Picture This: Paul Revere’s Famous Monument has Utah Connections

On the 19 of April of 1775, Paul Revere took one of the most famous rides in American history. It was to inform the colonists that the British were coming or as he said, “The Regulars are coming out.” They were coming to Concord to destroy munitions hidden there by the Patriots. He knew the direction they were coming was across the Charles River, because of two lights shining from Boston’s Old North Church. The next day marked the first shots fired in America’s Revolutionary War.

To mark the place, where the Old North Church still stands is a beautiful sculpture of Paul Revere on his horse, perfectly positioned with the tall steeple of the church as a backdrop.

The first attempt at this sculpture was done by a young 22-year-old who shocked the Boston community when he entered the city-art-competition and won! He was Cyrus Edwin Dallin and it would take him fifty-seven years and seven different models to complete the project that our tour people see today.

Courtesy of the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum

But who was Cyrus Dallin? He was born in the small Mormon pioneer community of Springville, Utah just 14 years after those first pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Though his family were not members of the Church, his Utah roots would play out.

His talents were recognized at an early age and by 19 he moved to Boston to study under sculpture Truman H. Bartlett. His deepest interest was sculpting and honoring the indigenous peoples of the United States with his most famous sculpture in that genre being an Appeal to the Great Spirit (1909) which is located in front of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

In 1891, Cyrus married author and educator, Vittoria Colonna Murray. Around this same time, he began working on some commissions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—including one that he first turned down and then reconsidered. This sculpture became perhaps the most well-known iconic image of the faith for 125 years (1893-2018)—the angel Moroni that stands atop the Salt Lake Temple!

He also sculpted the statue of Brigham Young that stands atop a pedestal on the corner of Main Street and South Temple in downtown Salt Lake City. These statues are familiar to millions.

Now you can picture this.