Penokee Figure

A Kansas Portrait

A larger-than-life sized human figure is located on a prominent hilltop overlooking the Solomon River Valley in Graham County. Outlined in cobbles of stone gathered from the immediate vicinity, the figure is oriented with its head and upraised arms to the west and its legs extended to the east. The outline, variously called the "Penokee Figure," "Penokee Man" or "Penokee Indian," is 50 feet long and 30 feet wide, and takes its name from the nearby community of Penokee. The creator of the Penokee figure is not known, but it was almost certainly the work of one of the Indian tribes living in the northwest section of Kansas prior to its settlement. (See exhibit at Graham County Historical Society.)

In 1879 a paleontologist from Harvard University described a similar figure in this locality along the Solomon; and elsewhere in the Northern Plains human, animal and circular stone outlines were found as the country was settled in the 19^th century. The majority of these stone outlines were destroyed as the prairie was broken for agriculture. The "Penokee Man" is one of the few survivors.

It is not known why the figure was created. Though its design is not complicated, forethought and planning were required for its construction and it is doubtful that it was created on a whim. The orientation of the figure brings to mind the importance of the cardinal directions described in Plains Indian legends and stories, the figure's hilltop location and the relationship of people to the sun reported in the ethnological literature for Plains Indian tribes. Perhaps the best way to appreciate the stone figure is to consider it as an expression of art. The Penokee figure can strike a responsive chord in an observer and give rise to a sense of kinship with the original artist, even though his identity and creative impulse remain a mystery.