Well, we’ve come to the last post in our series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have compiling it. I tried to do the best I could even though I might’ve copied and pasted from Wikipedia on some occasions. Well, on a lot of occasions. Well, anyway, in this final selection, I give you the Mount Rushmores I’ve arranged from Virginia to Wyoming. From Virginia we’ll meet 4 Founding Fathers consisting of 3 presidents and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In Washington State we’ll meet a guy known for “Purple Haze,” an Indian you’d mistake for a major city, a famed stripper with a mom from hell, and a Japanese civil rights activist who tried and failed. From West Virginia we have a major early civil rights leader who was quite the manipulative bastard, an eccentric Confederate general, a lady who founded a major holiday, and a decorated lady war hero who’d put Audie Murphy to shame. In Wisconsin we’ll meet a witch hunting senator with a drinking problem, your great-grandpa’s Bernie Sanders, a guitarist whose influence is still felt in the music industry, and a controversial suffragette. Last but not least we come to Wyoming where we’ll get to know a famed artist who paints like a kindergartner, the first woman summoned for jury duty, a lady justice of the peace, and the first white guy to visit Yellowstone National Park.

 

46. Virginia

Figure 1: George Washington– First President of the United States from 1789-1797, Founding Father, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and presided over the convention that drafted the current US Constitution that during his lifetime was called the “father of his country.” Widely admired for his strong leadership qualities, he was unanimously elected president in the first two national elections. His administration oversaw the creation of a strong, well-financed national government that maintained neutrality in the French Revolutionary Wars, suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion, and won acceptance among Americans of all types. And his presidency established many precedents, still in use today, such as the cabinet system, the inaugural address, and the title Mr. President. His retirement after 2 terms also established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when FDR won an unprecedented 3^rd term and later inspired the 22^nd Amendment that now limits the president to 2 elected terms. Gained prominence at 22 as a senior officer in the Virginia militia when he bungled up a diplomatic mission on the banks of the Ohio that was way above his expertise (as well as possibly doomed from the start since it mostly consisted of him telling the French to get out) and accidentally started the French and Indian War, a major global conflict between the British and French over colonial possessions that lasted for 9 years. In 1775, he was commissioned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army of the American Revolution. In that command, he forced the British out of Boston in 1776, but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles (Trenton and Princeton), retook New Jersey and restored momentum to the Patriot cause. His strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. While lauded for his selection and supervision of his generals, preservation and command of the army, coordination with the Congress, with state governors and their militia, and attention to supplies, logistics, and training, he was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with large armies. Resigned as commander-in-chief after victory was finalized in 1783. Presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787 which devised a new form of federal government for the US. As president, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation. Supported Hamilton’s programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. Avoided war with Great Britain by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 despite intense Jeffersonian opposition. Though supported Federalist policies, he remained nonpartisan. His Farewell Address was an influential primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. His use of national authority pursued many ends, especially the preservation of liberty, reduction of regional tensions, and promotion of a spirit of American nationalism. Upon his death, he was eulogized by Henry Lee as “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Revered in life as in death he is almost always consistently ranked among the top 3 presidents in American history.

Figure 2: Thomas Jefferson– president from 1801-1809 who was a Founding Father known as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence as well as a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from Great Britain and form a new nation. Produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national level. Besides drafting the Declaration of Independence during the American Revolution, he drafted the law for religious freedom as a Virginia legislator and served as a wartime governor. Was US Minister to France in 1785 and served as the country’s first Secretary of State under George Washington. With Madison, he organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System and anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1798–1799, which sought to embolden states’ rights in opposition to the national government by nullifying the Alien and Sedition Acts. As president, he pursued the nation’s shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies. But the highlight of his administration was organizing the Louisiana Purchase which doubled the size of the US. Yet, he reduced the size of the military and began a controversial Indian removal process in the newly organized Louisiana Territory. Second term was beset with difficulties at home such as Aaron Burr’s trial and American trade being diminished with the Embargo Act as a response to British threats to US shipping. Yet, is ranked by historians as among the greatest US presidents. Was a renaissance man who mastered many disciplines which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and inventions. Proven architect in the classical tradition and designed his dream house Monticello. Besides English, was well versed in Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and Spanish. After his presidency, he founded the University of Virginia. Was a skilled writer and correspondent with his only full length book Notes on the State of Virginia being considered the most important American book before 1800 and more than 18,000 wrote letters of political and philosophical substance during his life.

