Did You Know An Idahoan Is Responsible For The Creation Of Mt Rushmore?

Fun fact, Mount Rushmore was sculpted by an Idahoan. I had no idea. His name was Gutzon Borglum and he was born on a homestead near Bear Lake.

Gutzon Borglum Lived In Idaho

The sculptor was born near Bear Lake with his family on a homestead. His family had immigrated from Denmark. After he was born in Idaho he was kind of all over the place. He lived in Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, California, and Connecticut. He spent a few years in Paris honing some of his skills as well. Another fun fact, Mount Rushmore was not the only mountain he carved.

Mount Rushmore And Other Mountains

In 1923, he started a project on Stone Mountain. It was supposed to feature Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis on horseback followed by soldiers. However, due to some controversy and issues surrounding World War 1, the project was not completed and Borglum actually destroyed all the outlines of his work so others couldn't use it. Kind of brilliant actually. However, it caused some drama leading to the work he had done being destroyed. The carving was finished in 1970 but not to the expectations of Gutzon's work.

Mount Rushmore features George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln and it was completed in 1941. It is a massive and amazing structure that he was able to almost complete before his death days before his 74th birthday.

Borglum was also responsible for the Lincoln replica that is in Julia Davis Park in Boise. The replica portrays Abraham Lincoln on a bench and it is a replica. The original is in Newark, New Jersey.

After His Death

Gutzon actually was in Chicago when he died. However, after his death his son Lincoln finished up the project that his father worked so hard on. He was buried in California. I could not find any information on what his original homestead near Bear Lake is now. If you know, please share the information so we can update our story.