed the examination, he did not take advantage of the opportunity inasmuch as he had secured an important commission from Thomas W. Evans, an American dentist. Dr. Evans wanted to present an equestrian statue of the Marquis de Lafayette to France, in the name of the American people. Dallin made the bronze model of Lafayette that was prominently displayed near the entrance of the American Industrial Department at the Paris Exposition of 1889.

Prior to the opening of the exposition. Dallin wrote to his brotherin-law, Sid Southworth, explaining his recent work:

I have been working very hard for the past months. ... I have a bronze model of an equestrian statue at the exposition which I am to put up in the city of Paris. The subject is Lafayette, and is given to Paris by a rich American who lives here, and he has commissioned me to do the work, so you will see that in one sense all goes well with me. This will be quite a great thing for me, as I shall be the only American who will have a statue in Paris.

Dallin's Lafayette was praised by the newspapers and by France's eminent sculptor of animals, Emmanuel Fremiet. For some unknown reason the statue was never erected in colossal (double life-size) proportions as planned. Ironically, Paul Bartlett, son of Dallin's contentious teacher, had his own equestrian statue of Lafayette placed in the courtyard of the Louvre as a gift from the American school children in 1908. Were it not for this later date, one could suspect that the Bartletts had again interfered with Dallin's success.

During his second year at Paris the young sculptor learned that Buffalo Bill and his company of Indians were performing in the city. Naturally, Dallin was drawn to their encampment where he made a small model of a mounted Indian. While engaged in this work, Cyrus became friends with the famous painter of animals, Rosa Bonheur. This mannish-looking artist worked alongside Dallin making sketches of the colorful Indians and their ponies. From his small study of the Indian, Dallin reproduced a life-size equestrian statue titled Signal of Peace that brought him additional recognition when it won an award in the Paris Salon of 1890. Pleased with his new success, the maturing artist wrote to his fiancee:

I have been awarded an "Honorable Mention" by the Salon of 1890. I wish you were here just at this moment, as I should feel entirely happy could you put your arms around me and say how happy it all made you feel.

Well, I have worked hard for it, and I should have been frightfully disappointed had I not received it. I have one source of downright pleasure, and that comes from knowing that I have honestly earned my honors, as I did nothing in any way which approached wire pulling. I find over here it is the thing to do, but as I don't believe in it I would not lower myself to do it, consequently, I feel proud that my honor was honestly won.

. . . This has given me confidence in myself, and I shall try to make others believe the same. I hope to see Governor Ames soon and will then know just what I am to expect from the Revere affair. This ought to boom my stock "way up," and if the Bostonians don't come to terms now they never will.

THE FOURTH AND FIFTH MODELS

Dallin returned to America in August 1890 to find that his success abroad had been recognized, but despite his renewed efforts to get the Revere committee to activate the project, he found the Bostonians were not ready to "come to terms now." No doubt a contributing factor to this new disappointment was yet another unexpected tragedy. His contractwinning model of Revere was lost. Upon his return to Boston, Cyrus learned that the shop where he had left the model had closed and the owner had died. The model could not be located.

There is good reason to believe that Dallin began reworking the unacceptable Revere model that he had completed in August 1884, again making changes suggested by the committee. This stiff-legged model, which bears the date 1884 on its base, shows a maturity of modeling and surface technique that demonstrate Dallin's European training. Dallin used the braced front legs stance and action of the horse similar to his Greaser equestrian of 1883. The resemblance of the two equestrians gives additional support to the theory that the fourth Revere model had been started in 1884.

On June 16, 1891, Cyrus E. Dallin married Vittoria Colonna Murray, the Roxbury girl he had singled out to be his bride nine years previously. Dallin facetiously remarked in later life that, in one respect at least, he had "put one over" on the great Michelangelo. He explained that Michelangelo had also admired a woman named Vittoria Colonna, but they were never married. "I won my Vittoria Colonna," Dallin said proudly.'"

