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Old 07-16-2008, 04:04 PM   #1
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Default History of Meredith Indian?

My mother is fascinated by this indian. I am hoping the history buffs can shed some light on his name and the history.
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Old 07-16-2008, 05:03 PM   #2
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kaj: The Indian was "renovated" a few years ago. Here is an article that appeared in the Laconia Citizen

Quote:
Chocorua statue set to take its place in Meredith By BEA LEWIS

Northern Lakes Region Bureau
MEREDITH — Nearly three years of work for a Maine sculptor will become public property today when the bronze statue of an Indian brave he created will stand sentinel on a local island.


This early postcard shows the carefully manicured grounds of Clough Park and one of the three cigar store Indians originally displayed there along with a more recent photograph from photopost.


Glenn Hines of Houlton, Maine and his wife, Diane, crafted the imposing 11,000-pound eight-foot tall replica of the Native American that is scheduled to grace Indian Island in Meredith Bay on Lake Winnipesaukee by day’s end.
Local residents and businesses collectively donated some $58,000 to fund the creation of the bronze and another $5,000 to restore the badly eroded island. Organizers said another $4,000 is needed to landscape the island with native wetland type plants that are mandated by the terms of the state fill permit issued for the work.
The small island was originally home to a zinc sculpture of an Indian that had been part of a collection owned by local coal magnate Edward H. Clough. Given to the town around 1924, the war-like Indian was dubbed "Chief Chocorua" by the locals.
A historical state highway marker in the shadow of the jagged mountain peak next to Route 16 in Tamworth erected in 1965 recounts "The Chocorua Legend." In several versions, the legend’s sequence relates the mysterious death of Chocorua’s son while in the care of a settler name Campbell. Suspicious of the cause, the Pequawket chieftain took revenge on the settler’s family. Then, in retaliation, Campbell killed Chocorua on the peak of the mountain that now bears the Indian’s name.
Other accounts of the legend have Chocorua pursued to the summit by white settlers. Rather than be captured and hung, the Indian leapt to his death but put a curse upon the villagers before committing suicide. In the weeks following his threat, an epidemic of cow pox struck the Mount Washington Valley, killing many of the settlers’ cattle.
Although the original statue was known as Chocorua, he may have been modeled after Squantum, best known in history for befriending the Pilgrims in 1620. Although only one close-up photograph of the original statue remains, it bears a striking resemblance to a zinc sculpture of a Native American in the town of Tilton. That statue previously stood atop a granite pedestal off Main Street at the rear of the parking lot that serves Providian Bank. Badly-weathered and missing both his hands and his bow and arrow, the statue has been sent to Maine to be restored.
It is believed that Chief Chocorua may have been one of a number of copies of Squantum that was commissioned by Tilton founder Charles Tilton and presented to various communities.
Meredith’s copy was installed on the island and flanked by two giant iron anchors that until 1870 were in use on the steamer Chocorua that plied the waters of the Big Lake. The soft metal statue met an untimely demise. Damaged by a shotgun blast after being used for target practice, the statue met its final fate after being struck by a snowmobile. Moved off the island and taken to the old town garage, the statue proved to be irreparably damaged and its remains were reportedly buried.
According to a history of Clough Park, Meredith’s Chief Chocorua originally stood on the bank of the Merrimack River in Manchester. Clough, who lived in the house that is now Lakeshore Deli, served as Manchester’s Postmaster. He apparently had a special fondness for history and collected a variety of artifacts he displayed in the lakeside park he created on Meredith Bay and which bore his name. Key among them was a collection of three wooden cigar store Indians and rocks and minerals collected from around the world. The rocks were fashioned into a retaining wall that ran the length of the 240 feet of shorefront he owned. The wall, which has since collapsed, was built with a variety of geological rarities including pieces of meteorite, a chunk of the Greek Parthenon, a shoe-shaped rock from an Indian grave, and coral from the shore of Havana Harbor where the battleship Maine was sunk. The wall also included rocks donated by famous people including Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.
Although Hines used pictures of the original "Chocorua" to help create his bronze, he said, the replacement is a more exacting replica of the Native Americans who once called the Lakes Region home.
The aggressive stance of the statue’s predecessor, has been softened, and the sculpture has been enlarged to allow it to be more easily seen by passing boaters as well as motorists.
"The original was intended to be viewed close up. We increased the scale to make it easier to see," Hines said.
Meanwhile, members of the Indian Island Restoration Committee, made up of Karen Sticht, Jim Wallace and Chuck Thorndike, say their motivation was to return a little piece of history to Meredith.
On the Friday before Memorial Day, Hines trucked the statue to Meredith.
The original was molded in clay in his Maine studio. Using the lost wax process, Hines explained, he painted the clay model with a rubber compound to create a mold. To prevent the latex from sagging and to give it strength, a layer of plaster was added over it. The mold was carefully removed leaving a negative of the original clay model, Hines said. After being cleaned, the mold was reassembled and filled first with a layer of hot wax then plaster. The finished mold was eventually filled with molten metal at Eagle Bronze Casting Co. in Lander, Wyo.
Wednesday and today, members of the Indian Island Restoration Committee worked with marine contractor Dean Mason to install the statue. A 2,700 pound granite boulder selected from the Ambrose Brothers pit will serve as the statue’s base. Three stainless steel pins about one inch in diameter were used to secure the boulder to another cut granite slab on the island. Two more of the threaded pins, donated by RemCon North, were used to attach Chocorua to the boulder. Hines said a stainless steel superstructure is at the heart of the statue allowing it to be permanently and securely anchored. The holes drilled into the rock to accept the pins were sealed with an epoxy to make them weather-tight.
Other monuments crafted by Hines include a memorial to Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain that stands in Brewer, Maine and the Law Enforcement Memorial in Augusta, Maine.



