Trail of Governors explained

The Trail of Governors is series of life-size bronze statues of former governors of South Dakota in Pierre, the state capital. After installing its first statues in 2012, the project completed its goal of placing statues of every former governor ten years later with the 2022 unveiling.^[1] Future governors, beginning with incumbent Governor Kristi Noem, will be added after they leave office. Sculptors who have created statues for the project include John Lopez, James Van Nuys, James Michael Maher, Lee Leuning and Sherry Treeby.^[2]

Statues have been added to the trail since 2012:

• 2012: The trail's first statues portrayed Arthur C. Mellette, Harlan J. Bushfield and Walter Dale Miller.^[3]
• 2013: Statues were added of Frank Farrar, Harvey L. Wollman and William J. Janklow.^[4]
• 2014: In conjunction with celebrations of the South Dakota's 125th anniversary of statehood, the trail added statues of Robert S. Vessey, Peter Norbeck and George S. Mickelson.^[5]
• 2015: New statues were added portraying Charles N. Herreid, George T. Mickelson and Richard F. Kneip.^[6]
• 2016: The trail added statues of Warren E. Green, Nils Boe and M. Michael Rounds.^[7]
• 2017: Four statues were added to the trail, portraying Tom Berry, Leslie Jensen, Sigurd Anderson and Joe Foss.
• 2018: Statues of William H. McMaster, Merrell Q. Sharpe and Ralph Herseth were added to the trail.^[8]
• 2019: The trail added statues of Samuel H. Elrod, Archie M. Gubbrud and Dennis Daugaard.^[9]
• 2021: Statues of Charles H. Sheldon, Coe I. Crawford and Carl Gunderson were unveiled, following a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10]
• 2022: The trail completed its initial placement of statues, adding Andrew E. Lee, Frank M. Byrne and William J. Bulow.

External links

• Trail of Governors

Notes and References

1. News: Final three Trail of Governors statues unveiled. KDLT-TV/KSFY-TV. June 19, 2022. Goss. Austin.
2. News: PHOTOS: Four new statues unveiled along Trail of Governors in Pierre. KSFY-TV. June 16, 2017.
3. News: First Trail of Governors statues unveiled. Capital Journal. June 15, 2012. Nixon. Lance.
4. News: Trail of Governors. South Dakota Public Broadcasting. June 17, 2013. Gehrke. Karl.
5. News: Latest Trail of Governors statues unveiled . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141130052512/http://www.ksfy.com/home/headlines/Latest-Trail-of-Governors-statues-unveiled-281200281.html. . November 1, 2014. November 30, 2014.
6. News: SD Trail of Governors statues to be unveiled. Argus Leader. June 12, 2015. Associated Press.
7. News: South Dakota unveiling 3 more statues of former governors. Argus Leader. June 17, 2016. Associated Press.
8. News: A fence, a fish and a fuel can: Latest additions to Trail of Govs unveiled. Capital Journal. June 18, 2018. Askins. Dave.
9. News: Statues of former-Gov. Daugaard, two others unveiled for Pierre's Trail of Governors Jamestown Sun . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190615011600/https://www.jamestownsun.com/news/government-and-politics/4626344-statues-former-gov-daugaard-two-others-unveiled-pierres-trail. June 15, 2019 . Mearhoff . Sarah . June 15, 2019.
10. News: Trail of Governors 2020 statue unveiling postponed due to COVID-19. Dakota Radio Group. May 20, 2020. Burrall. David.