During the next nine years Cyrus started a family of three boys: created a variety of works for the Mormon church (1891-93); produced several private commissions; entered equestrian models of famous generals and other public figures in competitions; taught sculpture for a year at Drexel Institute in Philadelphia (1895-96) ; and returned to Paris for additional study under Jean Dampt. The most important works of this period were the Angel Moroni and the Brigham Young and the Pioneers Monument at Salt Lake City; Sir Isaac Newton for the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Bertha Cashing, Don Quixote, and the Indian equestrian Medicine Man, all of which were completed in Paris. Sixteen years had elapsed since the original Revere competition.

When Dallin returned to America in 1899 his reputation as a sculptor was firmly established, and he secured a permanent teaching position at the Massachusetts Normal Art School in Boston. With the sale of his Medicine Man to the Fairmount Park in Philadelphia he was able to purchase a fixed residence in Arlington Heights, a suburb northwest of Boston.

Dallin was again hopeful that a new city government would accept his Revere statue. Modifying slightly his previous stiff-legged model, he created his fifth Revere equestrian. The obvious difference between the fourth and fifth models was the raised front leg of the latter that attempted to duplicate the action of the statuette that was lost. When the work was completed Cyrus petitioned Mayor Thomas N. Hart to renew the Revere contract. Hart contended that the council order of 1884 and the contract of 1885 with Dallin were no longer valid, and "if any action were to be taken it would have to be by a new committee." The mayor promptly appointed such a group to make arrangements for erecting the statue.

The new model was formally approved by the Boston Art Commission on December 4, 1899, and the following month it was exhibited at Dallin's studio on Harcourt Street where Gov. Winthrop M. Crane and other important officials were invited to examine the statue. The Transcript gave its approval to the Revere statue and urged the public to support its completion:

... It will be remembered that the first efforts to raise the requisite funds for this monument met with so little success that the project was for the time being allowed to be virtually pigeon-holed. But Mr. Dallin, who, as a sculptor, had received the most encouraging endorsements of his models for the statue, especially from the most eminent artists in the country (including St.-Gaudens) . . . never lost sight of the possibilities of this enterprise, and never ceased to improve upon his original work ) working on it in season and out, and remodeling it at least five times^ until in the judgment of the experts, he had made of it a plastic work well worthy of a prominent location in Boston. The statue, thus improved, is one in which mobility and dramatic fire are well blended with harmonious lines and rhythmic poise. The horse, suddenly pulled up by his rider, is a most spirited and picturesque type of arrested movement; and the attitude and gesture of the man tell the stirring story of Revere's errand to the Middlesex minutemen with sufficient emphasis but without violence or bombast. The original intention was, we believe, to place the Revere monument in Copley Square, but this is a matter that must be left to the decision of the Art Commission. The point now most vital is to arouse the interest of the people, so as to bringabout tangible results. . . .

Despite the renewed sponsorship of public officials and the persistent efforts of Francis H. Appleton of the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution to move the project to its completion, the Revere monument died again for lack of funds. The Revere model of 1899 was, however, reproduced in plaster by P. P. Caproni and Brother after 1907, and hundreds of copies were sold to schools and other collectors in the years that followed.'"

INTEREST IN REVERE STATUE REVIVED

During the next three decades Dallin's reputation continued to grow, as he produced significant public monuments and Indian subjects. Two of the works from this period were installed on prominent sites in Boston: Appeal to the Great Spirit in front of the Museum of Fine Arts and Anne Hutchinson in front of the State House. Only the Revere statue remained out of reach. Each year when Boston reenacted Revere's ride, Dallin reportedly would go to his studio, uncover his Revere model, and reflect upon his bitter disappointment.''

In the late 1920s the news media revived interest in the Revere monument and again took up the plea to have Dallin's statue erected. With the New England tercentenary approaching, responsible citizens of Charlestown recommended that Dallin's statue be placed at the City Square in Charlestown, a spot near where Revere's famous ride originated. Nothing came of this suggestion, however.

During the early 1930s, Dallin exhibited a new model of Revere at the New Museum Galleries in Boston. This sixth equestrian somewhat resembled the award-winning model except for the horse's front legs, its raised tail, and the full cape of the rider. It is possible that Dallin developed this idea over a period of years, because his wife recorded in her family journal of 1912: "New model of Paul Revere with cape." Unfortunately, Mrs. Dallin offered no additional information.