Figure 3: James Madison– president from 1809-1817 who was a political theorist and statesman hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” and “Father of the Bill of Rights” for his pivotal roles in drafting and promoting the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Was one of the most active participants during the Constitutional Convention who spoke numerous times, convinced George Washington to attend and preside, kept a diary of the convention’s proceedings as well as came up with the Virginia Plan that included representation based on population and is seen as the US Constitution’s first draft. His role in drafting the US Constitution was so important, that he’s often credited as its primary author. After the Constitutional Convention, he became one of the leaders in the movement to ratify the Constitution both nationally and in Virginia. Collaboration with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton produced The Federalist Papers among the most important treatises in support of the Constitution. While he initially favored a strong national government during constitution deliberations, he later preferred stronger state governments, before settling between the two extremes late in his life. In 1789, he became a leader in the new House of Representatives, working closely with Washington, drafting many basic laws and is noted for drafting the first ten amendments to the Constitution thus, earning him the nickname “Father of the Bill of Rights.” Broke with the Federalist Party in 1791 to organize the Democratic-Republican Party with Jefferson as well as later drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions arguing that states can nullify unconstitutional laws. As Jefferson’s Secretary of State, he supervised with the Louisiana Purchase and was a party in the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison. As president, he presided over renewed prosperity for several years. After failures of diplomatic protests and a trade embargo against Britain, he led the US into the War of 1812 which was an administrative morass, as the US had neither a strong army nor financial system. At one point, he and his wife Dolley had to flee the White House because the British torched the place along with the rest of Washington D. C. He afterward supported a stronger national government and a strong military, as well as the national bank, which he had long opposed. And his chief accomplishment after his presidency was preserving the Constitution and holding the nation together through the nation’s first major war without suspending civil liberties, attacking minorities, or expanding presidential powers, which is very impressive.  After his presidency and Jefferson’s death, he was appointed head of the University of Virginia, a position he held for 10 years until his death.

Figure 4: John Marshall– Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1801-1835 whose court opinions helped lay the basis for United States constitutional law and possibly the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches. As longest-serving Chief Justice and the 4^th longest-serving justice in U.S. Supreme Court history, he dominated the Court for over three decades and played a significant role in the development of the American legal system. Most notably, he reinforced the principle that federal courts are obligated to exercise judicial review in, by disregarding purported laws if they violate the constitution in Marbury v. Madison. Thus, he cemented the position of the American judiciary as an independent and influential branch of government. His court would go on to make several important decisions relating to federalism, affecting the balance of power between the federal government and the states during the early years of the republic, particularly repeatedly confirming the supremacy of federal law over state law, and supporting an expansive reading of the enumerated powers. Of course, some of his decisions were unpopular but he built up the third branch of the federal government, and augmented federal power in the name of the Constitution, and the rule of law. Through his actions he gave the US Supreme Court the energy, weight, and dignity of what many would say is a third co-equal branch of the U.S. government and brought to life the constitutional standards of the new nation. His influential rulings reshaped American government and made the Supreme Court the final arbiter of constitutional interpretation. Wrote a 5 volume biography of George Washington and defended the legal rights of corporations by tying them to individual rights of stockholders on property, which might’ve set some negative precedents down the line.

 

47. Washington

Figure 1: Jimi Hendrix– rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter who, although his mainstream career only spanned 4 years, is widely recognized as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20^th century. Began playing guitar at 15, and served as a US Army paratrooper with an honorable discharge, he began playing gigs on the chitlin’ circuit which earned him a place in the the Isley Brothers’ backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. Was discovered by Linda Keith when he moved to London in late 1966. Within months, he achieved 3 top ten hits in the UK with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: “Hey Joe,” “Purple Haze,” and “The Wind Cries Mary.” Achieved fame in the US after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. As the world’s highest paid performer, he headlined the Woodstock Festival and the Isle of Wight Festival before his accidental death from barbiturate-related asphyxia at the age of 27. Inspired musically by American rock and roll and electric blues, he favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain, and was instrumental in utilizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifier feedback. Helped popularizing the use of a wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, and was the first artist to use stereophonic phasing effects in music recordings. Despite his hectic touring schedule and notorious perfectionism, was a prolific recording artist who left behind numerous unreleased recordings. Influence is evident in a variety of popular music formats, and has contributed significantly to the development of hard rock, heavy metal, funk, post-punk, and hip hop music.

Figure 2: Gypsy Rose Lee– burlesque entertainer famous for her striptease act who was also an actress, author, and playwright whose 1957 memoir was made into the stage musical and film Gypsy. After a childhood of living with a definitive stage mother from hell and her better talented sister June Havoc, she soon discovered that she could make money in burlesque. Initially it’s said that her act was propelled forward when a shoulder strap on one of her gowns gave way which caused her dress to fall to her feet despite her efforts to cover herself. Encouraged by the audience’s response, she went on to make the trick the focus of her performance. Her innovations were an almost casual strip style compared to the herky-jerky styles of most burlesque strippers (she emphasized the “tease” in “striptease”), and brought a sharp sense of humor into her act as well. Became as famous for her onstage wit as for her strip style and was one of the biggest stars of Minsky’s Burlesque where she performed for 4 years and was frequently arrested in raids. During the Great Depression, she spoke at various union meetings in support of New York laborers and it’s said that her talks were among those that attracted the largest audiences. Made 5 films in Hollywood as Louise Hovick but her acting was generally panned so she returned to New York City. Viewed herself as a “high-class” stripper, and approved of H. L. Mencken’s term “ecdysiast”, which he coined as a more “dignified” way of referring to the profession. Authored a mystery thriller in 1941 called The G-String Murders and Mother Finds a Body in 1942. Supported of the Popular Front movement in the Spanish Civil War and raised money for charity to alleviate the suffering of Spanish children during the conflict.

