The Borglum Ranch and Studio

Here on Squaw Creek in the shadow of the ancient Black Hills, in 1929, Gutzon Borglum, distinguished American sculptor, brought his wife, Mary Montgomery Borglum, his son, Lincoln, and his daughter, Mary Ellis, to live while he carved Mount Rushmore, the national shrine of democracy. Starting with a log cabin, the Borglum home became a mecca for famous people from all walks of life, but where hard rock laborers were equally welcome.

From here Gutzon and Lincoln departed at dawn for the granite peak where they were bringing to life the history of this nation, returning after dusk to wrestle with the endless problems arising from the depression, politics, and lack of trained carvers. This was the headquarters of the 1500 acre ‘Clover’ cattle ranch, then owned by Lincoln, when it became his lonely duty to finish his father’s dream, when Gutzon suddenly died in 1941.

Gutzon and Lincoln Borglum constructed the unique studio here where other important commissions were completed during the Rushmore years. Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum, born in Idaho in 1867, of Danish parents, besides being the world’s first sculptor with the genius, courage, and determination to carve a mountain, was an internationally known painter, writer, lecturer, conservationist, and an intense patriot.

James Lincoln Borglum, born in Connecticut in 1912, acclaimed for his sculptures of the American West, his photography, and his writing, was the first superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Restored with accuracy and authenticity to the period of the 1930s, the Borglum Studio and Home, on 25 acres of the historic ranch, is dedicated to the growth of American culture, and will preserve the inspirational story of a great American family and its unselfish devotion to the arts and to the United States of America.