Photographs of the sixth model were widely printed in the newspapers of the 1930s, and, in most cases, captions referred to it as the "original" model of the 1880s. One sculpture historian, the late Loring Holmes Dodd, used a photograph of this model in one of his articles to demonstrate that this statuette was Dallin's "first and what he intended to be the final model of the equestrian Paul Revere." Dodd was fond of the "stirring" action of the horse which "must skid several paces before he can come to a full stop," and, therefore, he was disappointed when Dallin decided to abandon this design for yet another model. "Why did you make a change?" Dodd asked the sculptor. "A fellow sculptor suggested it," Dallin replied. "

Dallin's long obsession with Revere received a new stimulus following the death in the early 1930s of his friend Frederick B. Hall. Among his effects was a forgotten photograph of Dallin's award-winning model of 1884, the sculptor's own favorite that had been lost while he was in Paris. Analyzing its design, as shown in the recovered photograph, the venerable sculptor commented:

I don't know how I did it. There must have been something psychic in it. I don't believe I could do better now. It must have been one of those things that a young fellow can do in a tremendous onrush of enthusiasm. I sculptured better than I knew. Notice that triangular composition, something that all the masters strive for. The figure and the horse have tremendous energy and strength.

Sometimes a man will do his best work when he is a mere youth. Some of the best work of the masters has been done before they were 25.

In his mid-seventies, the bearded sculptor was trying to outdo himself, working on a seventh model that would duplicate the action of the 1884 statue. Friends and critics agreed that Dallin had not improved his Paul Revere in its many revisions. Stillman Powers, official photographer of Dallin's works, offered this opinion:

During these years he made other models of Paul Revere, none of which seemed to equal those first models made in youth. These first models were full of the fire of colonial patriotism and of action born of an urgent necessity. The later models plainly show the influence of unfair criticism, a thing which always tends to thwart the inspiration of any artist.

Dallin's close friends also encouraged the aging sculptor to renewed activity. Daniel Chester French, always the gentleman and advocate of fair play, entreated Boston to fulfill its long debt to Dallin. Before his death in 1931, French wrote one of his last letters to Mayor James M. Curley urging that Dallin's statue be erected.

Concurrent with Dallin's work on the seventh model, A.J. Philpott, dean of the Boston art critics, started a campaign in 1933 to arouse concern for Dallin's cause. Philpott reviewed the tragic events in Dallin's fifty-year struggle to get Boston to accept the Revere statue. He noted that a "new committee had been formed to see that justice is done both Paul Revere and Cyrus E. Dallin." Other writers who shared Philpott's sentiments recommended that the year 1935 would be an appropriate time to unveil the monument as it would be the two-hundredth anniversary of Revere's birth.

With the statuette completed and encouraged by the support from the newspapers, Dallin sought financial aid from the mayor of Boston and the other trustees of the George Robert White Fund. This charitable trust fund was established in 1922 by a gift of $5,000,000 to Boston City under a provision in White's will that stipulated that the income from the fund was "to be used for creating works of public utility and beauty, for the use and enjoyment of the inhabitants of the City of Boston."

Before the trustees of the White Fund could act on Dallin's request, a meeting was held in January 1935 at the Old North Church by Mayor Frederick Mansfield who reviewed the story of the Revere statue and promised that it would be erected. The mayor suggested that the statue be placed in the nearby Paul Revere Mall, a man-made park that had been recently constructed through financial aid from the White Fund. Shortly after this meeting, the trustees of the White Fund interpreted the restrictions of the will as not permitting the funding of the Revere statue. Dallin's request would have to be denied.

But the aging artist remained determined to succeed this time. He decided, as one last effort, to put into effect the advice Saint-Gaudens had offered nearly a half century ago. At his own expense he would make the statue in heroic dimensions (one and a half life-size) even though there was no promise of financial support from the public. The sculptor, now stooped with age, completed the enlargement of his seventh model in four months, with the aid of his thirty-year old son, Lawrence. Vittoria Dallin described her husband's efforts:

For months he toiled, handling great quantities of clay, going up and down a ladder day after day, from morning till night, working with feverish intensity. The cost of such mental and physical exertion for a man in his late seventies was tremendous, and Cyrus Dallin was a mental and physical wreck after the huge model was completed.

