The pole, carved from a 700-year-old Western Red Cedar, stood 140 feet high, but it has rotted from the inside out and cannot be repaired to stand any longer. This pole, and the shorter poles still standing, were carved by Don "Chief Lelooska" Smith. He hoped to display them at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, but couldn't finish in time. They've stood here since 1974.
McMennimen's is building a new event center and hotel where the Tallest Totem will be exhibited, hanging horizontally under the A frame roof.