Sculptor Horatio Greenough received a commission to design a full-scale sculpture of George Washington for the United States Capitol. He sent this letter to the Secretary of State with designs for a second sculpture for the platform in front of the Capitol Building. He also requests payment.
Greenough explained that the goal for the sculpture was to “convey the idea of the triumph of the whites over the savage tribes, at the same time that it illustrates the dangers of peopling the country.” The completed sculpture would be called The Rescue; it depicts an oversized White frontiersman struggling with an American Indian man with a tomahawk while a White woman and child cower nearby. It was installed at the Capitol in 1853. The sculpture was controversial, and it was removed and placed in storage in 1958.
