Keeper of the Plains

The Keeper of the Plains is a 44-foot Cor-Ten steel sculpture standing at the exact point where the Big Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers meet in Wichita's riverfront park. Kiowa-Comanche artist Blackbear Bosin created the figure in 1974 as a tribute to the Native American heritage of the Great Plains, and it has become the city's most recognisable landmark by some distance.

The sculpture is dramatic in daylight but most impressive at dusk and after dark, when fire columns at the base are lit — typically in summer evenings, check local schedules — and the steel figure stands in silhouette against the flames and reflected river light. The surrounding riverfront park has walking paths, bridges crossing both rivers, and good sight lines to the sculpture from multiple angles. The mid-America All-Indian Center nearby has Native American art exhibitions and historical displays that complement a visit to the sculpture well.

things to do sight
A story
The sculptor Blackbear Bosin was a Kiowa-Comanche artist born in 1921 in Anadarko, Oklahoma. He designed the Keeper of the Plains in 1974 as a gift to the city of Wichita, where he had lived and worked for decades. He never saw the fire basins lit — they were added after his death — but the raised arms and the flame columns at the confluence of two rivers match the spiritual significance he intended for the figure.