SAN ANTONIO – The Briscoe Western Art Museum install a statue of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt outside of the Menger Hotel on Friday as part of the “Alamo Sculpture Trail” series.

  • Series includes 14 statues
  • "Rough Riders" strategized in Menger Hotel
  • Statue will be moved to Alamo Plaza

The series includes 14 statues linking The Alamo to the museum.

“I am pleased to see the Alamo Sculpture Trail near completion with today’s installment of the Teddy Roosevelt statue,” Donor Jack Guenther said. “These key figures of our city and nation’s history deserve to be prominently displayed throughout Downtown San Antonio and at Alamo Plaza.”

The statue is cast from the original 1922 mold created by sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor (1860-1950). 

With the beginning of the Spanish-American War in April 1898, Roosevelt resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, formed the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment.

The regiment trained in San Antonio, Texas, and strategized for the war in the Menger Hotel Bar. The regiment was diverse, including cowboys, ranchers and Ivy League athletes, and became known as the “Rough Riders”.

 

 

 

Under Roosevelt’s leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill in Cuba on July 1, 1898. Roosevelt recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill as “the great day of my life” and “my crowded hour”. In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

He served as the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 and remains the youngest person to become president.

 “Teddy is being installed in a temporary location in front of the Menger Hotel pending his installation in the completed Alamo Plaza,” Guenther said. “We are thrilled that he will be one of many key figures within the sculpture trail that will lead to the Briscoe Western Art Museum.”

The City of San Antonio approved creating the Alamo Sculpture Trail in 2016 by way of proposal from local philanthropist and Briscoe Western Art Museum past board chair and patron, Guenther.