Another old postcard from photopost
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Old 07-16-2008, 07:35 PM   #3
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Default 5 1/2 tons?

McDude,

I appreciate your posts, especially historic posts. But 5 1/2 tons of metal (11,000 lbs.)? Let's you and I go out to the island and weigh it. It couldn't be more than a 1/2 ton. I'll bring the kidney belts.
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Old 07-17-2008, 08:06 AM   #4
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Thanks McDude. I knew I'd find the answer here!
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Old 07-17-2008, 09:40 AM   #5
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Default Oh McDude.....You've done it again!

Great stuff again. I can't believe I've never seen Indian Island or this statue. Could someone tell me how to see it by boat please.
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Old 07-17-2008, 11:59 AM   #6
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It is in the end of Meredith bay, to the right of the town docks. I don't know how close you can get by boat. (In front of the white hotel with all the window boxes filled with pink flowers I forget the name, not the New Church landing or Mill Falls.) Oops there I go giving directions like a girl!
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Old 07-17-2008, 12:25 PM   #7
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Default Look for us too

Sik, Look for McDude and me too. We'll be the two guys lifting the indian onto the bathroom scale.
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Old 07-17-2008, 09:34 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pineedles View Post
McDude,
Let's you and I go out to the island and weigh it.
Pineedles: Do you have a boat? Can you come and pick me up in Alton Bay? I only have a kayak ...and besides being a long way to Meredith ..I'm afraid that a loon might snag me on my way over like this poor guy up in Tamworth...


then....I'd be accused of being a part of that GFBQ crowd (See RELATED THREAD)....and we can't have that!!!

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Old 07-18-2008, 08:46 AM   #9
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Default You guys are too funny

I think I just wet my pants.
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Old 07-18-2008, 10:47 AM   #10
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Default No worries

McDude,
I have a special PWC that you don't have to worry about being accused of being a part of the GFB crowd. Once were airborne only the FAA will be able to say anything about our speed. Estimated flight time from Alton Bay to Meredith 3 minutes
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Old 08-09-2012, 04:51 AM   #11
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We took a paddle boat ride yesterday by this statue yesterday, and I decided this might be the best way to get information on it. Can any historians out there add anything?
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