The ten-and-one-half-foot statue, made in Dallin's Arlington studio, required three tons of modeling clay, some of which was furnished, in an emergency, by the sculptor's devoted students at the Massachusetts School of Art. Summing up his experience with the huge clay model, Dallin said: "I have thought about it and dreamed about it so long that I decided to get it off my chest before I died."

The full-size clay model of Revere was placed on exhibit at the Boston Historical Society at the Old State House. Dallin prepared to take his fight to the public. He addressed "an appeal to the citizens of Boston" from the creator of the Appeal to the Great Spirit in which he described the events that led to the signing of the 1885 contract with Mayor Hugh O'Brien. His letter said in part:

Whether after a lapse of half a century this ancient document has any legal value I know not, but I am assured by those who should know that in the minds of just men it represents a moral obligation. ... It was a compact made by the committee and myself in good faith and should be carried out in good faith whenever the opportunity arrives. As I have recently finished the full size model, I have fulfilled my part of the compact, and I now call upon the Citizens of Boston to do their part by subscribing the necessary funds to put the statue into bronze as the

Committee intended. Furthermore, I feel the honor and integrity of Boston and its Citizens are involved too seriously not to pay attention to this appeal. . . .

To those citizens who are really desirous of helping and cannot give, I would suggest their writing to the Trustees of the George Robert White Fund (His Honor Frederick Mansfield, chairman) asking that a part of the Annual Income should be used for the memorial.

The income of the White fund was given for the "Creation of works of utility and beauty for the use and enjoyment of the inhabitants of Boston." The use of the work "Creation" by the Donor is significant as had he intended only works of utility he never would have used this word. Whereas, had he intended some work of art this word only would have been used. Works of utility are made, constructed, or built; works of art are created.

On March 6, 1936, the gray-bearded sculptor appeared before the Legislative Committee on State Affairs at a hearing at the statehouse and told how the provincial prejudices of Boston's elite citizens had robbed him of completing his Revere statue. A bill was introduced to erect the bronze Revere statue on the capitol grounds for the suggested fee of $25,000 to $50,000. A.J. Philpott and other speakers, representing various community organizations, spoke in favor of the bill which also had the endorsement of Gov. James Curley. The governor believed, however, that the statue should be erected near the site of Revere's residence in the Italian colony in the North End.

During 1936 the new Revere model received the approval of the Boston Art Commission, and the heroic-size equestrian statue was reproduced in plaster by the Caproni Galleries of Boston. This firm, originally named P. P. Caproni and Brother, had produced most of Dallin's works of the past forty years in plaster. The statue was painted to simulate the patination of a finished bronze, and the completed plaster equestrian was exhibited at the company's showroom.

VINDICATION COMES AT LAST

In 1937 Dallin offered to sell the Revere to Arlington, Massachusetts, for $10,000 less than what Boston would have to pay for it. Drawings were made to demonstrate how the statue would look if placed on Massachusetts Avenue in front of the Arlington High School. It was argued that this site was near the route Revere had traveled to Lexington on his "midnight" ride.

Perhaps Arlington's proposal forced Boston to more positive action. A committee from the Boston Chamber of Commerce organized a program for an Art Week and invited Dallin to cooperate by allowing his large model to be featured in its exhibition. Possibly in hopes of creating public interest in his work, Dallin permitted the plaster statue to be temporarily erected. On April 24, 1937, the bronze-colored enlargement was unveiled in simple ceremonies at the Esplanade, a wide paved walk bordering the Charles River at the end of Revere Street. Gov. Charles F. Hurley, one of the guest speakers for this occasion, termed this event a "vindication" of Dallin. The seventy-four-year-old sculptor responded briefly by saying the Revere statue was his swan song and concluding: "More than half a century ago I began this work, my best work. I will say nothing further. I'll let my work speak for itself."

