Arriving at 

New York Harbor, Bartholdi focused on Bedloe's Island (now named Liberty Island) as a
site for the statue, struck by the fact that vessels arriving in New York had to sail past it. He was
delighted to learn that the island was owned by the United States government—it had been ceded
by the New York State Legislature in 1800 for harbor defense. It was thus, as he put it in a letter to
Laboulaye: "land common to all the states."[17] As well as meeting many influential New Yorkers,
Bartholdi visited President Ulysses S. Grant, who assured him that it would not be difficult to obtain
the site for the statue.[18] Bartholdi crossed the United States twice by rail, and met many Americans
who he thought would be sympathetic to the project. [16] But he remained concerned that popular
opinion on both sides of the Atlantic was insufficiently supportive of the proposal, and he and
Laboulaye decided to wait before mounting a public campaign. [19]

Bartholdi's 1880 sculpture, Lion of Belfort

Bartholdi had made a first model of his concept in 1870. [20] The son of a friend of Bartholdi's, U.S.
artist John LaFarge, later maintained that Bartholdi made the first sketches for the statue during his
U.S. visit at La Farge's Rhode Island studio. Bartholdi continued to develop the concept following his
return to France.[20] He also worked on a number of sculptures designed to bolster French patriotism
after the defeat by the Prussians. One of these was the Lion of Belfort, a monumental
sculpture carved in sandstone below the fortress of Belfort, which during the war had resisted
a Prussian siege for over three months. The defiant lion, 73 feet (22 m) long and half that in height,
displays an emotional quality characteristic of Romanticism, which Bartholdi would later bring to the
Statue of Liberty.[21]
Arriving at New York Harbor, Bartholdi focused on Bedloe's Island (now named Liberty Island) as a
site for the statue, struck by the fact that vessels arriving in New York had to sail past it. He was
delighted to learn that the island was owned by the United States government—it had been ceded
by the New York State Legislature in 1800 for harbor defense. It was thus, as he put it in a letter to
Laboulaye: "land common to all the states."[17] As well as meeting many influential New Yorkers,
Bartholdi visited President Ulysses S. Grant, who assured him that it would not be difficult to obtain
the site for the statue.[18] Bartholdi crossed the United States twice by rail, and met many Americans
who he thought would be sympathetic to the project. [16] But he remained concerned that popular
opinion on both sides of the Atlantic was insufficiently supportive of the proposal, and he and
Laboulaye decided to wait before mounting a public campaign. [19]

Bartholdi's 1880 sculpture, Lion of Belfort

Bartholdi had made a first model of his concept in 1870. [20] The son of a friend of Bartholdi's, U.S.
artist John LaFarge, later maintained that Bartholdi made the first sketches for the statue during his
U.S. visit at La Farge's Rhode Island studio. Bartholdi continued to develop the concept following his
return to France.[20] He also worked on a number of sculptures designed to bolster French patriotism
after the defeat by the Prussians. One of these was the Lion of Belfort, a monumental
sculpture carved in sandstone below the fortress of Belfort, which during the war had resisted
a Prussian siege for over three months. The defiant lion, 73 feet (22 m) long and half that in height,
displays an emotional quality characteristic of Romanticism, which Bartholdi would later bring to the
Statue of Liberty.[21]