The Hiker

This monument near the Arlington Cemetery, called “The Hiker,” caught my eye, of course—being of the hiker ilk myself.  A little research reveals that the sculpture was designed by Theo Kitson of Massachusetts and is her best known work.  The Hiker commemorates the soldiers of the Spanish-American War, Phillipine-American War and the Boxer Rebellion, all of the late 1890s.  At least 50 were made and can be found eyeing the horizon from Texas to Maine, with a few outliers on the west coast.  Remove the rifle and, heck, this could be me, right down to the lace-up gaitors.  It’s interesting that the soldiers referred to themselves as hikers.