INDIAN CHIEF NO. 53

I was born and raised in Mount Kisco, NY, a small town located 43 miles north of New York City. One of the town’s primary landmarks is a statue featuring “Chief Kisco” located at the intersection of routes 133 and 117. The statue was erected in 1907 by the Prohibition Party and soon became a central part of the town’s identity. The Chief’s image has appeared on municipal vehicles and uniforms and has been a source of regional folklore for generations.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned that Chief Kisco was actually a fictional character and that the statue featuring him was one of 20 or so replicas that had been shipped across the U.S. in the early 20th century. The statue that we called “Chief Kisco” was originally sold by the title, “Indian Chief #53.”

The statue was modeled after a Wooden Cigar Store Indian that was carved by Samuel Robb (currently housed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History) and was cast in zinc alloy by the J.L. Mott Iron Works in the Bronx, first appearing in their 1873 catalogue. Copies of the statue were exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, the Cotton Exposition in New Orleans in 1884, the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and at an exposition in Paris.

In total, an estimated 25 replicas were created as civic statues and were distributed mostly in the eastern United States and the midwest. While identical, the statues were attributed to a wide variety of Indigenous tribes including the Cherokee, Chippewa, Pawtuxet, Hackensack, Mohawk, Delaware, Shawnee, Algonquin, Seneca, Mingo, and Incan. Statues were often named after specific individuals, though as in the case of “Chief Kisco,” many of these Chiefs were fabricated myths.

Over the years, a number of these statues have been damaged (often by drunk drivers or vandals) and repaired with slight modification, destroyed beyond repair, or removed because of their lack of sensitivity to Indigenous history. There are currently 22 “Indian Chief No. 53” statues still on public display.

CURRENT LOCATIONS

1. Akron, OH
2. Barbeton, OH
3. Calhoun, GA
4. Calhoun, GA
5. Cincinnati, OH
6. Hackensack, NJ
7. Ishpeming, MI
8. Kankakee, IL
9. Mount Kisco, NY
10. LeRoy, IL
11, Lilydale, MN
12. Lodi, OH
13. Mingo, WV
14. Muscatine, IA
15. San Jose, CA
16. Schenectady, NY
17. Sharpsburg, PA
18, Silver Spring, MD
19. St. Bonaventure, NY
20. Tilton, NH
21. Watertown, WI
22. Williamson, WV