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Near Cairo in Hall County, Nebraska — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
 

Solon H. Borglum

"Sculptor of the Prairie"

 
 
Solon H. Borglum Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 11, 2021
1. Solon H. Borglum Marker
Inscription.
Solon H. Borglum (1868-1922), son of Danish Mormon emigrants, was a world-famous sculptor. From 1885 until 1893, Solon ran his father’s cattle ranch located in the South Loup Valley just east of this marker.

The Borglums moved from Utah to Omaha and Fremont when Solon was a child. In 1883 his father, James H. Borglum, bought land west of Cairo, Nebraska, but moved the family to California, where Solon worked as a cowboy. After the family returned to Omaha in 1885, Solon briefly studied painting before taking charge of the ranch. He was only seventeen. While at the ranch Solon began to make sketches, including scenes of blizzards in 1891.

Solon’s older brother John Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, visited the ranch in 1890 and urged Solon to take up art full time. Solon left Nebraska in 1893 to study art in California, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Paris, France, and gave up painting for sculpture. Many of the works that earned him the title of “Sculptor of the Prairie” depicted cowboys, horses, and Indians and were inspired by his Nebraska ranching experiences.
 
Erected 2016 by Cairo Roots Museum; Hall County Historical Society; Nebraska Junk Jaunt; Centura School Students; and Nebraska State Historical Society. (Marker Number 519.)
 
Topics and series. This historical
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marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, MusicSettlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Nebraska State Historical Society series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1868.
 
Location. 41° 0.244′ N, 98° 42.915′ W. Marker is near Cairo, Nebraska, in Hall County. Marker is on State Highway 2, 5.6 miles west of State Highway 11, on the right when traveling west. Marker is located in a pull-out on the north side of the highway. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Cairo NE 68824, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 15 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. B-17 Crash, 1943 (approx. 9.3 miles away); Civilian Conservation Corps (approx. 9.4 miles away); Pleasanton Branch Union Pacific Railroad (approx. 9.4 miles away); Post South Loup Fork (approx. 9.4 miles away); John Pesek (approx. 10.4 miles away); Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant (approx. 12.1 miles away); Wood River Veterans Memorial (approx. 14 miles away); Original Townsite of Wood River (approx. 14.2 miles away).
 
Also see . . .
1. Solon Borglum. Solon displayed his rugged individualism in his first great work. He
Solon H. Borglum Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 11, 2021
2. Solon H. Borglum Marker
had dropped painting for sculpture and, rather than doing something dull and imitative from the classics which other young sculptors were doing, he turned to his memories of the west and did an incredibly vibrant statue of a cowboy on horseback lassoing another horse. The title of the work was “Lassoing Wild Horses” and it made him famous, winning Place of Honor in 1898 at the Paris Salon and a silver medal in Argentina in 1910. (Submitted on October 7, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

2. Solon H. Borglum. Borglum went to Paris to study at the Académie Julian, where the French students gave him the title ​“sculptor of the prairie.” On his return, he set up a studio in New York City, had his first major show in 1903, and started the School of American Sculpture in 1920, where he taught until his death. (Submitted on October 7, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

3. Solon Hannibal de la Mothe Borglum (Wikipedia). Borglum received several major public commissions, including an equestrian monument of General John Brown Gordon for the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta (1907), one of Rough Rider Buckey O'Neill for the plaza in front of the courthouse in Prescott, Arizona (1907), and The Pioneer, which was erected in the Court of Honor at the Panama–Pacific
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International Exposition in San Francisco (1915). (Submitted on October 7, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on October 7, 2021. It was originally submitted on October 7, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 246 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on October 7, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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Mar. 29, 2024