Figure 3: Chief Seattle– Duwamish chief who was a prominent figure among his people known for pursuing a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with “Doc” Maynard. Has a widely publicized speech arguing in favor of ecological responsibility and respect of Native Americans’ land rights attributed to him but what he actually said has been lost through translation and rewriting. Earned his reputation as a leader and a warrior at a young age, ambushing and defeating groups of tribal enemy raiders coming up the Green River from the Cascade foothills, and attacking the Chimakum and the S’Klallam tribes living on the Olympic Peninsula. When his people were driven from their traditional clamming grounds, he met with “Doc” Maynard in Olympia where they formed a friendly relationship useful to them both. By persuading the settlers at the white settlement of Duwamps to rename their town Seattle, Maynard established their support for his people and negotiated relatively peaceful relations with the tribes.

Figure 4: Takuji Yamashita– civil rights campaigner who in spite of social and legal barriers, directly challenged three major barriers against Asians in the United States: citizenship, joining a profession, and owning land. Immigrated from Japan to the US as a child where though he graduated from Tacoma High School in 2 years, received a law degree at the University of Washington, and passed the state bar exam with distinction, couldn’t practice law due to his country of national origin. He appealed, but the State Supreme Court unanimously ruled him ineligible to be an American and unable to practice law. Entered legal waters again when he appealed an alien land law prohibiting Asians from owning property only for Washington’s attorney general maintaining that in order for Japanese people to fit in, their “marked physical characteristics” would have to be destroyed, that “the Negro, the Indian and the Chinaman” had already demonstrated assimilation was not possible for them. Though the US Supreme Court heard the case, it was denied. Later managed restaurants and hotels in Seattle and Bremerton and an oyster business in Silverdale until WWII where he and his wife were interned and lost everything they had. Returned to Japan in 1957 where he died less than 2 years later.

 

48. West Virginia

Figure 1: Booker T. Washington– educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States who was the dominant leader in the African-American community between 1890 and 1915. Was from the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery and became the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants who were newly oppressed in the South by disenfranchisement and the Jim Crow discriminatory laws enacted in the post-Reconstruction Southern states in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Based was the Tuskegee Institute, he gave a speech, known as the “Atlanta compromise,” which brought him national fame. Called for black progress through education and entrepreneurship, rather than trying to challenge directly the Jim Crow segregation and the disenfranchisement of black voters in the South. Mobilized a nationwide coalition of middle-class blacks, church leaders, and white philanthropists and politicians, with a long-term goal of building the community’s economic strength and pride by a focus on self-help and schooling. Was challenged by black militants in the North, led by W. E. B. Du Bois who set up the NAACP in 1909 to work for political change as well as tried with limited success to challenge Washington’s political machine for leadership in the black community but also built wider networks among white allies in the North. Yet, he also secretly supported court challenges to segregation and passed on funds raised for this purpose. Mastered the nuances of the political arena in the late 19th century, which enabled him to manipulate the media, raise money, strategize, network, pressure, reward friends and distribute funds while punishing those who opposed his plans for uplifting blacks which earned him the nickname the “Wizard of Tuskegee.” His long-term goal was to end the disenfranchisement of the vast majority of African Americans, who still lived in the South. Historians are divided on whether to call him a visionary civil rights leader or a political boss.

Figure 2: Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson– Confederate general during the American Civil War and the best-know Confederate commander after Robert E. Lee. Military career includes the Valley Campaign of 1862 and his service as a corps commander in the Army of Northern Virginia under Lee. His Valley Campaign and his envelopment of the Union Army’s right wing at Chancellorsville are studied worldwide, even today as examples of bold and innovative leadership. Excelled as well in other battles such as in the First Battle of Bull Run where he received his famous nickname “Stonewall,” the Second Battle of Bull Run, and the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg. But he wasn’t a universally successful commander, however, as displayed by his late arrival and confused efforts during the Seven Days Battles around Richmond, in 1862. Was rather eccentric as well as a religious fanatic who disliked fighting on a Sunday but that didn’t stop him from doing so who also wrote tender letters to his wife. But that doesn’t stop military historians considering him to be one of the most gifted tactical commanders in US history. Unfortunately, during the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, Confederate pickets accidentally shot him which resulted in his arm being amputated and dying of pneumonia 8 days later. His loss was a severe setback for the Confederacy, not only affecting it’s military prospects but also the morale of its army and the general public. In death, he became of Southern heroism and commitment, and later a mainstay in the pantheon of the “Lost Cause.”

Figure 3: Anna Marie Jarvis– founder of Mother’s Day in the US. Inspired by her community organizer mother’s Sunday school prayer: “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.” 3 years after her mom died, she held a memorial ceremony to honor her mother and all mothers at her church which is today the International Mother’s Day Shrine marking the first Mother’s Day observance. In the ensuing years, she embarked upon a campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday, spending significant amount of time writing to countless business executives, church groups, and politicians at the state and national level to promote the commemorative day. She was so involved in the process that she quit her job to incorporate the Mother’s Day International Association (MDIA) in 1912 to encourage national and international recognition of the day. The soon holiday spread throughout every U.S. state and numerous foreign countries, including Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and throughout South America and Africa. In 1914, her persistent efforts would pay off when President Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day a national holiday. However, she wasn’t happy with how the day she saw as a sentimental holiday ended up falling to the excesses of commercialism which she should’ve foreseen.