While the statue was on exhibit at the Esplanade, portions of the model were damaged, requiring a new arm and other minor changes. During the next two years the statue was displayed at other public places, and Dallin continued to hold conferences with various committees attempting to secure funds for the project.

During 1938 and 1939 Dallin continued to write appeals to citizens and public officials, including ex-governor Alvan T. Fuller, but a growing despondency came over the bewildered sculptor. In a letter to his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Martin Bovey, Dallin dejectedly concluded:

Things haven't been very heartening this last year and I am beginning to feel that art isn't anything much anyway. However I realize this is not the way to write to you and please forgive me.

In the fall of 1939 Dallin again petitioned the White Fund for financial aid. His appeal took a new form this time with a poem describing the history of his Revere statue. The poem, a parody of Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride," was submitted to Mayor Tobin and the other trustees of the White Fund.

Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the ignoble failure of Boston to rear The greatest creation of my long career. The Equestrian Statue of Paul Revere. A citizens' committee of well known men Selected my model from a competition of ten. On July the fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, The committee, of which not one now is alive Made a contract with me all legally signed To erect in Copley Square my statue designed To honor the hero whose cry of alarm Aroused every Middlesex village and farm For the country folk to be up and to arm. Alas! no statue now graces Copley Square. 'Tis enough to make even an angel swear But being only human I refuse to despair. And I hope that means will be found somewhere So after the lapse of many a year Due honor be paid to Paul Revere.

Later the good-humored Dallin recalled how the poem had moved Mayor Tobin to take interest in his request. "By gum, I think that it must have amused him and started him thinking again about the statue. I'm not exactly a poet but I was able to put a lot of feeling into that poem."

Finally, in December 1939, the trustees of the George Robert White Fund reconsidered Dallin's requests and ruled that the fund could finance the statue. Immediately, negotiations began between the Dallin family and the White Fund manager, Joseph F. O'Connell. Lawrence Dallin, who was a successful businessman, did most of the bargaining for the family. He asked for a sum in excess of $50,000 to pay for his father's lifetime efforts. This amount was in agreement with a fee A.J. Philpott had suggested six years earlier. Philpott pointed out that had the original $5,000 appropriated by the city council in 1885 been banked at compound interest, the money would have increased to $50,000 by 1933.

Sometime during the 1930s Dallin had anticipated that he would receive $80,000 or $85,000 for his finished Revere monument. His personal handwritten accounts titled, "Items of cost—Paul Revere Statue, covering period of 51 years," list approximate expenses totaling $18,135. One of these expenses was a $1,500 bond on a "contract of $85,000." Other curious figures subtracted from the $85,000 show additional disbursements of $6,000 (with a notation of "s") and $30,000 (with a notation of "b"). Perhaps these figures, separate from the $18,135 expenses, may represent Dallin's out-of-pocket costs for the bronze statue and for the base or pedestal.

When the White Fund manager proposed a counteroffer to Dallin of approximately $30,000 for the statue, Lawrence objected to the meager sum; but another brother favored acceptance of the offer, saying: "The money doesn't count. Just do it anyway. My father needs it." The final business transactions, as related by Lawrence Dallin, seem more incredible than all the previous political maneuvers and opposition that had robbed Dallin of his commission for more than fifty years.

When Joseph O'Connell, the manager of the White Fund, presented his estimate of costs of the monument, it was at once apparent to Lawrence Dallin that his father would receive very little money for his efforts. Knowing that the statue could be cast into bronze by the Gorham Company of Providence, Rhode Island, for half the price shown on the estimate (the fund manager had indicated that this final casting was to be done by T.F. McGann and Sons at Somerville, Massachusetts), the Dallins insisted upon handling the business of completing the monument themselves. Already the separate parts of the statue were being prepared by Caproni Galleries for shipment to the bronze foundry. Lawrence Dallin made the following accusation:

... I went in and fought the thing out with a bunch of grafters and the City Hall. . . . Tobin was the mayor at the time but this O'Connell who ran the White Fund had all the final word of how the money was to be spent. . . . But, they really tried to get me when I tried to pull the rug out from under them and let Gorham do it . . . and they actually sent, as I told you, those gangsters over with a big black sedan, and stole the parts from Crabtree [manager of Caproni Galleries] and he said, "I didn't dare stop them. It looked like they had guns and everything." . . . They walked right in. They knew just what they were after and took the essential parts—the horse's head, Paul Revere's arm, Paul Revere's leg. ... I got stuck. . . . There was a five thousand dollar graft went to somebody on that end of it and over twenty-five thousand graft went on the pedestal. So they got thirty thousand dollars. They got just as much out of it as we did.

