425 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
link between the city and Arbor Lodge, the home of 
the Morton family. The monument stands amid the 
native forest trees which the man it commemorates 
loved so well. The site is sodded and elevated and 
surrounded by a low brick wall, covered with roses 
and ivy. Three terraced landings of brick and stone 
lead up to the pedestal of the statue, which is of West- 
erly granite, backed by a curved seat of exedra form, 
about 50 feet across. At the top of the pedestal is a 
bronze garland of fruit and foliage, typifying the Ar- 
The granite bench is immediately backed by growing^H 
laurels and evergreens and farther back is the back-^H 
ground of forest trees. On either end of the broad 
granite base, immediately in front of the pedestal, is a^E 
stone bench on the end of which appears Mr. Morton’s^H 
well-known motto: “Plant Trees.” 
In front of the memorial proper and removed from^B 
it is a bronze female figure emblematic of the senti-]^B 
ment of tree-planting. It portrays a woodsprite typi-^B 
lying the “Spirit of Tree Love,” holding a young tree^B 
THE J. STERLING MORTON MEMORIAL. MORTON PARK, NEBRASKA CITY, NEB. 
Rudolph Evans, Sc. 
bor Day sentiment. On the face in this inscription : 
J. STERLING MORTON. 
1832 — 1902. 
AUTHOR OF ARBOR DAY. 
Two inscriptions run across the back of the seat: 
“Love of Home is Primary Patriotism,” “Other Holi- 
days Repose Upon the Past, Arbor Day Proposes for 
the Future.” 
Two bronze tablets about 30x36 inches, on either 
side, beneath these inscriptions bear appropriate 
scenes in bas-relief. One of them, a copy of a paint- 
ing in Arbor Lodge, represents Mr. and Mrs. Morton 
present at the signing of the treaty with the Pawnee 
Indians which transferred that section of the state to 
the government. The other tablet shows a landscape 
with trees and a female figure planting a tree. 
Across the base of the seat runs the inscription : 
“Erected by the Arbor Day Memorial Association in 
Memory of Julius Sterling Morton MCMV.” 
in extended left hand, her gaze directed toward the 1 
ground where the tree is about to be planted. 1 
The surmounting bronze statue is a strong, simple I 
figure, portraying Mr. Morton in an easy natural atti- 1 
tude, his left hand resting on a short staff and the 1 
right arm hanging freely by his side, holding the hat J 
which is apparently just removed. The statue is about 9 
eight feet high and was cast in Paris. 3 
The Arbor Day Memorial Association was organ- I 
ized in 1902 soon after Mr. Morton’s death, and the 3 
appeal for funds met with instant and hearty support j|j 
not only throughout America but in foreign countries * 
as well. A number of contributions were received B 
from Europe and Australia. ^ 
An interesting feature of the exercises on the dayB 
of dedication was the planting of a white ash tree be-'B 
hind the monument by Mr. Cleveland, and Joy, Paul, t 
and Mark Morton, sons of the late Secretary. The 
tree was one which Mr. Morton himself had planted in 
another portion of the park. 