Figure 4: Ruby Bradley– one of the most decorated women in US military history who entered the US Army Nurse Corps as a surgical nurse in 1934 and was serving at Camp John Hay in the Philippines when she was captured by the Japanese army 3 weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Was moved to Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila in 1943 where she and several other imprisoned nurses earned the title “Angel of Fatigues” from fellow captives. For the next several months, she provided medical help to the prisoners and sought to feed starving children by shoving food into her pockets, often going hungry herself. As she lost weight, she used the room in her uniform for smuggling surgical equipment into the prisoner-of-war camp where she assisted in 230 operations and delivered 13 babies. Only weighed 86 lbs when Americans liberated her camp in 1945. Also served in the Korean War as Chief Nurse for the 171st Evacuation Hospital. During a 1950 Chinese counteroffensive, she refused to leave until she had loaded the sick and wounded onto a plane in Pyongyang while surrounded by 100,000 advancing Chinese soldiers and was able to jump aboard the plane just as her ambulance exploded from an enemy shell. The next year, she was named Chief Nurse for the 8^th Army where she supervised over 500 Army nurses throughout Korea. Was promoted to colonel in 1958 and retired in 1963.

 

49. Wisconsin

Figure 1: Joseph McCarthy– US Senator from Wisconsin who, in 1950 became the most visible public face of a period in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread Communist subversion. Noted for making claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the United States federal government and elsewhere. However, his tactics and inability to substantiate his claims led him to be censured by the United States Senate. Name coined the term, “McCarthyism” in 1950 in reference to his practices, which was applied to similar anti-communism and witch hunt activities which ruined so many people’s lives. Today it’s more generally referred to demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents. But the term also works in his case since he used various charges of communism, communist sympathies, disloyalty, or homosexuality to attack a number of politicians and other individuals inside and outside of government. Fortunately, by 1954 with the highly publicized Army-McCarthy hearings, US Senator’s suicide, and Murrow making an ass out of him, his support and popularity faded and was censured by the US Senate, making him one of the few to be disciplined in this fashion. Remains a very controversial figure with his share of defenders. However, while most historians agree that while there was some degree of Soviet espionage in the US at the time, they believe that his actions ultimately harmed Anti-Communist efforts more than helped. Is always depicted in a negative light and deservedly so.

Figure 2: Robert LaFollette Sr.– politician who served as governor and US Senator Wisconsin as well as ran for president carrying his own state and winning 17% of the vote. But he’s best known for being the Bernie Sanders of his day who’s been called “arguably the most important and recognized leader of the opposition to the growing dominance of corporations over the Government” and is seen as one of the greatest politicians in US history. Was a proponent of progressivism and a vocal opponent of railroad trusts, bossism, WWI, and the League of Nations. Championed numerous progressive reforms, including the first workers’ compensation system, railroad rate reform, direct legislation, municipal home rule, open government, the minimum wage, non-partisan elections, the open primary system, direct election of U.S. Senators, women’s suffrage, child labor laws, social security, consumers’ rights, and progressive taxation. As governor, he created an atmosphere of close cooperation between the state government and the University of Wisconsin in the development of progressive policy, which became known as the Wisconsin Idea with policy goals including the recall, referendum, direct primary, and initiative which were aimed at giving citizens a more direct role in government. As US Senator, he opposed the prosecution of Eugene Debs and played a key role initiating the investigation of the Teapot Dome Scandal during the Harding administration. While a brilliant orator given to periodic bouts of “nerves, he made many enemies, particularly for his opposition to WWI and defense of free speech during war time. And a lot of his ideas were met with considerable opposition to some of his ideas, even within his Republican party. Published the ten-volume The Making of America.

Figure 3: Les Paul– jazz, country, and blues guitarists, songwriter, luthier, and inventor who’s best known as one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, which made the sound of rock and roll possible. Also credited with many recording innovations as his early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention. Innovative talents also extended to his playing style including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day. In the 1950s, he recorded with his wife Mary Ford, selling millions of records. Is one of a handful of artists with a permanent, stand-alone exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where he’s prominently named on its website as an “architect” and a “key inductee” along with Sam Phillips and Alan Freed. Only person inducted in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Figure 4: Carrie Chapman Catt– teacher, superintendent, and women’s suffrage leader who campaigned for the 19^th Amendment as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association where she increased the size of the organization and fundraised many dollars as well directed NAWSA to support the war effort during American entry in WWI which shifted the public’s perception of the suffragettes in their favor. Nevertheless, her tactics in order to achieve women’s suffrage weren’t without controversy since she sometimes appealed to the prejudices of the time. But some historians consider her stance on women’s rights to be representative to white women only as well find some of her arguments and remarks to be racist. Also founded the League of Women Voters and the International Alliance of Women. In 1933, she organized a protest committee of 9,000 non-Jewish women who sent a letter of protest to Adolf Hitler decrying acts of violence and restrictive laws against German Jews as well as pressured the US government to ease immigration restrictions to benefit more Jewish refugees. In 1940, she organized the Women’s Centennial Congress to celebrate the feminist movement in the US.

