The trustees of the Lick estate were tasked with implementing the thirteenth clause of the Lick trust which read as follows : In September 1890 , the Trustees selected the a model by sculptor Frank Happersberger from a field of four artist submissions . Ground was broken in May 1894 at San Francisco City Hall . The cornerstone of the monument was laid and statuary dedicated on Monday , September 10 , 1894 by the Lick Trustees , Society of California Pioneers and Native Sons of the Golden West at Marshall Square , near the intersection of Hyde and Grove , in front of the Old City Hall ( which was later destroyed by the earthquake of 1906 ) . In 1991 , a plan was introduced to move the statue to make way for a new public library . At the time , the statue was surrounded by a parking lot , seedy pornographic theaters and fast-food restaurants along Market Street . This plan generated controversy between preservationists , who wanted the statue to remain in place to mark the site of Old City Hall , and Native American protestors who wanted the statue removed entirely . The Native American protestors criticized the '' Early Days '' sculpture for depicting their people as subservient , for celebrating their subjugation , and for factual inaccuracy — it depicts a Plains Indian none of whom lived within 1,500 km of San Francisco . '' Early Days '' was removed on 14 September 2018 , in early morning darkness
earthquake of 1906
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Pioneer Monument (San Francisco)