Jacklin legacy cemented with new sculpture

POST FALLS — Along a stretch of road where ranchland and farmland once dominated the prairie stands a new reminder of North Idaho’s agricultural roots. 

Right next to the Jacklin Ranch, a life-size metal sculpture of a farmer guiding a mule and plow was installed Tuesday at a city roundabout at W Prairie Avenue and N Fennecus Road, next to the Jacklin Ranch Farm Museum, which opened a few months ago.

“We’re trying to preserve the legacy of farming,” Glenn Jacklin said. “The legacy of 100 years ago; our forefathers broke open the ground and started farming.”  

The metal art piece, which the family plans to gift to the city of Post Falls, incorporates more than just artist Travis Lemons’ vision. According to Lemons, more than 80% of the materials used to build the sculpture are collected farm scrap from around the area. 

“The heritage will continue in the mule,” said Lemons. 

According to Glenn, the plow is whole, original and 125 years old.

“The depiction of the man is our great-grandfather Ben, who started Jacklin Seed Company and the legacy of the Jacklin Family,” Glenn Jacklin said.

Lemons, who learned to weld from his father at age 8, estimated it took nearly a year to complete the project. He never sketches. 

“The artistry part just comes out of my head,” he said. “It’s just what happens, comes into my hands.” 

Copper forms the farmer’s shirt so that, over time, it will develop a green-blue patina; the pants are made from sheet metal, and a belt with a J on its buckle sits at the figure's waist to represent the Jacklin name. 

For Lemons, the commission carried personal weight. After decades working for a private company, he left to continue the metal artistry legacy of another family member who had passed away. 

Lemons recalled that one of his early goals was to complete a city project. 

“The Jacklin Family checked that box for me, for sure,” he said. “Words can’t describe the feeling and emotions that I have, not only for carrying on the heritage of the Jacklin family but being able to do what I love to do.”  

Glenn said that the original concept involved placing old equipment on the roundabout, but that the city preferred public art. While visiting Arizona, his wife Christina saw a life-size metal horse sculpture and suggested a similar approach. 

The family gathered discarded parts from local “farmer boneyards” and shipped them to Lemons in Phoenix, Ariz. They worked through design details and stress points for over two years before Tuesday’s installation. 

“We don’t want to lose sight of the historical circumstance of what this was 100 years ago,” Glenn said.   

While honoring their legacy, Glenn also hopes that the sculpture serves as a reminder of the area's roots as the Prairie continues to change. He said it is important to inform newcomers how the area came to be. 

“The people coming in don’t know the history of the Rathdrum Prairie, what it used to be,” he said. “This will be a teaching moment for our new residents of Kootenai County to learn the background of what this was and where it was.” 

    Sculptor Travis Lemon uses a grinder on the statue's hands while installing it at Prairie Ave and Fennecus Ave on Tuesday.
  

    Glenn Jacklin showcases the head of the mule statue and explains that most of the metal pieces that make it up come from around this area.