Born in Ontario, Canada, Alexander Proctor became known primarily as a sculptor of life-size wild animals, especially ones inhabiting the West, although he also did pen and ink drawings, etchings, small oil paintings, and sculptures of historical subjects.

One of "the best-known monuments in the nation is the 'Pioneer Mother' monument in Kansas City" (Reynolds 220), which is Proctor's over-life size sculpture tribute to pioneer women. He often traveled into the Pacific Northwest for subject matter, and on one of his westward treks, the idea for this work came to him when he saw a trapper and a hunter walking beside a pioneer woman riding sidesaddle on a horse loaded with family belongings. The piece was commissioned by Kansas City b...