A 4 foot (1.2 m) bust of York, the only African American on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was installed in Portland, Oregon's Mount Tabor Park, in the United States, from February to July 2021.

[1] McGrain was a student of Darrell Millner, Portland State University professor of history and Black Studies.

[11][10] No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Patriot Front, a white supremacist organization that had recently vandalized numerous monuments to African Americans, was suspected.

[15] The artist has offered to produce a bust of York in bronze, with no charge for his time and effort, although the casting would have to be paid for.

[1] As of September 4, 2021, no decision has been made regarding this offer, however, the city has announced plans to commission a permanent monument of York.

Between October 2020, when the statue was toppled, and February 2021, when the bust was secretly erected, there was considerable local discussion of what hero should be honored on Scott's plinth.

[citation needed] On October 11, 2020, the Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage, protesters also toppled statues of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, for their perceived hostility towards Native Americans.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council in 2021 adopted a policy that allows removal of statues whose "subject or impact...is significantly at odds with values of antiracism, equity, inclusion."

[8] Portland City Council condemned the vandalism,[12][13] and locals left signs and other tributes at the site following the toppling.