 

50. Wyoming

Figure 1: Jackson Pollock– influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement well known for his style of drip painting. A major artist of his generation, he enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety who was regarded as a recluse, had a volatile personality, and struggled with alcoholism for most of his life. His work has been subject of important critical debates on whether it should be considered art or something created by an adult man that could be easily copied by a 5-year-old.

Figure 2: Eliza Stewart Boyd– teacher who became the first woman in America ever selected to serve on a jury when her name was drawn from a March 1870 voters’ roll to serve on a grand jury which was convened later that month in Laramie. After the grand jury was convened, 5 other women made history becoming the first women in the world to serve on a trial jury. This was made possible since Wyoming’s first territorial legislature granted women full equal political rights even though they still couldn’t vote for president when the territory achieved statehood. Would also be the first woman in Wyoming to be nominated to run for the Territorial legislature but she declined for unknown reasons.

Figure 3: Esther Hobart Morris– first US woman justice of the peace in 1870 in South Pass City, Wyoming where she was appointed to fill after the last guy resigned in protest over the then territory’s passage of the women’s suffrage amendment the previous December. Served a term of less than 9 months where she ruled on 27 cases during her more than eight months in office, including 9 criminal cases. And she held court over a place where men outnumbered women 4 to 1 as well as over a camp of miners, gamblers, speculators, business owners, prostitutes, and rounders. Is even said to have her own husband arrested. Though pointed as a leader of Wyoming’s suffrage amendment, her role in the legislation is disputed. However, it is clear she had strongly encouraged and influenced her town’s saloon owner and representative to Wyoming’s Constitutional Convention to introduce a women’s suffrage clause to its constitution. Nevertheless, in 1869, Wyoming became the first jurisdiction in the US to grant women the right to vote, which wasn’t granted to women nationally until 1920. After her term as justice of the peace, she’d be active in the women’s suffrage movement for the rest of her life and was seen as a Wyoming legend.

Figure 4: John Colter– member of the Louis and Clark Expedition who’s best remembered for explorations during the winter of 1807-08 where he became the first known white person to enter the region that became Yellowstone National Park and to see the Teton Mountain Range. Because he spent months alone in the wilderness, he’s widely considered to be the first mountain man and his escape from the Blackfeet Indians made him a legend. In 1810, he visited William Clark and provided details of his explorations since they last met. From this information, Clark would create a map which was the most comprehensive map produced of the exploration’s region for the next 75 years.

Yeah, we’re starting to wind down here. For those asking me why I had the Wright brothers together and the Perry brothers listed separately. Allow me to explain that. You see, the reason why I have the Wright brothers listed together is because they accomplished controlled heavier than air flight together and were practically inseparable. By contrast, while the Perry brothers were both naval officers, they both achieved distinction separately and are known for doing different things. Maybe it’s best we get down to business. Now in this penultimate selection, I intend to bring you some more Mount Rushmores I compiled from South Dakota to Vermont. First, it’s to the Mount Rushmore state South Dakota where we’ll get to know a holy man who inspired his people to win Little Bighorn, a scientist with his own element named after him, and two Native American women with one who advocated for grave protection and another who wrote an opera. Second, we find ourselves in Tennessee where we’ll meet a man called Old Hickory, a king of the wild frontier who hated him, a man he had evicted, and a woman who might be a descendant of someone he owned who started one of the first “Black Lives Matter” campaigns. After that, it’s down to the Lone Star State of Texas where you’ll find bigger than life personalities like a president known for his Great Society and eccentric ways, a leader in the Texas Revolution who couldn’t catch a break, a teenage boy who went to hell and back, and a germaphobic billionaire. Next, we’re on to Utah where we’ll encounter a Mormon Moses, a wrongly convicted left-wing songwriter, a legendary companion of Sundance, and a dean of Western writers. And finally, we make it up the Green Mountains of Vermont where you’ll meet president with walrus whiskers, a Green Mountain boy, the only black guy to get elected in the antebellum period, and a founder of a major religion in Utah.

 

41. South Dakota

Figure 1: Sitting Bull– Hunkpapa Lakota holy man who led his people during years of resistance to United States government policies. Best known for having a vision in which he saw many soldiers, “as thick as grasshoppers,” falling upside down into the Lakota camp, which his people took as a foreshadowing of a major victory in which a large number of soldiers would be killed which inspired his people to a major victory in the Battle of Little Bighorn, a battle where the confederated Lakota tribes and the North Cheyenne annihilated Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his battalion. After the battle, he and his people left the US for Wood Mountain Canada’s Northwest Territories where he remained until 1881 when he and most of his band returned to US territory and surrendered to U.S. forces. Was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation during an attempt to arrest him, at a time when authorities feared that he would join the Ghost Dance movement.

Figure 2: Maria Pearson– Yankton Dakota activist who successfully challenged the legal treatment of Native American human remains. Was one of the primary catalysts for the creation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) with her actions leading her being called “the Founding Mother of the modern Indian repatriation movement.” When asked what the Iowa governor could do for her she replied, “You can give me back my people’s bones and you can quit digging them up.”

