The Carving of Mount Rushmore

by Rex Alan Smith

orphaned at the age of one, and until the age of sixteen, when he ran away from home, had been raised by an Irish prizefighter. Although he was almost entirely self-educated and self-taught, Ziolkowski’s training had been good enough and his talent great enough that later in this summer of 1939 his bust of Paderewski would win a gold medal at the New York World’s Fair. Emil Flick, Borglum’s ranch manager and moviegoing companion, remembered Ziolkowski’s coming to Rushmore: Mr. Borglum had been in the East on a speaking trip, and when he got back he said, “Emil, I’ve just met a capable young sculptor in Chicago, and I’m bringing him out here as my assistant. I want you to fix him up with the cabin up the creek [on the ranch] and make him feel at home. Yes sir! I have great plans for Ziolkowski!” Not long after that Mr. Borglum said, “Korczak and his wife have just come in and are at the cabin. Let’s walk up and make ’em feel at home.”