How does The Pioneer (Eugene, Oregon) elucidate its Naming?
When this sculpture was created and placed its official name was The Pioneer, not The Pioneer Father. The name "Pioneer Father" only came about after the intentions of the creation of the Pioneer Mother was made public in the late 1920s; it was an edit that provided a means to distinguish between the two sculptures. However, with this change, the original intent was misconstrued or lost altogether.  When The Pioneer was unveiled, Joseph Teal said:"This statue is erected and dedicated to the memory of all Oregon pioneers. It is in no sense personal or individual and it is my earnest wish and hope that this fact may ever be kept in mind." "The pioneer represents all that noblest and best in our history. The men and women who saved the west for this country were animated by the highest motives.  They made untold sacrifices and endured hardships of every kind in order that their children might enjoy the fruits of their labor."At the 1919 dedication, the President of the Oregon Historical Society extolled the virtues of the Anglo-Saxon race, stating,"the Anglo-Saxon race is a branch of the Teutonic race. It was and is a liberty-loving race. It believes in the protection of life and of liberty an in the rights of property and the pursuit of happiness. This race has large powers of assimilation, and its great ideas of liberty and of the rights of mankind caused other races to become a part of it, so it became a people as well as a race."It was designed to be a memorial for all Oregon settlers, men and women alike. Marc Carpenter, who researched the history of the statue in 2018, stated, "A monument is a celebration. Monuments innately celebrate that which they depict. So, to me, it feels very similar to the confederate monuments that speckled a large part of the rest of the country. It’s a monument to violence and white supremacy."
Oregon Historical Society