At the northeast corner of Cossley Park where State Hwy 41 intersects Route 66 is a sculpture of a surveyor looking through a transit with a small dog at his feet.
Four sculptures were commissioned collectively known as "The Settlers". Torrance County New Mexico locals served as the models. A surveyor was chosen as one of the four to celebrate the importance of Route 66 traversing the county. I was hoping there was a story about a man and his faithful dog. However, what the county history society shared was of interest:
"The state's Cultural Corridors program, administered by the state Office of Cultural Affairs,
commissioned Texas artist Linda Chandler in 1998 to create the $100,000 four-sculpture piece.
The New Mexico Cultural Corridors program was funded through an initial $500,000 grant from the
federal Department of Transportation to provide public art relating to travel. The program constructed
public artworks throughout the state, including works in Gallup, Grants, Tucumcari, Las Cruces and
Socorro.
Communities chosen for the program were involved and given final say over the artwork and site
selection. In Moriarty, a six-person committee* had 81 proposals from which to choose when the
project started around 1994. The committee reduced the list to four and finally decided on Chandler's
design in 1998. The state provided a $90,000 grant, and the City gave $10,000 in matching funds.
The statues, collectively called 'The Settlers,' depict themes of the early days of Torrance County:
farming, ranching, the railroad and construction of Route 66."
Since it is a city park everything gets decorated with Christmas lights. Linda Chandler the artist is now deceased, she was a graduate of East Texas State and taught art at Sul Ross State. I attended East Texas State in the mid seventies. The information about the sculptures arrived by email the same day we were visiting the campus of Sul Ross State and I happen to be a retired Texas Highway Dept. surveyor. How is that for serendipity.
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