Secret Brother: The Story of Solon Borglum, Sculptor of the Prairie

A quick-reading biography of Solon Borglum-the lesser known and most often overlooked secret son of Danish Mormon immigrants who traveled the Mormon Trail to Utah in the 1860s, then changed their religion and lifestyle and moved to Nebraska. Despite his unusual childhood, Solon grew up to be a cowboy, rancher, sheriff, early Boy Scout leader, French World War I hero, Army art instructor, and the world famous artist nicknamed The Sculptor of the Prairie. Solon’s carving of at least one monumental-sized Plains Indian figure in the sandhills bluffs near his father’s Central Nebraska ranch was the likely inspiration for his more famous older brother (John) Gutzon Borglum’s sculpting of Mount Rushmore. (For 6th or 7th grade through senior citizen adult readers.)