Mount Rushmore was created on October 31st, 1941. It has been in production since October 4th, 1927, and has four presidents on the front of the mountain. George Washington (1st President), Thomas Jefferson (3rd President), Abraham Lincoln (16th President), and Theodore Roosevelt (26th President). Gutzon Borglum, an American sculptor who carved the faces into Mount Rushmore, is known for his contribution to the massive structure named Mount Rushmore. Gutzon Borglum decided to use these four presidents as his sculpture because he wanted to use them to represent significant events in American history.
Mount Rushmore is not only one of the world’s biggest sculptures. It’s one of America’s most famous tourist destinations. President Calvin Coolidge had decided to go to the Black Hills (Where Mount Rushmore resides) for his summer vacation. Borglum had persuaded Coolidge to give a dedication speech at Mount Rushmore on August 10th, 1927. In the last year of Coolidge’s Presidency, He gave the Rushmore project $250,000 in federal funds. He also created the Mount Rushmore Memorial Commission to inspect the progress until completion. Boland ( Rapid City Mayor John Boland) was made leader of the commission’s executive panel.
Borglum wished to have a massive monument because he thought that the more important a sculpture is the bigger it should be, Borglum fulfilled his wish as he deserved. In creating Mount Rushmore, over 450,000 tons (900,000 pounds) of rock were removed from the mountain. Each face is about 6 feet high, and the entire monument is around 185 feet wide. Borglum gathered a team of 400 members to help carve Mount Rushmore. Even with their large amount of people it still took them 14 years to complete the project. The first group of those people are called pointers. Pointers’ jobs are to make measurements on the mountain and mark places to be carved.
The second group of people is called stone carves. Once big chunks of rock have been removed. The carvers use more special and precise tools to help make the faces look smoother. The third group of people are called drillers. These drillers would use jackhammers to drill holes into the mountain in a honeycomb pattern. They would use a unique chair named a bosun that Borglum created. The fourth and final group of people is called the Powdermen. These guys placed dynamite in the holes the drillers made and precisely cut off dynamite to make the correct explosion. As a result of the exploded dynamite, multiple large chunks of rock will fly off.
Because Mount Rushmore is such a heavily populated area, the infrastructure has dramatically improved to withstand over 2 million people yearly. Unfortunately, the working conditions the members had to experience could range from blazing hot to bitter cold and windy. They earned $8 / day and had to climb up 700 steps daily. The people who worked at Mount Rushmore also had tricks up their sleeves. They would sell the honeycomb granite they made for six or more dollars, and as soon as the buyer went out of hearing distance, they just went and got another one. In conclusion, from Oct 4th, 1927-Oct 31st, 1941, 400 members worked together, each with their responsibilities to create an incredible sight featuring four of our presidents to present to the world. They called it Mount Rushmore.
Related stories:
https://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm
https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/mount-rushmore-1
https://pgnplayer.pebblego.com/articles/8829
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mount-Rushmore-National-Memorial
https://www.nps.gov/moru/learn/historyculture/carving-history.htm
Take Action:
https://www.booking.com/landmark/us/mount-rushmore.html
https://www.nps.gov/moru/planyourvisit/index.htm
https://www.cyark.org/projects/mount-rushmore-national-memorial/tapestry
