March 25, 1867
John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum, a.k.a. Gutzon Borglum, future lead sculptor on the Mount Rushmore monument, is born near Bear Lake, Idaho, but it isn't long before his family moves first to Utah, then to Nebraska, and finally to California during the course of Gutzon's youth. The artist shows his talent relatively early and takes work with a lithographer until he begins to attract the kinds of clientele who eventually lead him to study and work in France. It is there that Gutzon Borglum studies at the Julien Academy and the Ecole des Beaux Arts. In this period of his life Gutzon befriends August Rodin, and begins to make valuable contacts and connections personally and politically.