Mt. Pisgah Sighting Pedestal

Buford Park

The Mt. Pisgah Sighting Pedestal, also called the Jed Kesey Memorial, was commissioned in 1984 shortly after the deaths of Jed Kesey and Lorenzo West, who were traveling with the University of Oregon wrestling team in Eastern Washington when their van hit  ice and went over an embankment.

The bronze pedestal features a relief map of the surrounding viewshed, and side panels that catalogue the geologic history of Oregon based on the fossil record. There are two slots in the pedestal that mark the summer and winter solstice. The Mt Pisgah Siting Pedestal was unanimously approved by the Lane County Commissioners and installed by the Lane County Parks in 1990. The installation of this piece was covered by most major news organizations in the United States including The New York Times. When Ken Kesey saw the piece for the first time, he interpreted its meaning as a reference to
“the impermanence of life, and the infinity of either side of it.”  

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Photo by Greg Vaughn