When the newspapers announced on January 6, 1940, that the city of Boston would erect the statue, Lawrence commented:

No contract with the White Fund trustees has been signed, but we have agreed upon the price. If they say they want the statue to be unveiled on April 19 [Patriot's Day] I'm afraid they're going to be disappointed. It's pretty much of a rush order to get the bronze cast in such short time.

The newspaper also reported that "except for one leg of the horse the entire statue is now at foundry of T.F. McGann in Somerville."

The Dallins reasoned that to protest this virtual fait accompli would only result in more delays and heartaches. Therefore, they chose to remain silent, conceding to the demands of the unscrupulous officials and helplessly watching as the appropriated funds were skimmed off by undeserving persons. On January 17, 1940, Cyrus E. Dallin, with shaky handwriting, signed a contract with the city of Boston to execute the Paul Revere statue in bronze for the fee of $27,500. The statue would be erected at the Paul Revere Mall between Hanover Street and the Old North Church.

This long-awaited victory should have brought continued joy to Dallin in his declining years, but his anxieties were heightened by yet another unexpected tragedy. Dallin's son, Arthur, an artist who had gained local renown for his stained-glass windows for Boston's cathedrals, decided to join the French Foreign Legion at the outbreak of World War II. Arthur who had been born in France while his father studied there in 1898, felt a strong loyalty to that country. While the final preparations for the Revere dedication rites were being made in the summer of 1940, news came to Cyrus Dallin that Arthur was missing in action. It was months after the Revere dedication rites before the sorrowing sculptor knew that his son had been killed in action. The physical and emotional strain affected Dallin's health and mental awareness.

At last, on Sunday September 22, 1940, Cyrus E. Dallin's heroicsize bronze equestrian statue of Paul Revere stood on a polished Milford granite pedestal in the narrow court of the Paul Revere Mall adjoining the Old North Church. The huge monument measured twenty-one feet from the ground to the top of Paul Revere's hat, and the bronze weighed four tons. The pedestal had been designed by J. Lovell Little, a descendant of Revere, in collaboration with Raymond A. Porter, a colleague of Dallin's at the Massachusetts School of Art. The monument was surrounded by thirteen bronze tablets sponsored by the White Fund commemorating other early patriots.

The impressive dedication ceremonies began with the presentation of the statue and tablets by the city manager to Mayor Maurice J. Tobin, who accepted them for the city of Boston. In his address Mayor Tobin stated that the dedication of the statue "rights a great wrong." Paul Revere, Jr., of Canton, a nine-year-old great-great-great-grandson of the Revolutionary hero, unveiled the bronze statue as several thousand people cheered its creator, Cyrus E. Dallin. The Boston Post reported the sculptor's reaction:

Cyrus Dallin said nothing. He bowed when he was introduced, but that was all. Watching him, spectators got the impression that his heart and mind were too filled with emotion to permit him to do anything but sit quietly in the sun while the orators praised the name of Paul Revere and the deeds of the early patriots.

Justice had finally come to Cyrus Dallin and Paul Revere. The work of fifty-seven years had reached fruition. Every obstacle had been removed, and Cyrus Edwin Dallin realized the crowning achievement of his eventful life.

EPILOGUE

Cyrus Edwin Dallin was a man of faith and sentiment. Before his death in 1944, he returned once more to his birthplace in the West. The sight of the Rocky Mountains always affected him deeply, for he believed that the lowlands and the prairies produced the painters, but it was the mountains that produced the sculptors. "I was born in the West in the mountains," he said, "but never in my life have I been able to return to them without breaking down and weeping." 87 Boston's "Cyrus the Great" had gained international honors and fame, but his heart remained in Springville with the mountains and the mother he adored.

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