Mt. Rushmore

Ah, Mt. Rushmore... an icon of America, and a classic stop on any road trip across this country.

The highways in the Black Hills are incredibly confusing, so we won't bore you with which ones we took - but the drive was spectacular! Complete with hairpin turns, one-lane tunnels, and spiral bridges.

You can see the monument before you enter the park, particularly George Washington, perched at the front of the mountain (with a view of his distinct profile that actually was not on purpose).

While there was no cost to see the monument, visitors must pay a $10 parking fee. It was Mt. Rushmore Mania when we arrived. Even the vending machines were covered with the image of Mt. Rushmore.

Once through the hallway of state flags, we arrived on this grandstand with the faces glaring at us just waiting to be photographed. There were hundreds of people (even on a Tuesday!) in pretzel-like poses trying to get the best shot.

We weren't planning on taking any tours, but discovered we arrived at the platform 2 minutes before a free guided-tour would begin. Our guide was adorable and really enthusiastic in his delivery. He began with the story of how the mountain became Mt. Rushmore...


Charles E. Rushmore, a New York lawyer, was in town checking mining titles. William Challis took him touring around the area and Rushmore asked Challis what the name of the prominent mountain. Challis said “It’s never had any but it has now-we’ll call the damn thing Rushmore.” And so it was. In 1930, the United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the mountain as Mt. Rushmore.

He then described the controversy with the Lakota Tribe and the U.S. Government in acquiring the Black Hills. The U.S. Government granted the Lakota Tribe eternal control (and no white settlements) of the Black Hills with the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. When gold was discovered, it seems the treaty was ingnored and mining began in the Black Hills. To soothe the wound, the U.S. Government put aside a 100-million dollar trust for the Lakota Tribe. Today, that trust is worth 900-million dollars. The tribe continues to deny the money. Although the ranger said times are changing. A recent survey of the Lakota Tribe showed that 60% are not interested in the money, while 40% are interested in acquiring the money instead of the land.

It was time to learn the history of the carving itself. The "Father of Mt. Rushmore" is Doane Robinson. He wanted a large carving in the Black Hills of South Dakota to increase tourism.

Robinson contacted sculptor Gutzon Borglum - who was also the original sculptor for Stone Mountain in Georgia. Our guide said that Borglum was, to say the least, a colorful character. Due to his large and difficult ego, he was fired from the Stone Mountain project. To show his disgust and to ensure that the committee wouldn't use his design, Borglum pushed the model off of Stone Mountain. The Daughters of the Confederacy tried to sue him, but Borglum simply said that he was the artist, therefore, he owned the work.

With nothing else to do, Borglum took on the Mt. Rushmore carvings.

Work began in 1927 and was completed in 1941. It took 14 years to carve the four faces, but if you calculate the actual work days (don't forget about the rough South Dakota winters) it only took about 6 years. All in all, 450,000 tons of rock were removed. About 90% was removed with dynamite, while the rest was removed by hand with small jackhammers and finishing tools.

Some cool facts about the project:

• The faces represent "birth, expansion, development and preservation of the country."
• The monument hosts over 3 million visitors a year (that's almost 1 million per face!)
  
• No fatalities
• 400 workers making $8/day
• Cost: $989,992.32
• The tool: Dynamite
• The drill: Jackhammer
• The rock: Harney Peak Granite
• The location: Paha Sapa "The Black Hills"
• The trees: Ponderosa Pine
• Each face is 60 feet tall
• Each eye is 11 feet wide
• Washington's nose is 21 feet long, all other noses are 20 feet long.
• Washington's mouth is 18-feet wide.

The Faces:

First to be carved: George Washington
President from 1789-1797
Borglum chose Washington because he was the first president of the U.S.
Dedicated: July 4, 1934

Second to be carved: Thomas Jefferson
President from 1801-1809
Borglum chose Jefferson for the Delcaration of Independance - and for expanding the country.
The Jefferson carving began on Washington's right, but Borglum and his crew hit unstable granite and Jefferson's partially completed face was blasted off and his carving began again on Washington's left.
Dedicated: 1936

Third to be carved: Abraham Lincoln
President from 1861-1865
Borglum chose Lincoln because of Lincoln's ability to unite a nation in the threat of seperation. Plus, Lincoln was Borglum's favorite president. In fact, Borglum named his son, Lincoln, after the president.
Dedicated: September 17, 1937

Fourth to be carved: Theodore Roosevelt
President from 1901-1909
Dedicated: July 2, 1939


The original design called for each president to be carved down to the waist, but Borglum died suddenly in March 1941 of an embolism (blockage). His son, Lincoln, continued the project until September 1941. Funds were depleted and the carvings were declared complete. If completed as designed, Washington's body would have been as tall as a 40-story building.

So how did they make such life-like carvings? Borglum began by creating a scale model of his design, where 1.12 inches would equal 1 foot. A huge protractor-like device as well as plumb bobs were used to transfer the measurements to the mountain and accurately remove large sections of granite with dynamite. Then large plaster masks were constructed and used on the mountain during carving for the detail work. About 8 or 10 feet tall, the masks were hung next to the sculptor while he was working.

But what about maintenance?

Granite erodes about an inch every 10,000 years - which means we won't see the faces falling apart for some time. Granite does have natural cracks which are easy access points for water. When water freezes, it can expand and cause the cracks to enlarge. To remedy the problem, a ropes team (the only certified ropes team in the National Parks Service, by the way) climbs the carving each September and fills the cracks with #790 silicone caulk - specially made for the monument by Dow-Corning.

In 2005, a German cleaning-machine manufacturer, offered a free cleaning of the 4 faces. Alfred Karcher GmbH & Co. KG . Schad do one free project each year for a non-profit. They also cleaned the base of the Statue of Liberty in 2003. The National Park Service couldn't turn down such a generous offer.

While we're on the subject of presidents, here's some presidential trivia for you...

Name the 8 presidents who are/were left-handed.
A: Garfield, Hoover, Truman, Ford, Regan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, Obama

Who was the youngest president?
A: Theodore Roosevelt (age 42)
John F. Kennedy was the second youngest (age 43)

You may or may not have heard of a secret chamber behind the faces. It does exist and is called The Hall of Records. It is located across a canyon behind Lincoln's head. Borglum wanted a place at the memorial to store literature explaining the purpose of the carved faces to future archaeologists, as well as important documents like the Declaration of Independence and stories of US history. Work started in 1938, and only the carving of a doorway and a small hallway were complete before the government discovered the secret project and cut funding.

More than 50 years after his death his wish was fulfilled. On August 9, 1998, a teakwood box containing original texts and 16 porcelain panels was placed in the hall and covered with a 1,200 pound capstone. On the panels were carved various texts, such as a description of Mt. Rushmore, the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. The Hall of Records is inaccessible by the public, and can't even be seen from any public location.