July 18, 2018 - Thunderbird at Sunset

The Rotary Viewpoint in West Seattle was adopted and developed by the local civic club from a neglected piece of city land.  On August 10, 1976 the small park was presented to Seattle mayor Wes Uhlman.  The primary feature of the small park, aside from the view, was an 18 foot totem pole, topped by a spread-winged thunderbird, carved by Robin Young, a Native American from South Dakota.

In November 2009 the totem pole was stolen, in broad daylight, by a local resident who had plans of installing it in the stairwell of his two story garage/workshop.  Unfortunately, the crane truck used to remove the 500 pound totem pole got stuck in the wet ground and required a tow.  Once the totem pole was reported missing it didn't take long for police to track down the thief.  The 70 year old man was arrested, the totem pole was returned (along with a second one stolen from a local Fred Meyer!) and $21,000 in restitution was paid.  The funds paid for the totem to be completely refurbished, repainted and reinstalled.  It was rededicated August 10, 2010.