{"nrhp_refnum":"09000871","name":"Indian Statue","other_names":["\"Black Hawk\" Statue"],"category":"object","location":{"address":"Lowden Memorial State Park, 1411 N. River Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oregon","county":"Ogle County","state":"IL","lat":42.03608892500006,"lon":-89.33318682399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-11-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 48-foot-4-inch reinforced concrete statue of an American Indian figure, designed by sculptor Lorado Taft and completed in 1911 on the east bluff of the Rock River in Lowden Memorial State Park, near Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the statue is nationally significant under Criterion C in the area of art. At the time it was the largest monolithic poured concrete statue in the United States and showed a new artistic use for modern cement. It is also the work of master sculptor Lorado Taft, and it drew international attention as an important piece of public sculpture.","narrative":"Rising 48 feet 4 inches above the Rock River bluff in Lowden Memorial State Park near Oregon, Illinois, this figure of an American Indian stands with folded arms wrapped in a blanket, gazing southwest over the valley. Sculptor Lorado Taft designed it, and John Prasuhn supervised construction. Workers poured the reinforced concrete continuously for ten days in freezing December 1910, with an outer layer of pink granite chips. The statue is widely called \"Black Hawk,\" but Taft never gave it that name and intended it to represent a general Indian personality drawn from several peoples. It was listed for its artistic value: it was the largest monolithic poured concrete statue in the country, it showed a new use for cement in art, and it is the work of a nationally known master. Repeated repairs since 1945 have left cracks and patches, yet the design and detail remain clear, and the wooded bluff setting retains high integrity.","period_of_significance":"1911","architect_builder":"Taft, Lorado Z.","architectural_style":"NA: work of art","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Described as in remarkably stable condition overall, though the folded-arms area shows spalling, delamination and many generations of patch repairs. It is a publicly owned object in a state park.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.468019-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/5/8938/28893805/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/09000871.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000871/3cbfe30cd6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000871/3cbfe30cd6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"IvoShandor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oregon_Il_Lowden_State_Park10.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">IvoShandor</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oregon_Il_Lowden_State_Park10.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893805","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Statue","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4920889"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/ogle-county/indian-statue-09000871/"}