Figure 3: Ernest Lawrence– pioneering American nuclear scientist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron. Known for his work on uranium-isotope separation for the Manhattan Project, for founding the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. After the war, Lawrence campaigned extensively for government sponsorship of large scientific programs, and was a forceful advocate of “Big Science”, with its requirements for big machines and big money. Strongly backed Edward Teller’s campaign for a second nuclear weapons laboratory, which Lawrence located in Livermore, California. Chemical element 103 was named lawrencium in his honor after its discovery at Berkeley in 1961.

Figure 4: Zitkala-Ša (a.k.a. Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)– Yankton Dakota writer, editor, musician, teacher and political activist who wrote several works chronicling her identity struggles and pulls between mainstream culture and her Native American heritage. Her later books in English were among the first works to bring traditional Native American stories to a widespread white readership. Wrote a libretto and songs for The Sun Dance Opera which was the first American Indian opera which was composed in romantic style based on Sioux and Ute themes. Co-founded the National Council of American Indians in 1926 to lobby for rights to United States citizenship and civil rights where she served as its president until her death in 1938.

 

42. Tennessee

Figure 1: Andrew Jackson– president from 1829-1837 who gained national fame through his role in the War of 1812, most famously when he won a decisive victory over the main British army at the Battle of New Orleans albeit some weeks after the Treaty of Ghent had already been signed which had no bearing on the New Orleans crisis as the British government considered the Louisiana Purchase illegitimate. Had the British forces captured the city, then the Louisiana Purchase would’ve been declared a dead letter and the North America political map would’ve looked very different today since the fate of the US or the Western world as we know it may well have hung on this battle’s outcome. Invaded Florida in 1818 which led to the First Seminole War and the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, which formally transferred Florida from Spain to the US. As president, he denied the right of a state to secede from the union or to nullify federal law during the Nullification Crisis as well as threatened the use of military force if South Carolina (or any other state) attempted to do so. Administration marked the ascendency of the spoils system, a practice in which a political party gives government jobs to its supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party and one which eventually led to a presidential assassination in 1881. Vetoed to recharter the Second Bank of the United States which would lead to the Panic of 1837 which caused a 7 year recession. Signed the Indian Removal Act which relocated a number of native tribes in the South to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) and gave rise to the Trail of Tears. Was the main founder of the modern Democratic Party as well as remains its iconic hero but was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. Though seen as a champion of the common man in his day, he remains one of the most studied and most controversial Americans of the 19th century.

Figure 2: Davy Crockett– folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician commonly referred to as “King of the Wild Frontier” who represented Tennessee in the US Congress and served in the Texas Revolution where he died during the Battle of the Alamo. Gained a reputation for hunting and storytelling while growing up in East Tennessee becoming famous in his own lifetime for larger-than-life exploits popularized by stage plays and almanacs. As a congressman, he vehemently opposed many of Jackson’s policies, most notably the Indian Removal Act which led to his defeat in the 1831 elections, though he’d win another term 2 years later before losing for good in 1835. His loss in 1835 prompted his angry departure to Texas shortly thereafter. After his death at the Alamo, he continues to be credited with acts of mythic proportion and is one of the best known American folk heroes. Trademark is his coonskin cap and his saying, “Always be sure you are right, then go ahead.”

Figure 3: Sequoyah– Cherokee silversmith who in 1821 completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible marking one of the few times in recorded history that a member of a pre-literate people independently created an effective writing system. After seeing its worth, the Cherokee nation quickly began using his syllabary and officially adopted it in 1825 with their literacy rate quickly surpassing that of the surrounding European-American settlers.

Figure 4: Ida B. Wells– journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, Georgist, and an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement as well as one of the founders of the NAACP. Born into slavery, she’s best known for documenting lynching in the US in the 1890s as well as showing that it was often used as a way to control and punish blacks who competed with whites or try to exercise their political rights like voting, rather than being based on black criminal acts as whites usually claimed particularly when it came to sexual relationships pertaining to black men and white women (which she found were mostly consensual). Organized a black boycott of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago with Frederick Douglass and other leaders over its failure to collaborate with the black community on exhibits to represent African-American life. Was active in women’s rights and the women’s suffrage movement, establishing several notable women’s organizations. Was skilled and persuasive rhetorician and traveled internationally on lecture tours.

 

43. Texas

Figure 1: Lyndon B. Johnson– president from 1963-1969 who assumed office following John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Designed the “Great Society” legislation upholding civil rights, public broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education, the arts, urban and rural development, public services, and his “War on Poverty.” Along with a growing economy, his War on Poverty helped millions of Americans rise above the poverty line during his presidency. His civil rights legislation banned racial discrimination in in public facilities, interstate commerce, the workplace, and housing, while his Voting Rights Act outlawed certain requirements in southern states used to disenfranchise African Americans. In 1965, he signed the Immigration and Nationality Act which reformed the country’s immigration system and removed all racial and national origin quotas. Was renowned for his domineering, sometimes abrasive, personality and the “Johnson treatment”—his aggressive coercion of powerful politicians to advance legislation. Though he escalated the Vietnam War in 1964 which led to his eventual political downfall, most experts believe that it would’ve happened anyway no matter who was in charge. While he began his presidency with widespread approval, his support declined as the public became upset with both war and the growing violence at home. His civil rights legislation led to a mass exodus of the white Democratic South to the Republican Party as well as the collapse of the New Deal coalition (though he knew this would happen but supported civil rights anyway which is a very admirable thing for a politician to do). Presidency was said to be the peak of modern US liberalism after the New Deal era. His domestic policies and the passage of many major laws, affecting civil rights, gun control, wilderness preservation, and Social Security have led some historians to rank him favorably.

