Gutzon Borglum Biography

Gutzon Borglum, born as John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum, was an artist and sculptor from America. He was best known for his association with the establishment of Mount Rushmore National Memorial located at Mount Rushmore of South Dakota. He was also associated with a few other works of art including memorial Start Westward of United States and the statue of Daniel Butterfield. A graduate of St. Mary's College and Creighton Preparatory School, Borglum was a child of Mormon polygamy. His public life was also the talk of the town just like his professional life. He was an active member of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Borglum, who was the Grand Representative of Grand Lodge of Denmark, was also active in the group that organized the New York Armory Show in 1913. He was a part of the Ku Klux Klan as well and was one of the six knights who assembled on the Imperial Koncilium, which transferred leadership of Ku Klux Klan from the Imperial Wizard Colonel Simmons to the Imperial Wizard Hiram Evans. Borglum, who died from complications during a surgery in 1941, is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Memorial Court of Honor alongside his second wife, Mary Montgomery Williams Borglum.