# The Hiker (Kitson)
**The Hiker** is a bronze statue of a Spanish-American War infantryman by the American sculptor Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson (1871–1932). First made in 1906 for the [University of Minnesota](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-minnesota), it was cast at least 50 times by the Gorham Manufacturing Company between 1921 and 1965 and stands in parks, courthouses, and capitol grounds across the United States as a memorial to veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and the China Relief Expedition of 1898–1902.[1](https://kcparks.org/places/the-hiker/) • [2](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/65167/1/John%20Watt.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sculptor | Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson (1871–1932), professionally known as Theo Ruggles Kitson or Theo A. R. Kitson[1](https://kcparks.org/places/the-hiker/) |
| Original | Created in 1906 for the University of Minnesota, honoring the young men who enlisted in the Spanish-American War[3](https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2016-Winter-Neal-Sculptor-Theodora-Alice-Ruggles-Kitson.pdf) |
| Reproduction rights | Bought by the Gorham Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island, in 1921; Gorham cast at least 50 copies between 1921 and 1965[4](https://udspace.udel.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/d71043c9-6a62-4951-b6fc-3830a02cff11/content) • [2](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/65167/1/John%20Watt.pdf) |
| Honored service | The War with Spain, the Philippine Insurrection, and the China Relief Expedition (Boxer Rebellion), 1898–1902[1](https://kcparks.org/places/the-hiker/) |
| Name | "Hiker" was the term American soldiers of the Spanish-American War and Philippine-American War gave themselves[5](https://www.publicartportland.org/project/the-hiker/) |
| Figure | A standing soldier in slouch hat and tropical uniform holding a Krag-Jørgensen rifle horizontally in front of him[6](https://www.legion.org/memorials/united-states/michigan/united-states-michigan-the-hiker) |
| Scientific use | The identical castings serve as corrosion monitors in studies of acid rain and air pollution on bronze[5](https://www.publicartportland.org/project/the-hiker/) |
## The figure
The statue shows a common foot soldier of 1898 standing at rest, wearing the broad-brimmed hat, tunic, and trousers designed for warfare in tropical climates.[7](https://www.nps.gov/gwmp/learn/historyculture/the_hiker.htm) In most casts he holds a Krag-Jørgensen rifle horizontally in front of his body with both hands, with a cartridge belt, a canteen slung over one shoulder, and a haversack over the other.[6](https://www.legion.org/memorials/united-states/michigan/united-states-michigan-the-hiker) • [8](https://www.si.edu/object/hiker-sculpture%3Asiris_ari_337605) The figure is mounted on a granite base, typically bearing a bronze plaque with the Spanish War Veterans emblem naming Cuba, Porto Rico, the U.S.A., and the Philippine Islands, together with the dates 1898–1902.[8](https://www.si.edu/object/hiker-sculpture%3Asiris_ari_337605)
The title comes from the soldiers themselves: men of the Spanish-American War referred to themselves as "hikers," just as World War I soldiers became "doughboys" and World War II soldiers "G.I.s."[3](https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2016-Winter-Neal-Sculptor-Theodora-Alice-Ruggles-Kitson.pdf) The face of the figure is that of Leonard Sefing, Jr., a Spanish-American War veteran from [Allentown, Pennsylvania](https://www.edgepedia.org/allentown-pennsylvania), who was selected as the model from a photograph he entered in a national contest.[5](https://www.publicartportland.org/project/the-hiker/)
## Origin and reproduction
Kitson's first *Hiker* was a commission from the University of Minnesota, recorded in a 1901 issue of *The Minnesota Alumni Weekly* spurred by Professor Arthur Haynes, to memorialize participants in the short conflict of April to August 1898 with "a military statue, moulded [sic] in bronze."[3](https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2016-Winter-Neal-Sculptor-Theodora-Alice-Ruggles-Kitson.pdf) Kitson already had a reputation for war memorials noted for their realism and historical accuracy, and the statue became her most popular work.[5](https://www.publicartportland.org/project/the-hiker/)
**Commercial reproduction.** The Gorham Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island, acquired the copyright for Kitson's *Hiker* and began erecting copies in 1921.[4](https://udspace.udel.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/d71043c9-6a62-4951-b6fc-3830a02cff11/content) Gorham used the same pattern to sand cast about 1,000 pounds of statuary bronze each time, producing at least 50 figures between 1921 and 1965.[2](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/65167/1/John%20Watt.pdf) The company marketed the statue, paid Kitson a royalty on each casting, and even supplied customers with suggestions and models for bases, plantings, and memorial settings, so the same figure appears in slightly varied formats in many locations.[9](https://preservation.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur406/files/pdfs_zips_downloads/survey_pdfs/sculpture.pdf) Art historians believe it to be one of the most replicated sculptures in the United States.[3](https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2016-Winter-Neal-Sculptor-Theodora-Alice-Ruggles-Kitson.pdf)
Most casts from the 1920s and 1930s stand in the Northeast, especially Massachusetts, with later versions in the South and West.[9](https://preservation.