Figure 2: Sam Houston– politician and soldier best known for his role in bringing Texas into the US. Prior to his Texas years, spent time with the Cherokee Nation, fought in the War of 1812, and was a Tennessee politician who seen by many as Andrew Jackson’s protégé (despite their differing views on the treatment of Native Americans) and was eventually elected governor. But he later resigned after his first wife left him shortly after their wedding and made public statements embarrassing to him where he went in exile with the Cherokee to the Arkansas Territory where he became an honorary member of the tribe. While he was in Washington D. C. to expose government agent fraud against the Cherokee, he beat an Ohio congressman with a hickory cane on Pennsylvania Avenue which resulted in a high profile trial. Secured Texan independence from Mexico with his victory at San Jacinto and was twice elected president of the Texas Republic before annexation. Was the only governor within a Confederate state to oppose secession and refuse an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, which resulted in his removal from office by the Texas secession convention. However, to avoid bloodshed, he refused a Union army offer to put down the Confederate rebellion and decided to retire to Huntsville, Texas where he died before the American Civil War was over. Was the only person to have become the governor of two different U.S. states through popular election as well as the only state governor to have been a foreign head of state.

Figure 3: Audie Murphy– one of the most decorated combat soldiers in WWII who received every military combat award for valor available from the US Army as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Received a Medal of Honor for valor demonstrated at age 19 for single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour at Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition. Born into a sharecropper family with an absent father and a 5^th grade education, he lied about his age to enlist in the Army where he saw action in the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Battle of Anzio, and in 1944 was part of the liberation of Rome and invasion of southern France. Also fought at Montélimar, and led his men on a successful assault at the L’Omet quarry near Cleurie in northeastern France in October. After the war, he enjoyed a 21 year acting career, playing himself in a movie adaptation of his 1949 memoirs To Hell and Back. Was also a fairly accomplished songwriter and bred quarter horses. His suffering from PTSD led him to sleep with a loaded handgun under his pillow and look for solace in addictive sleeping pills but he only spoke candidly about it in an effort to draw attention to the problems of returning veterans from Korea and Vietnam. And called on the government to give increased consideration and study to the emotional impact of combat experiences and to extend health care benefits to veterans. As a result, legislation pertaining to PTSD was introduced 5 months after his death in a plane crash in 1971. Was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors and a plain headstone of an ordinary soldier just like he wanted.

Figure 4: Howard Hughes– business tycoon, entrepreneur, investor, aviator, aerospace engineer, inventor, filmmaker and philanthropist who was known as one of the most financially successful individuals in the world. As a maverick film tycoon, he gained prominence in Hollywood from the late 1920s, making big-budget and often controversial films like The Racket, Hell’s Angels, Scarface, and The Outlaw. Formed the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1932, hiring numerous engineers and designers and spent the rest of the 1930s setting multiple world air speed records and building the Hughes H-1 Racer and H-4 Hercules (now better known as the “Spruce Goose”). Also acquired and expanded Trans World Airlines (TWA) and later acquired Air West, renaming it Hughes Airwest. However, he’s best remembered for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle in later life, caused in part by a worsening obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and chronic pain. Also known for dating famous women such as Billie Dove, Faith Domergue, Bette Davis, Ava Gardner, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers and Gene Tierney. Launched the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that was formed for biomedical research in 1953 which still stands and continues his legacy. When he died, his reclusive activities (and possibly his drug use) made him practically unrecognizable with his hair, beard, fingernails, and toenails long, his tall 6ft 4in frame at 90lbs, and the FBI having to use fingerprints to conclusively identify his body. His estate has been contested ever since for his original will has never been found.

 

44. Utah

Figure 1: Brigham Young– Mormon leader and settler of the western US who was second President of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death in 1877 who founded Salt Lake City and served as Utah’s first governor. Also founded the precursors to the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. Best referred to as “American Moses” for leading his Mormon pioneer followers in an exodus through a desert to what they saw was the promised land. Dubbed by followers as the “Lion of the Lord” for his bold personality and was also commonly called “Brother Brigham.” Was a polygamist and was involved in controversies regarding black people and the Priesthood, the Utah War, and the Mountain Meadows massacre where his followers killed an Arkansas party comprising over 120 men, women, and children over 6.

Figure 2: Joe Hill– labor activist, songwriter, cartoonist, and IWW member whose most famous songs include “The Preacher and the Slave,” “The Tramp,” “There is Power in a Union,” “The Rebel Girl,” and “Casey Jones—the Union Scab,” which express the harsh and combative life of itinerant workers, and call for them  to organize their efforts to improve working conditions. Coined the phrase, “pie in the sky.” In 1914, he was accused of murdering 2 guys in a Salt Lake City grocery store on the basis of gunshot injury that he claimed he got in a fight over a woman (which didn’t check out until nearly a century later). Nevertheless, he was convicted in a controversial trial. After an unsuccessful appeal, political debates, and international calls for clemency from high-profile figures and workers’ organizations, he was executed anyway by firing squad. He’s been memorialized in several folk songs while his life and death have inspired books and poetry.

