Cattle Drive sculpture

Okeechobee, Florida, United States

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Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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Ten bronze figures by Utah sculptor J. Michael Wilson, a mounted cowboy, a cowboy at a fence, a Brahma bull, five cattle, a calf and a cow dog, stand in Cattlemen's Square, Flagler Park, downtown Okeechobee, Florida, dedicated on 6 August 2022.

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Cattle Drive sculpture

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Site-level location · 27.2433° N, 80.8298° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Ten bronze figures walk across Cattlemen's Square in Flagler Park, downtown Okeechobee: a cowboy on horseback, a cowboy at a fence, a Brahma bull, five cattle, a calf and a cow dog. They were dedicated on 6 August 2022; Heartland LIVING says the project aims to preserve the legacy of Florida heritage.

According to Heartland LIVING, in an account by Okeechobee Main Street's executive director, the idea began in 2015, when an arts director with the organisation saw a bronze cattle-drive installation at the Brownwood development of The Villages. Utah artist J. Michael Wilson was commissioned, working from photographs supplied by ranchers and his own knowledge of animals, with Mountain Trails Gallery and Adonis Bronze Foundry also involved. The sculptures are based on the county's cattle industry of the 1950s and 1960s.

Sponsorship of individual pieces paid for about half the project; the rest came from ranches, corporations and private citizens, with Okeechobee County's tourist development funds also contributing. The city, the county and the Frank Altobello Foundation paid for the park's infrastructure and landscaping.

The layout is deliberate. Heartland LIVING says that on entering the park it looks as if the cattle are walking across a wide-open ranch, and that visitors can walk around the whole installation, day or night, along a sidewalk with informational markers, stone benches and a kiosk on the ranching industry, the artist and the bronze process. Officials told WPBF the park lies along State Road 70, near the path of cattle drives that once came through town.

In February 2026 the city council discussed the park's upkeep, with the city administrator estimating $10,000 to $15,000 a year, according to Lake Okeechobee News. The council also discussed the cost of caring for the sculptures themselves but made no decision.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Ten bronze figures in a downtown park, with a sidewalk around them, informational markers, stone benches and an educational kiosk. Heartland LIVING reported in 2022 that visitors can walk around the installation day or night. The city council discussed the park's upkeep in February 2026.

ACCESS

Cattlemen's Square, part of Flagler Park, downtown Okeechobee, along State Road 70. It is a city park; the sidewalk around the installation is for walking, as described at the 2022 dedication.

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48 km away

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