This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
Lewis Fountain
Intersection of West Main and
Washington Streets
Probably the city's most generous donors were Robert
E. and Fanny Lewis. In 1898, as a memorial to
their son Clifton, they donated the money for a unique drinking fountain with
tiered troughs for animals and cups for humans. Above the fountain was the
statue of a Chippewa chieftain. When
this fountain-statue was placed in the middle of West Main Street, it was not
only imposing but useful, for drivers stopped there to water their horses, and
thirsty dogs lapped up water from the lowest troughs. But when automobiles came in, the troughs
were accidentally damaged and the fountain had to be removed. The noble Indian has found a new site at the
Octagon House, where he looks out toward the Rock River, as his living
counterparts once did when the river and the land belonged to them.
Kiessling, Elmer C., Watertown Remembered, (Milwaukee) 1986,
p. 218.
1906 If you
want to get sprinkled meet me at the fountain - or the bath tub; and if you are
thirsty don't go to the fountain unless you desire to get wet inside and
outside. Go with a sprinkling can or
four new cups. Sept 20
Editor
- Leader: Please republish the above item concerning necessary conveniences at
the fountain,
1908
07 31 Lewis Fountain removed
from Main St while street car tracks being laid WG
09 11 Lewis Fountain returned. Solid concrete base erected on which the fountain
was placed WG
1941
City’s Old Indian Chief To Get $30 Overhauling
The city council is going to
spend $30 to put Watertown’s “Indian Chief” in repair. He’s the Indian who has stood guard in Union
Park many years, following a disastrous encounter with a street car and an automobile
when he camped in West Main Street, at Washington Street, some 15 years ago.
It seems the boys in the region
of Union Park have been pegging stones and other objects at the venerable old
Red Man and have been able to dent him considerably. Last night, Alderman R. F. McLaughlin, Third
ward, mentioned this fact on the floor of the council and said that the boys
tossing the stones have been able to elude the police up to now, but he warned
if they are caught it will go hard with them.
He asked that the Indian be put
in repair, and the council agreed. About
$30 will be spent fixing him up.
Gift
of Lewis
The Indian came into being here
in 1896. At that time he was erected as
part of an elaborate fountain and placed at the West Main street intersection. He was a gift to the city from Mr. and Mrs.
Robert E. Lewis, who provided the fountain as a memorial to their son, Clifton
Lewis. They paid a considerable price
for the memorial, for fountains of such elaborate type were expensive those
days and any city that didn’t have one was looked down upon. There were water
troughs for horses, birds and dogs and there were places where humans could
drink, too.
Several times the Indian fountain
was brightened up with paint and year after year he continued to stand
guard. Then came the modern street car
and the tracks were routed around him.
For years after the he watched the yellow cars whiz by. Automobile traffic also increased, but he
stood his ground and remained a sort of landmark on the west side.
Motorist
Smacks Him
Then one night a motorist,
dashing up the street, found his car heading for the fountain when a street car
came along. Seeking to avoid hitting the
fountain, the driver, before he knew it, had his car pinned between the
fountain and the street car. The
automobile resembled a folded accordion when they got it out.
The Indian was just about toppled
from his perch. In fact, if memory
serves correctly, he was toppled off.
They picked him up in pieces and for more than a year he lay in the old
city machine shed. Then a west side
alderman, E. J. Cavenaugh, to be exact, got busy and hit the warpath for the
Indian. He finally got through an
appropriation to have the monument and the Indian transplanted to Union
Park. And there he has been on the
receiving end of a lot of stones, bricks and other missiles tossed by careless
and unthinking boys.
The council now hopes to fix him
up so he may continue to stand guard in his solitary way for many more
years. Aug 06 WDT
This
statue now stands guard on the grounds of Watertown’s Octagon House, outside
the Gladys Mollart Tour Center. It is a
replica of a fountain in Central Park, New York City.
Image
Portfolio
Click to enlarge
1898, Looking west 1899, Looking east 1902
Washington and Main Washington and Main Picturesque
Watertown book
1905
Looking east from Washington and Main
c1910
St.
Bernard's
and
interurban
1910
Cross reference:
Fountain
Bar, 222 W Main, was also at this intersection
