End of Trail

The End of Trail is symbolic and on our site different sculptors have interpreted it in different ways. However, there is actually an End of the Trail sculpture located in Shaler Park in Waupun, Wisconsin. The sculptor, James Earle Fraser, created the first End of Trail statue in 1894 basing it on his experience as a boy in the Dakota Territory. It was cast in bronze.

The End of Trail statue memoralizes the American Indian who suffered much. You can “feel” the suffering and exhaustion that so many Indians felt after being driven from their native lands or after battle. 

The End of the Trail could be interpreted as the Pacific Ocean or the new home of the American Indian. Some of our End of Trail statues are named Journey’s End - symboling same journey.