Oregon Pioneer, Bronze statue at State Capitol Building in Salem, Oregon, US.

The Oregon Pioneer is a 22-foot (6.7 m) hollow bronze sculpture with a gold-leaf finish, created by Ulric Ellerhusen. It stands on a 23-foot marble base atop the Capitol rotunda, 140 feet above ground. The bearded figure holds a splitting axe in his right hand and a tarp in his left, facing north while looking west.

Sculptor Ulric Ellerhusen built the hollow bronze figure in New Jersey and finished it in 1938, after the previous capitol burned in 1935. It travelled by ship through the Panama Canal, then by rail and truck to Salem. Hoisting began on 17 September 1938 and paused while the contractor found heavier lifting equipment. The rotunda was damaged in the 1993 Scotts Mills earthquake, but the statue survived, shifted slightly.

The figure represents the determination of early settlers who crossed the continent to establish communities in the Pacific Northwest during the 1800s. It stands as a symbol of the pioneer spirit that shaped the region.

The statue stands 140 feet above ground on the rotunda; a 121-step spiral staircase from the fourth floor leads to its base, and capitol tours include that stop. The gilded surface is 23K gold leaf, renewed periodically because dust and bird claws wear it.

The statue is hollow bronze, 22 feet tall, and weighs 8.5 tons; its head measures 6 feet 10 inches around. The 23-karat gold leaf wears away from dust and bird claws, so it has been regilded four times, in 1939, 1958, 1984 and 2000. The 1984 regilding was paid for by Oregon schoolchildren through a penny drive that raised over $37,000.