Spirit of the Prairie

I bet you have some favorite stops around the state. One of mine is the Thomas County Courthouse in Colby. Built in 1906, the architect for this red-brick Romanesque Revival structure with limestone trim was J.C. Holland and Squires. What a grand courthouse he designed for this prairie town.

Then in 1986 this Charlie Norton bronze of a prairie woman and her baby was placed in front of the courthouse. Charlie, a native of Leoti, did a fabulous job designing the statue and placing it in a way that adds to the majesty of the building--and of the plains. It's called, "Spirit of the Prairie." I have to think the woman is either waving goodbye to her husband who is headed off across the prairie for days. Alone on the prairie with her baby, what strength those women must have had.

I hope you can stop and see the statue sometime.

KE #2 Marci Penner