JANUARY 17, 2025|
Photo – Mount Rushmore – by Matt Copeland Bigfoot99
In Cheyenne, state lawmakers are considering a proposal to create a monument in Wyoming reminiscent of the national memorial at Mount Rushmore a century ago.
The “Shrine to Democracy,” as sculptor Gutzon Borglum named his monumental tribute to Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, was blasted and carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore from 1927 to 1941.
House District 37 Representative Steve Harshman introduced House Bill 106, titled Monument to America. The bill proposes the formation of a task force consisting of the governor or the governor’s designee, tribal liaisons appointed by the governor, and any current or former member of the House of Representatives and State Senate.
The task force will be responsible for developing preliminary specifications, plans, and features for the proposed Monument to America, which is expected to be similar in size and scope to the Mount Rushmore national monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
he proposed monument would feature significant historical American and Native American figures from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as recommended by the task force.
Additionally, the task force must determine where such an ambitious monument should be built. In his bill, Representative Harshman suggests locating the proposed Monument to America on Office of State Lands and Investments managed school trust lands. Carbon County is home to school trust lands, but, if the task force is intent on creating a Mount Rushmore-style monument in our area, perhaps the Snowy Range would be a better option.
House Bill 106 sets aside $40,000 from the state’s general fund to compensate the task force for its time and travel.
If passed, the task force will need to present its report on the location and suggested cultural figures to be displayed on the monument by July 4th, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
House Bill 106 was co-sponsored by Representatives Andrew Byron and Trey Sherwood, and Senators Jim Anderson, Evie Brennan, and Bill Landen.
The legislation was received for introduction on January 6, one week before the legislature convened. No meetings or floor sessions have been scheduled at this time.
