Massasoit
Owner: Kansas City Parks & Recreation Department
Artist: Cyrus E. Dallin
Dates: Cast 1920, dedicated May 6, 1979 (original location), relocated 1997
Medium: Bronze (sculpture), Sioux quartzite boulder (base)
Description:
Massasoit was the leader of the Wampanoag Tribe who allied with the Pilgrims who settled in Massachusetts. Massasoit and his people showed the Pilgrims new foods and planting methods. In the fall he went to Plymouth to celebrate the harvest – an event known as the first Thanksgiving.
This 13 ft. bronze statue is one of five originals in the United States. It was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Miller Nichols and donated to the city. It was originally located on the east side of the Plaza tennis courts but was relocated to its current when the tennis park expanded in 1997. It sits atop a boulder of Sioux quartzite that came from the farm of Ralph Dooley of Bosworth, Missouri. The boulder originated in Minnesota but made its way to Missouri by way of glaciers over 500,000 years ago.