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur406/files/pdfs_zips_downloads/survey_pdfs/sculpture.pdf) Documented installations include [Wakefield](https://www.edgepedia.org/wakefield), Massachusetts (dedicated October 12, 1926, after a Town Meeting vote of $5,000),[10](https://digitalheritage.noblenet.org/s/wakefield/item/17881) [Grand Rapids, Michigan](https://www.edgepedia.org/grand-rapids-michigan) (April 28, 1928),[6](https://www.legion.org/memorials/united-states/michigan/united-states-michigan-the-hiker) [Manchester, New Hampshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/manchester-new-hampshire) (July 4, 1929),[8](https://www.si.edu/object/hiker-sculpture%3Asiris_ari_337605) Malden, Massachusetts (November 20, 1938),[11](https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?aspect=Browse&index=ALTITL&ipp=20&menu=search&profile=ariall&ri=2&session=1Q2P7T7T7T7T7.1&source=~%21siartinventories&spp=20&staffonly=&term=George+Robert+White+Memorial&uri=full%3D3100001~%21299828~%210&view=subscriptionsummary) Arcadia, California (1941),[12](https://www.lacountyarts.org/experiences/civic-art/civic-art-county-collection/artwork/artobject-detail?dataId=452&pageNo=13&sortBy=ObjectDate+desc) Kansas City, Missouri (November 9, 1947),[1](https://kcparks.org/places/the-hiker/) the Texas State Capitol (1951, on Texas Sunset Red granite),[13](https://tspb.texas.gov/prop/tcg/tcg-monuments/06-spanish-american-war/index.html) and the United Spanish War Veterans Memorial on Memorial Avenue near Arlington National Cemetery (1965, one of the last editions).[7](https://www.nps.gov/gwmp/learn/historyculture/the_hiker.htm)
## The sculptor
Theo Alice Ruggles was born in [Brookline, Massachusetts](https://www.edgepedia.org/brookline-massachusetts), in 1871. Refused admission to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts school because of her youth, she began studying in 1886 with the English-born sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson, whom she married in 1893.[3](https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2016-Winter-Neal-Sculptor-Theodora-Alice-Ruggles-Kitson.pdf) She was the first woman admitted to the National Sculpture Society; the scholarly account in the *Historical Journal of Massachusetts* dates this to 1893, when she and her husband were admitted as inaugural members, while several memorial registries give 1895.[3](https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2016-Winter-Neal-Sculptor-Theodora-Alice-Ruggles-Kitson.pdf) • [6](https://www.legion.org/memorials/united-states/michigan/united-states-michigan-the-hiker) Military subjects became her specialty, and she died in Boston in 1932.[3](https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2016-Winter-Neal-Sculptor-Theodora-Alice-Ruggles-Kitson.pdf)
## A standard sample for corrosion science
Because the Hiker castings share a fixed geometry, a consistent alloy chemistry, a wide geographic distribution, and long exposure periods, materials engineers adopted them as standard corrosion samples for studying the effects of weather and pollution, including acid rain, on bronze.[2](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/65167/1/John%20Watt.pdf) • [9](https://preservation.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur406/files/pdfs_zips_downloads/survey_pdfs/sculpture.pdf) One corrosion study group covered fifty Hiker statues, of which sixteen had received conservation treatment; the remaining thirty-four untreated statues formed the core of the study. Metal samples drilled from the gun butt of seven statues showed dense, fine-grained alloys of between 88% and 90% copper with few detectable casting flaws.[2](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/65167/1/John%20Watt.pdf) The original 1906 figure in Minnesota, missing its gun tip, the standard site for corrosion measurement, was excluded from that study, as was the New Orleans statue atop a 15-meter column, which could not be accessed.[2](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/65167/1/John%20Watt.pdf)
## References
1. [The Hiker, Kansas City Parks & Recreation](https://kcparks.org/places/the-hiker/)
2. [J. Tidblad et al., corrosion study of Kitson Hiker statues](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/65167/1/John%20Watt.pdf)
3. [Christine C. Neal, "Sculptor Theodora Alice Ruggles Kitson: 'A Woman Genius,'" Historical Journal of Massachusetts 44(1), Winter 2016](https://www.westfield.ma.edu/historical-journal/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2016-Winter-Neal-Sculptor-Theodora-Alice-Ruggles-Kitson.pdf)
4. [University of Delaware dissertation on American soldier monuments (Gorham copyright, 1921)](https://udspace.udel.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/d71043c9-6a62-4951-b6fc-3830a02cff11/content)
5. [The Hiker, Spanish War Memorial, Portland Public Art Committee](https://www.publicartportland.org/project/the-hiker/)
6. [The Hiker, Grand Rapids, Michigan, The American Legion memorial registry](https://www.legion.org/memorials/united-states/michigan/united-states-michigan-the-hiker)
7. [United Spanish War Veterans Memorial, National Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/gwmp/learn/historyculture/the_hiker.htm)
8. [The Hiker, Manchester, New Hampshire, Smithsonian American Art Museum Inventories](https://www.si.edu/object/hiker-sculpture%3Asiris_ari_337605)
9. [Outdoor Sculpture of Rhode Island, RIHPHC survey](https://preservation.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur406/files/pdfs_zips_downloads/survey_pdfs/sculpture.pdf)
10. [Hiker Monument and Rockery, circa 1926, Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, NOBLE Digital Heritage](https://digitalheritage.noblenet.org/s/wakefield/item/17881)
11. [The Hiker, Malden, Massachusetts, Smithsonian American Art Museum Inventories](https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?aspect=Browse&index=ALTITL&ipp=20&menu=search&profile=ariall&ri=2&session=1Q2P7T7T7T7T7.1&source=~%21siartinventories&spp=20&staffonly=&term=George+Robert+White+Memorial&uri=full%3D3100001~%21299828~%210&view=subscriptionsummary)
12. [Spanish American War Memorial (The Hiker), LA County Department of Arts and Culture](https://www.lacountyarts.org/experiences/civic-art/civic-art-county-collection/artwork/artobject-detail?dataId=452&pageNo=13&sortBy=ObjectDate+desc)
13. [The Hiker/Spanish American War Monument, Texas State Preservation Board](https://tspb.texas.gov/prop/tcg/tcg-monuments/06-spanish-american-war/index.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Conflict and security › Wars, campaigns, and incidents › Commemoration and aftermath of conflict › War memorials, cemeteries, and battlefield preservation › Memorial series for wars without dedicated commemoration children*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license