Writing Life | Idaho Women’s Statue Brings History to Life

Writing historical novels has made me acutely aware of how truly we walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before us.

Without the “prints” left by earlier generations we would know nothing about the struggles and achievements of bygone generations. Nor would we be able to build for the future on their accomplishments.

The “Spirit of Idaho Women” statue recently unveiled on the state capitol lawn commemorates just such footsteps and resonates perfectly with my Daughters of Courage family saga trilogy. The statue honors forward thinking women who follow in the footprints of the stalwart women who survived—and even thrived—through times of hardship and turmoil. As desert pioneers, through the great depression, in wartime, and in times of political turmoil Idaho women built homes, nurtured their families, supported churches, and even shaped careers.

Pairs of shoes following behind the forward-leading statue represent the footsteps and contributions of women in the past. The sculptor, Irene Deely, explained that the figure wearing one shoe while holding the other in her extended hand is an invitation for all women to make their contributions

Kathryn, Elizabeth and Stephanie, heroines of the Daughters of Courage family saga, depict just such women.

Based on stories from my own family and the journals of Idaho pioneer women, these women personify Idaho’s story. Kathryn, the desert pioneer in Kuna, endures temperatures over 100 degrees when the nearest water is 15 miles away in the Snake River. Still, she is determined not merely to survive, but to triumph.

Elizabeth fights all odds to get an education in the middle of the Great Depression, then succeeds as a school teacher and gives birth to her first child as bombs fall on Pearl Harbor. Through the tumultuous 1970s Stephanie serves in the Idaho Legislature, striving for the rights of the underprivileged.

“This sculpture also speaks to those of us who find ourselves questioning the shoes we are given, only to find out later that they function like a sculptor’s tool, training our feet for roads of the most enduring and inventive sort,” the artist Deely said.

Like the Daughters of Courage heroines, the shoes we are given may pinch and cause blisters at the start. “I for one am grateful I didn’t cast mine aside too soon,” Deely said, then concluded by asking, “What will you do with yours?”