 Ozarks woodcarver Junior Cobb, whose talent for crafting human and wildlife figures took him to the White House, has died. He was 70.

Cobb, who lived in the Three Brothers community near the Missouri border, died Monday, according to Roller Funeral Homes of Mountain Home.

Cobb began carving at age 6 and sold his early works to travelers taking the small ferry that his father ran across the White River.

His brother, W.A. Cobb, told the Baxter Bulletin that Junior Cobb wouldn’t carve until he needed money. Cobb lived in a home he built largely from scrap and spent as much time as he could in the outdoors.

Cobb visited the White House with then-Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller during the Johnson administration. His works have been displayed by the Smithsonian.