The stone sculptures before you were [?]ed by [?] Richard Stauffer and produced by the 1992 Kansas Sculptors Association Team Carv[?] [?] to illustrated the theme "Prairie Passage," reflecting Emporia's role as gateway to the Flint Hills[?] , its significance as a trade and education center, its history, and its vision for the future. The scu[?] [?] a variety of images about the land, its [?]es, and its people. The pylons are clustered in four pairs of echoing images as described below:
ALAHE
Alahe, an Indian—possibly Osage—name, means "people of the east wind." The Alahe stone is echoed by the pylon with gesturing hands at its top. This sign language means "I come in peace." The hands are carved above images that were derived from area potsherds (bits of broken pottery), the meaning of which may never be discovered.
PLUMB
Preston B. Plumb was a founder of Emporia and an early Kansas legislator. The Plumb stone is echoed by the pylon bearing symbols related to nourishment provided by the land. The images include wheat, row crops, cattle, sheep, wagon wheel, cowboy hat, iron, shovel, and church.
LYON
Lyon County, in which Emporia is located, takes its name from Nathaniel Lyon, a Civil War general. The Lyon stone is echoed by a pylon that symbolizes elements of the land and air; clouds, lightning, rainbow, rain, creeks, hills, turkey and fish.
WAW
WAW (William Allen White), the most contemporary of the characters represented in stone, achieved international fame as editor of the Emporia Gazette. The WAW stone is echoed by the pylon that features images of railroads, gears, hammers, finance, and a mortar board—connoting the significance of economy and education.
The Prairie Passage sculptures are made of Cottonwood limestone, quarried from the Bayer Stone Quarry in Chase County west of Emporia. The eight pylons range from ten to fifteen feet high and weigh between two and nine tons. Each is pinned to a reinforced concrete foundation.
The sculptures are silhouettes with incised lines of varying depth and thickness. The carving was done by drilling, chiseling, feather wedging, and masonry sawing. Both skilled and inexperienced carvers participated in the carving.
In addition to Richard Stauffer, Emporia Arts Council, participants in the 1992 Kansas Sculptors Association Team Carve, City of Emporia, Lyon County, and Bayer Stone, Inc., many individuals and organizations volunteered to bring this project to life.
"Here, the fairest of the world's habitations"
William Allen White, 1925
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