Monaghan statue will be up after Memorial Day in Fairmount Cemetery

The statue of John Monaghan likely will have a new home after Memorial Day.

Workers from Breithaupt & Sons, which specializes in moving homes and other structures, removed the statue, which had stood at Riverside Avenue and Monroe Street for 120 years, last Wednesday. The statue is currently being held in a protected , fenced -off area at Fairmount Memorial Park that is not open to the public, said Breithaupt & Sons owner Ryan Breithaupt. It will be erected in the cemetery near the Monaghan Family mausoleum toward the end of the month, Breithaupt said.

The landmark has been a source of controversy over the past couple of decades because of inscriptions on a plaque on the pedestal that depict Samoans using primitive weapons and as a “savage foe.”

Monaghan was a U.S. Navy ensign killed in 1899 near Apia, Samoa, during a war between colonizing and Native factions fighting over control of territory on the Samoan islands.

“The leader of the expedition fell under heavy fire, as did a number of the enlisted men,” wrote Larry Cebula, an Eastern Washington University history professor, in an article on Spokane Historical. “Monaghan tried to rally the men and rescue his wounded commander, but the allies were outgunned in unfamiliar terrain. Monaghan died, and the survivors beat a hasty retreat.”

The Spokane City Council agreed to pay $88,000 to Spokane Valley moving company Breithaupt & Sons to transfer the statue to Fairmount Memorial Park.

The monument will be moved in two phases: the statue first, then the concrete pedestal, city Communications Director Erin Hut said.

The concrete pedestal and plaque will be moved together, likely this week, Breithaupt said. The company was not instructed to remove the plaque from the base, Breithaupt said.

Even some supporters of maintaining the statue downtown agreed that the plaques should be replaced because of the prejudiced and inaccurate depictions of the battle.

“Removing the plaques was not part of the original implementation plan when the city was tasked with removing the statue. Further process will be up to Fairmount Memorial and the Monaghan family,” Hut said.

Attempts to reach an official from Fairmount Memorial were not successful.

The company is coordinating the move with the cemetery, in an effort to not distract from Mother’s Day or Memorial Day.

“We’re going to start in the next day or two,” Breithaupt said.

A fence already has gone up around the perimeter of the base, and jack hammering the concrete will begin to heave the base from the ground, Breithaupt said. Breithaupt said he has a traffic plan being designed by a traffic engineer that he will send to the city for approval. Before that plan is approved, the base will not be moved.

“It’s quite the process,” he said.

Breithaupt & Sons typically moves houses and buildings, Breithaupt said, so there weren’t many concerns about being able to remove the statue.

“It’s made of granite, and it’s really good granite,” Breithaupt said. “We were never worried about it falling apart.”