Nationalist sentiment after the Civil War led to the creation of a monument honoring local soldiers. In 1894, local artist and Fond du Lac resident Mark Harrison bequeathed $500 to erect a monument in what is now Veterans Park. On June 7, 1901, the Fond du Lac County Board formed a soldiers’ monument committee to determine the monument’s design and budget, and a countywide referendum permitted up to $5,000 in county funding. Manufactured by the Bronze Monument Co. of Bridgeport, Connecticut, it arrived by train on September 25, 1902, and was erected soon afterward. Speculation that it was never formally dedicated has centered on controversy over the quality of its materials and appearance, and its blue-gray color led residents and local veterans’ organizations to call it the “Tin Soldier.”