Missouri Grizzly   Strength – Courage                2001

“Mighty Mo”

An eleven ton bear, named “Mighty Mo” by his sculptor, guards the entrance to the Jefferson Building in Jefferson City at the corner of Jefferson Street and East Capitol Avenue.  The bear was sculpted in 1952 by sculptor Bernard Frazier as part of the Missouri state office building.  The building the bear were dedicated on December 22, 1952.

The bear is designed after the bear within the Missouri coat of arms on the Great seal.  Standing more than seven feet high and measuring twelve feet from the tip of his nose to heel, the bear was one of the largest sculptures in the country to be transported and cut from a single block of stone.  The stone is select, buff-toned Indiana limestone, purchased from Indiana when it was determined that no Missouri stone of sculpture quality could be found in a block of the necessary dimension.  The block from which the bear was cut weighted twenty-four tons when it was lifted from the quarry.  For stability, the stone sinks twelve inches into the pedestal.

Frazier wanted the bear to “express the dignity, the stability and timelessness of the commonwealth of Missouri.”  Eleven clay models in various positions and sizes and countless pencil and crayon sketches preceded the actual carving work.  Frazier said, “Working first in Tulsa and later at the St. Louis Zoo, I made six separate models eight inches long and in various poses.  From these the most acceptable position was chosen and two experimental models, 16 inches long, we made to study and determine the best proportion and treatment of detail.  Finally I made a half-size clay model for experimentation on details as the big sculpture developed to allow officials and myself the opportunity to see the details of eyes, claws, etc. before the final cutting was done in stone.”

“Might Mo” took three months of design work and five months of carving.  Frazier was in firm belief that the designer should do the carving.  He said he disapproved of the practice that the sculptor only need make the small designs of a work in plaster and clay and leave the actual carving to commercial carving crews. 

For many months during his sculpting, “Might Mo” was hidden from prying eyes beneath a wood and canvas barricade, which was eventually blown down by a high wind.  The first work was done at the quarry with heavy compressed air equipment. Frazier continued the roughing out with a three pound hammer and chisel.  “”The greatest part of the carving in the last three months,” Frazier said, “was done by small air hammer and inch chisels.  Some of the later finishing work was done with stone rasp and emery cloth.” The sculptor had two scale models to work by, which he nicknamed “Meeny Mo” and Eceny Mo.” The smallest model was presented to then Governor Forrest Smith.

Frazier found his work here had its hazards.  While working with the three pound hammer and chisel on the underneath side of the bear, Frazier cracked three ribs when he twisted on a large chip of stone.

According to then Lieutenant Governor James T. Blair, Jr., member of the State Building Commission, the entire job cost the state board of public building about $8,000, including cost of quarrying and transporting the stone.  The Jefferson Building itself cost $5 million to build.  The commission was given Bernard Frazier by the Missouri Board of Public buildings in August, 1951.  The official scale model, one-fourth actual size, was approved at a meeting of the Board in March, 1951.  Final approval of the finished sculpture was given in November, 1952.

Bernard (Poco) Brazier was born in 1906 near the village of Athol, Kansas.  His education began at the university of Kansas, where he was also a varsity track and cross country star.  He graduated from the university of Illinois.  His work experience included an Andrew Carnegie Foundation grant as sculptor in residence at the University of Kansas.  From 1940-1942 he was a member of the K.U. faculty and established his first regular classes in sculpture.  In 1944 he became director of the Philbrook Art Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Six years later he resigned the post to devote his full time to a career in sculpture.  His commissions consisted of sculpting twelve bronze panels for doors of a war memorial building, monumental eagle for the First National Bank of Tulsa and several others for interior architecture, In addition to the “Might Mo,”

Frazier has further stated, “The bear, which I have called ‘Mighty Mo’, is about half native Missouri Bear and half architecture.  His general form counteracts the long slope of the hill on which the building sits.  His curve and his glance are toward the territory from which he comes – the great Missouri River with its vast history and tradition.  Through all ages and in all places, it has been the custom for man to take the form and name of some animal or bird as his symbol or emblem – the rampant lion of England, the eagle and snake of Mexico, the double-headed eagle of the Hapsburgs of Europe, our own eagle of the United States.  I believe that as American heraldry develops, Missouri’s bear will lend itself to the situation as well as or better than any other Native American animal.  It is likely that he will gradually transform into a more and more imaginative animal as have all of the animal symbols with the passing of time.”

The Missouri State Bear

The Great Seal of the State of Missouri contains two grizzle bears, which serve as supporters on each side and a third grizzly bear within the coat of arms.  The bears symbolize the state’s strength and its citizen’s bravery.

The bear represented within the Missouri coat of arms is described in the Missouri Laws of 1821 as Passant guardant which meant that the bear was to be depicted on the seal as walking, but on guard, with the head facing forward and turned slightly toward the observer.

The grizzly bear is noted for his immense size, his strength, his courage, and the protection of his young.  He is not actually a native of Missouri, but he is a native of the mountainous regions in which the Missouri River and many of her tributaries have their beginning.  The Missouri Territory was supposed to extend from the Mississippi to the dividing line of the Rocky Mountains.  It was perhaps due to the strong qualities of the grizzly and the rise of the great river that the 1821 Laws named this bear, instead of the native brown bear of Missouri. Also, the extensive fur trade and numerous explorations into the upper reaches of the great river aroused a lively interest in the Plains and the mountainous regions beyond.  General William H. Ashley, the greatest American fur trader with the exception of Jacob Astor, was Lieutenant Governor and president of the Senate at the time.  It may be that in these things is to be found an explanation for the choice of the grizzly bear as the symbols within Missouri’s Great Seal.

References

Jefferson City Capital News, 7/31/1952

Kansas City Star, 12/14/1952

Jefferson City Post-Tribune, 12/22/1952

Missouri Historical Review,

    The Great Seal of the State of Missouri by Perry S. Rader