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Legacy: 'Take a Right at the Bull'

By Molly McCarthy | Staff Writer

There probably never was a real bull. But that didn't stop a sculptor from casting a stand-in for Richard Smith's legendary beast.

It all started in 1903 when Lawrence Smith Butler, a descendant of ``The Bull Rider,'' regaled a classmate with the story of his ancestor's plodding ride. The classmate, sculptor Charles Rumsey, crafted a miniature statue of the bull small enough to sit on a tabletop.

But Butler wanted a bigger one. He set Rumsey to work and tried to raise the $12,000 the artist commanded. In 1923, the five-ton bronze bull was complete.

When Butler couldn't raise enough cash, the bull was sent to the Brooklyn Museum, where it stood out front until 1932. Then it languished in storage until Butler convinced Rumsey's heirs to donate the bull to Smithtown.

The 14-foot-tall bull was unveiled atop a new concrete pedestal on May 10, 1941, at the intersection of Jericho Turnpike and Route 25A. It still stands watch today over the bustling intersection and has become a cult figure for local students who occasionally paint the bull's private parts as a rite of passage.

``The bull has become such a landmark. It's like the expression: Meet me under the Biltmore clock. You hear people give directions like, `When you see the bull, take a right,''' said Smithtown Supervisor Pat Vecchio.