Saber-Toothed Tiger

Yucca Valley, California

One of the early concrete sculptures of Frank Antone Martin (1887-1961), who later created the heroic-size religious statues in Yucca Valley's Desert Christ Park. Martin gave the sculpture of the prowling Smilodon Californicus Bovard to the town in 1952, although he may have originally made it for display at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

A 1950 story in the Inglewood Citizen -- Martin was originally from Inglewood -- reported that in those early days, Martin would finish a sculpture and then beat it with a 2x6 to gauge its durability.

The prehistoric cat's presence in what is now the town's Remembrance Park is explained by saying that it guards those who are remembered there.