Designed by American artist Oliver L. Barrett, the 18-foot (5.5 m) memorial was erected in 1939, but disappeared in 1942 after being relocated temporarily during the construction of Harbor Drive.

Dubbed the "Colossus of Portland", the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial was designed by Oliver L. Barrett (1892–1943), a sculptor and professor at the University of Oregon.

The 18-foot (5.5 m) tall monument was made of Central Oregon red tufa,[1][2] weighed 16 short tons (15,000 kg), and commemorated veterans of the Spanish–American War.

[1][3] According to Grant Butler of The Oregonian, "The statue wasn't a likeness of Roosevelt, but was a more generic figure that was meant to embody his spirit and determination, and was sculpted in the modern style".

The university said Barrett was creating a "heroic" statue of a "symbolic, robed figure, holding a sword" for the park's entrance, and confirmed the monument had a depiction of Roosevelt on one side and a memorial legend on the other.

[6] The announcement said the statue would be 14 feet (4.3 m) tall and capture "the spirit of courage, determination and audacity that accompanied the battleship Oregon on its historic dash and that inspired Theodore Roosevelt and his gallant men in the Spanish–American war".

[6] According to The Oregonian, the monument was erected "at the behest of the late Jay H. Upton, Bend attorney, the funds being derived from a residue of an appropriation to defray expenses of a Spanish–American war veterans' convention several years ago".

[1][3] Workers were supposed to cut the monument into pieces and prepare them to cross the Willamette River for storage at the Stanton Yard facility.

[3] City officials attempted to locate the sculpture without success, and contemporary historians and art admirers have continued to search for answers.

[1] Amy Platt, digital history manager at the Oregon Historical Society, has shared: "One theory is that it was demolished in place and buried in pieces in the park.

[1][2][7] In 1945, following Barrett's death in 1943, Hermione Bain of The Register-Guard said the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial was one of the artist's best-known public artworks, along with Shemanski Fountain in Portland's South Park Blocks.

[10] The newspaper's Grant Butler included the monument in his overview of "14 Portland treasures trashed in the name of progress", and wrote, "if you look closely, it actually bears closest resemblance to the art deco figure of Academy Award trophies".