In 2002, when the dome was added to the 1917 Oklahoma State Capitol, a 22 foot, 4,000 pound bronze statue was placed on top. This nine-foot replica of “The Guardian” is on the second floor of the rotunda. It is a somber remembrance of the “Trail of Tears” when five Indian tribes were removed from their homelands in the 1830s. The artist was Enoch Haney. He was a multi-term legislator and the grandson of a Seminole chief.
