The E. M. Viquesney "Spirit of the American Doughboy" Database
Right photo: Justin Chambers, volunteer, Mohave Museum of History and Art.
KINGMAN, ARIZONA
N 35° 11.5132 / W 114° 3.1575
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260002.
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260002.
In front of Mohave County Courthouse, 401 E. Spring Street.
The inscription on the plaque (below the eagle relief) reads:
IN MEMORY OF
THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF MOHAVE COUNTY
WHO SERVED IN THE
WORLD WAR
1917 – 1918
IN MEMORY OF
THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF MOHAVE COUNTY
WHO SERVED IN THE
WORLD WAR
1917 – 1918
A plaque dedicated November 11, 1997 at the foot of the base honors Korean-era Veterans.
The old machine gun.
Dedicated May 30, 1928. A goldfish pond that was once at the base is now filled in and planted with flowers. A machine gun was originally mounted on the raised part of the base between the two figures. Its disappearance has been the subject of news articles containing speculations about when it vanished. While it was missing in a 1997 picture that appeared in the Daily Miner, it was reported as being present at the time of a 1993 survey of outdoor sculptures.
The color picture at the left above is included to show more details of the sailor, who appears to be standing on a dock by a rope enwrapped stanchion (between his feet) as he waves his small round cap at some offshore object. Other metal "Spirit of the American Navy" sculptures accompany Doughboys at Clearwater and Palatka, Florida; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Granite and Hobart, Oklahoma; and a stone version occurs with the Doughboy at Crowell, Texas.
Kingman, Arizona is the only known location where two Viquesney statues occur on the same pedestal (Fort Worth, Texas has a Viquesney Doughboy and a WWII G.I. on the same base, but the latter is by a different sculptor, Giordano Grassi, and was placed in 1980).
The color picture at the left above is included to show more details of the sailor, who appears to be standing on a dock by a rope enwrapped stanchion (between his feet) as he waves his small round cap at some offshore object. Other metal "Spirit of the American Navy" sculptures accompany Doughboys at Clearwater and Palatka, Florida; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Granite and Hobart, Oklahoma; and a stone version occurs with the Doughboy at Crowell, Texas.
Kingman, Arizona is the only known location where two Viquesney statues occur on the same pedestal (Fort Worth, Texas has a Viquesney Doughboy and a WWII G.I. on the same base, but the latter is by a different sculptor, Giordano Grassi, and was placed in 1980).
* * *
Les stands at the old fishpond.
Left: Webmaster and Doughboy Searcher Les Kopel of Oxnard California at the Kingman, Arizona Doughboy. It was the first Doughboy he ever visited personally and it took a sleepless night in a hotel listening to all the trains passing through to pull it off. But he at least got to see one of Viquesney’s "Spirit of The American Navy" statues while he was at it. He’s been to quite a few other Doughboys since then.
Les has been a huge help to me in my quest for photos and information about Doughboys and in my attempts to get them all located. I helped him some in getting his project along in the early stages. While we’ve accomplished a lot on a combined basis, we’ve reached the point where his technical abilities to search and pursue things on the Internet now enable him to be much more help to me than I am to him. His willingness to head this effort to get the results of my quest on the Internet has solved a very big challenge for me – one that I don’t think I would have pulled off without him.
Les has been a huge help to me in my quest for photos and information about Doughboys and in my attempts to get them all located. I helped him some in getting his project along in the early stages. While we’ve accomplished a lot on a combined basis, we’ve reached the point where his technical abilities to search and pursue things on the Internet now enable him to be much more help to me than I am to him. His willingness to head this effort to get the results of my quest on the Internet has solved a very big challenge for me – one that I don’t think I would have pulled off without him.
Links:
http://www.pbase.com/image/63076838
http://www.flickr.com/photos/courthouselover/4260667918/in/set-72157625438966420/
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=29398
http://www.pbase.com/image/63076838
http://www.flickr.com/photos/courthouselover/4260667918/in/set-72157625438966420/
http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=29398
