Washington state officials are confronting a 5-ton problem: Where to move a more than 9,000-pound Marcus Whitman statue in the state Capitol.
Whitman, a doctor and missionary, settled near what is today Walla Walla in the 1830s and was later killed along with his wife and 11 others by members of the Cayuse Tribe. He is one of two Washington figures to have a statue in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall.
In recent years, Whitman’s legacy has soured and scrutiny has increased over his role in the displacement of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. State lawmakers in 2021 approved a bill to replace the Whitman statue in the U.S. Capitol and another in the state Capitol building with statues of Billy Frank Jr.
Frank was a member of the Nisqually Indian Tribe who fought for the protection of salmon and Native American rights. During the 1960s and 1970s, he helped stage “fish-ins” and other demonstrations that led to a court ruling that protected the rights of tribes to fish without being subject to state regulation. He died in 2014 at the age of 83.
Relocating the Whitman statue in Olympia is proving to be a heavy lift. The roughly 11-foot-tall bronze statue, located near the north entrance of the state Capitol building, weighs 9,144 pounds with its stone base.
Locations on the third floor of the Capitol, outside the House or Senate chambers were considered but deemed infeasible because of difficulties involved in getting the statue up stairs and other concerns, including the need for “significant floor reinforcement.”
Another possibility is moving the statue outside into the building’s south portico. This would require the statue to have periodic waxing to protect it from the elements and additional security measures would be needed as other Whitman statues have been vandalized.
This outdoor location could potentially work and the move would cost the state about $115,000, according to an estimate the Department of Enterprise Services presented to the State Capitol Committee on Monday.
Another simpler option would be to leave the statue where it is.
“Turns out when you’ve got a nearly 5-ton statue, answers aren’t easy,” said Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, the committee’s chair.
According to Heck, the Frank statue will be about 11 feet tall and is looking at a September 2025 debut in Statuary Hall.
Jacquelyn is a Murrow News Fellow with the Washington State Standard.
