Sakajawea

February 12, 2004 - Sakajawea, A Great Western Hero

There are certain TV memories stored in our brains that just can’t be lost. It is a wonder of life that we can remember the lyrics to the Gilligan’s Island theme song, but can’t remember to pay the electricity bill until they paste one of those disconnect-notices on our front door. One of those hard-to-lose memories is of the police chief on the NBC Mystery Movie shouting “McCloud!” at actor Dennis Weaver whenever he did some reckless cowboy thing like riding his horse onto a NYC subway. After that series, Weaver showed up again as the spokesperson for Great Western Savings. He would ride his horse in great wide-open spaces and talk about financial safety and security. Weaver got the job when John Wayne died – big boots to fill, but the Duke would have been proud.

<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/datadrillcom" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">

A couple of years ago, Washington Mutual was on an acquisition rampage. Great Western Savings was among the companies it gobbled up. The acquirer had no interest in western heritage, only customer base and market share. They dropped the Wild West theme faster than the Pony Express got from Missouri to California! Dennis Weaver packed up his saddle and rode into the sunset. The Great Western Forum in LA was able to successfully fight off a name change after the acquisition. At the time the Forum was considered to be a key pillar of the Lakers’ winning tradition. Now all the pillars are gone: Chick Hearn passed away; Jerry West is a Grizzly; and the Lakers play in a stadium named after a national office supply retailer.

On the corner of State and Victoria, another tie to the Great Western past still remains. There, in front of the branch, you will see this bronze sculpture of the great Sakajawea, the Shoshone Native American woman who served as an interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition 200 years ago. Carrying her young son on her back (as she is in the statue), she is legendary for her perseverance and resourcefulness. She is also featured on the new US one dollar coin.

John Wayne
the Horseman

Harry Jackson created the sculpture in 1980 (unveiled in Santa Barbara in 1985). He has other Sakajawea sculptures in Lake Tahoe, Wyoming, and Italy. Another work Jackson created for Great Western Savings is a twenty-one foot high bronze equestrian statue called John Wayne-The Horseman. It stands on Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Jackson and Wayne were good friends and according to Jackson, the bank commissioned the statue because the Duke insisted. We wonder if Jackson knows Dennis Weaver.

Harry Jackson has led a pretty wild life. The biography on his website is recommended reading for anyone who thinks they had it rough.

In yesterday’s contest only 1 person had all three things we were looking for in an answer ... that the sculpture was at Victoria & State, that the women is Sakajawea, and that it has something to do with Great Western Savings. That person was Pyramed who wins free movie tickets. Pocahontas? High Noon? Take your pick.

Want to get instant fame and cool prizes? ... enter today’s contest

We want to hear from you ... tell us what you think of this tidbit