We had some time to kill before the Oshkosh Public Museum opened and we could go see the Titanic Exhibit. Since it was warm out, we opted to kill time sitting in the shade.
I noticed a random statue and wandered over to check it out. It turns out the random statue was actually a war memorial. I see war memorials all the time. I've even visited a few random ones myself. However, this one struck me as very random and a bit out of the ordinary. It was for the Spanish-American War.
I am used to seeing Memorials for the World Wars, Vietnam, Korea and even the Civil War. Occasionally if I'm in the right part of the country, I'll see one for the Revolutionary War. I don't ever recall seeing one for the Spanish-American War.
For those that a quick history lesson, the Spanish-American War was fought between the US and Spain (duh) in 1898. It lasted about 8 months and was fought in the Philippines and Cuba. It was a conflict that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America, according to Wikipedia.
The monument is called the Hiker and is located in Hiker Park. I honestly didn't even know it was in a park. I thought it was part of the Paine Art Center Property. There are several Hiker Monuments scattered across the country honoring those that served in the Spanish American War.
While I am grateful for the Hiker, I am still shocked that there is a monument in Oshkosh marking those that fought. You never know where you are going to find a piece of history. Who knows how times I passed it and assumed the man was a person of significance to Oshkosh History.
After finding the Hiker, I think I am going to stop and check out more random statues and monuments because you never know what you will find and learn. I'm just glad I was able to learn about this small piece of history.
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