Taft William

President Taft Hosts Groundbreaking of National American Indian Memorial



Bifold invitation on cream paper on card stock, typewritten except for invitee name handwritten in black fountain pen at top. With print of photogravure by Joseph K. Dixon depicting solitary American Indian on rocky outcropping entitled “The Last Outpost” at top. Invitation measures 9.125” x 12.75” and is in fine condition, with expected wear including central crease and peripheral smudges.



The invitation reads in part: “The National American Indian Memorial Association extends a cordial invitation to Dr. Julius J. Sachse to participate with The President of the United States Members of the Cabinet and other distinguished guests in the ceremonies attending the official inauguration of the work in connection with the erection of the National American Indian Memorial at Fort Wadsworth, in the Harbor of New York … ”



27th U.S. President William H. Taft (1857-1930) officiated the groundbreaking ceremony of the National American Indian Memorial on February 22, 1913. Ceremony invitees included Taft cabinet members, over thirty American Indian chieftains, and our invitee, one Dr. Julius Friedrich Sachse.



The monument was to be built at Fort Tompkins, NY at the mouth of New York Harbor, about eleven miles south of the Statue of Liberty complex further north. Monument blueprints featured a 165-foot-tall statue of an American Indian warrior to be sculpted by Daniel Chester French (1850-1931). Outdoor sculptures of bison and horses, a museum containing indigenous artifacts, and a library were also planned for the site. Although Rodman Wanamaker of the department store fortune conceived the idea and spearheaded fundraising efforts, the project stalled and was never completed.



Dr. Julius F. Sachse (1842-1919) was an amateur photographer who wrote extensively about late-nineteenth-century photography. A war veteran, businessman, and successful investor, Sachse received an honorary doctoral degree from Muhlenberg College (Bethlehem, PA). He devoted much of his later life to photographing everyday subjects, as well as offering critiques of the field of photography and photographic clubs, this last under the pseudonym J. Focus Snappschotte. It is possible that Sachse crossed paths with Wanamaker since the department store heir hosted several photographic expeditions out West between 1908 and 1913. It was on one of these trips to document the last days of “the noble savage” that Joseph K. Dixon took the remarkable photogravure featured on this invitation.

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