He will be 89 in August. His first horse was completed and dedicated in 2018. The second was finished in 2020. This will be the last one due to his age and donations he needs to continue. Originally, Plains artist Kenton Pies planned to create eight horse sculptures, then five, but the town of Plains is grateful for the three he did make.

Had the City of Plains hired an artist to design, construct and build these three horses, it would have cost them over $60,000 but these have all been though donations.

In-kind contributions are from Montana Rail Link, which owns the green space in the heart of town where the trio stands.

RTI Fabrication in Plains built, donated and installed all three of the pedestals. Coeur d’Alene Metal in Spokane donated the sheet metal. Pies three helpers/assistants, Bill Curry, Sig Person and Andy Gonzales, worked on with fabrication and painting.

The dedication of Pies’ final creation began at 11:30 a.m. Friday on a windy, chilly day in downtown Plains. It will remain as a gift to the people of Sanders County and City of Plains.

Sherryl Wachob, who is a big fan and supporter of Pies, was the Master of Ceremonies.

She welcomed the people and introduced Chilaili Wachiwi, from White Thunderbird

Music in Trout Creek and a tribal member of the Absaroka and Mountain Crow Tribes.

Wachiwi played original Native American flute music as the final horse was unloaded.

Chris Allen, President of the Plains Town Council, read to the audience the history of Kenton Pies and how the three horses are a treasured gift.

Randy Garrison, owner of The Printery and voice of the Plains Horsemen for sporting events, shared some interesting history of the name of Plains and how it came to be.

“Back in the early 1800s, the Indians wintered their horses in the Plains Valley because it was sort of the banana belt. And the original name was Horse Plains. Then the Pony Express and railroad came through in the 1880s which was known as the Horse Plains Station. There was never a time when the official name was Wild Horse Plains. That didn’t come until years later when people put ‘Wild’ in front of it, but it was never officially called Wild Horse Plains,” Garrison said. “Horse Plains was the official name and when they moved the Pony Express Station from Lower Lynch (Creek), where it was for years, to the original Post Office in Plains in 1904, they dropped the ‘Horse’ off of the front and just called it Plains.”

Pies, 88, a Sanders County resident since 2005, has been making, creating and building art in several mediums since he was a child. He was first paid for his work as a teenager.

Pies was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 1955. He went to the University of Washington and resumed his sign/art business in Seattle, quickly gaining notoriety for his ability and creations.

In 1965, a friend of Pies hired him to make a dragon sculpture in a children’s park on Mercer Island. The 50-foot piece was hollow so kids could crawl inside it.

The dragon was a big hit for nearly half a century. But it deteriorated over time and in 2013, he and fellow artist Derek Vonheeder, worked eight weeks to build another 50-foot dragon to replace his original.

For those seeking more information about Pies, his work and story, he published three volumes of ‘Kenton’s Art.’