Figure 3: Butch Cassidy– notorious train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch gang in the American Old West who, after pursuing a career in crime for several years in the US, was forced to flee with the Sundance Kid and his girlfriend Etta Place due to pressures being pursued by the Pinkerton Detective Agency. They first fled to Argentina and the Bolivia, where he and the Sundance Kid were most likely killed in a shootout in November 1908.

Figure 4: Wallace Stegner– novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian who’s often called “The Dean of Western Writers” as well as won a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and a National Book Award in 1977. Most famous novel is Angle of Repose that was based on the letters of Mary Hallock Foote. Though he explained his use of unpublished archival letters briefly in the beginning, his use of uncredited passages taken directly from Foote’s letters caused a continuing controversy. Served as a government scientist and was an advocate of water conservation in the west and wrote a forward in a Sierra Club book that was used in the campaign to prevent dams in Dinosaur National Monument and helped launch the modern environmental movement. Co-founded the Committee for Green Foothills, an environmental organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the hills, forests, creeks, wetlands and coastal lands of the San Francisco Peninsula.

 

45. Vermont

Figure 1: Chester A. Arthur– president from 1881-1885 who succeeded James A. Garfield upon the latter’s assassination. While his early career in politics earned him a negative reputation as a stooge for New York’s political machine as member of the Stalwart faction, he surprised his critics by embracing the cause of civil service reform by advocating and later enforcing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act which was the centerpiece of his administration. This legislation brought an end to the spoils system which corrupted American political system for decades and eventually led to the Garfield assassination in the first place. Though forced to retire at the close of his term because of ill health, he earned praise among contemporaries for his solid performance in office. Also presided over the rebirth of the US Navy, banned polygamy, yet signed the Chinese Exclusion Act which effectively banned Chinese immigration and the Dawes Act which called for an allotment system that proved detrimental to Native Americans. Journalist Alexander McClure later wrote, “No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted as Chester Alan Arthur, and no one ever retired … more generally respected, alike by political friend and foe.”

Figure 2: Ethan Allen– farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, soldier, and politician who’s best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga early in the American Revolution along with Benedict Arnold. His land speculation involving the New Hampshire Grants (present day Vermont) during the late 1760s got him embroiled in legal disputes which led him to form the Green Mountain Boys whom he led in a campaign of intimidation and property destruction to drive New York settlers from the Grants. After the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, he led the Boys in a failed attempt on Montreal that resulted in his capture by British authorities. Was released in a prisoner exchange in 1778 and returned to his previous business as usual (like driving New York settlers out of Vermont). While he was active in efforts by Vermont’s leadership for recognition by Congress, he also participated in controversial negotiations with the British over the possibility of Vermont becoming a separate British province. Wrote accounts of his exploits in the war that were widely read in the 19th century, as well as philosophical treatises and documents relating to the politics of Vermont’s formation. Business dealings included successful farming operations, one of Connecticut’s early iron works, and land speculation in the Vermont territory. The land he and his brothers purchased include tracts that eventually became Burlington, Vermont.

Figure 3: Alexander Twilight– educator, Congregational minister and politician who is best known as first African American known to have earned a bachelor’s degree from an American college or university which he received from Middlebury College in 1823. Became the principal of the Orleans County Grammar School in 1829 where he designed and built Athenian Hall which was the first granite public building in Vermont. In 1836, he was elected to the Vermont General Assembly becoming the first African American legislator and the only one ever elected to a state legislature before the American Civil War.

Figure 4: Joseph Smith– religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement who, at 24 published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death 14 years later, he had attracted tens of thousands of followers and founded a religious culture that continues to the present. In western New York that was said to be the site of intense religious revivalism during the Second Great Awakening, he said to have experience a series of visions including one in which he saw “two personages” (presumably God the Father and Jesus Christ) and others in which an angel named Moroni directed him to a buried book of golden plates inscribed with a Judeo-Christian history of an ancient American civilization. His book of Mormon is what he said was an English translation of what was on those plates in 1830. That same year, he organized the Church of Christ, calling it a restoration of the early Christian church with members later being called either “Latter-Day Saints” or “Mormons.” The next year he and his followers moved west, planning to build a communalistic American Zion, first gathering in Kirtland, Ohio and establishing an outpost in Independence, Missouri intended to be Zion’s “center place.” However, the collapse of the church-sponsored Kirtland Society and violent skirmishes with non-Mormon Missourians caused him and his followers to establish a new settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois, where he became a spiritual and political leader. However, in 1844, he and the Nauvoo city council angered non-Mormon by destroying a newspaper criticizing his power and practice of polygamy. While imprisoned in Carthage, Illinois, he was killed by a mob storming the jailhouse. Published many revelations and other texts that his followers regard as scripture. Teachings include unique views about the nature of God, cosmology, family structures, political organization, and religious collectivism. Followers regard him as a prophet comparable to Moses and Elijah and is considered the founder of several religious denominations, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ.