The two lions at the F street side Alpine Park in Salida have been patiently guarding the entrance for more than 100 years. But they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. They are literally cast in stone – local Salida granite.
The lions were a gift to the city from Isaac William Haight, a pioneer Salida businessman. Like most of Salida’s founding fathers he preferred to go by his initials – I.W. Haight. He was also responsible for having the first pavilion built on top of Tenderfoot Mountain after the road to the top was completed in 1923.
Haight was inspired to have the lions made for Salida when he saw similar lions in a park in Havana, Cuba in the early 1900s.. Upon his return to Salida he commissioned workers at Salida’s Federal Consolidated Monumental Granite Co. to make the lions. The project was kept a secret until the lions were erected in the park on Sept. 14, 1915. Cost was estimated at around $1000 which would exceed $25,000 in today’s market.
The lions were carved by Amoroso (spelling uncertain) Marchi of Salida.
The gift was presented to Salida in appreciation for Haight’s success as a businessman in the city. He came to Salida from Michigan in the late 1880s when it was still called South Arkansas. He was originally a contractor and then partnered with Frank Churcher operating the Haight & Churcher Mortuary and Furniture Store on First Street. Later he was involved with formation of Salida’s first Hose Company (fire department), was a director of First National Bank of Salida and helped form Fairview Cemetery where is today. He died on Oct. 13, 1933. At that time he had resided in Chaffee County for 55 years and had been retired for 25 years.
Arlene E. Shovald Ph.D
