Summaries

Synopsis

In 1927 Gutzon Borglum began an enormous task...the carving of the heads orfaces of four U.S. Presidents on the granite of Mount Rushmore in the BlackHills of South Dakota. The ideals of these four men -- George Washington,Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt -- have stood thetest of time.

The project was conceived by historian Doane Robinson in 1923, who wantedseveral of The Needles (granite spires in the Black Hills region) to be carvedinto the likenesses of Western heroes such as Lewis & Clark, Buffalo Bill Cody,and Chief Red Cloud. The goal was to boost tourism to the area. But thesculptor Robinson consulted, Gutzon Borglum, rejected The Needles' rock as tooweathered, and the spires' proportions were also wrong. Instead he proposedusing Mount Rushmore as its stone had a finer grain and texture. Borglum, anintensely patriotic man, also changed the subjects from regional heroes toU.S. Presidents, in hopes of capturing the spirit of the entire nation.Borglum chose these four Presidents:

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, articulatingthe central American ideals that "all men are created equal" and are entitled to"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Jefferson also purchased theLouisiana territory, which doubled the size of the nation and enabled itswestward expansion.

George Washington, "father of his country". He was a Revolutionary Warleader and hero, becoming the first President of the new nation. By refusingto be made a King, he ensured the survival of the American form ofgovernment.

Abraham Lincoln, the "Great Emancipator". He was president during thenation's darkest time, the Civil War. Through his efforts, the nation stayedwhole.

Theodore Roosevelt was a famed "trust buster", bringing economic freedom tothe common man. He was also an ardent conservationist. During hisadministration, the United States began to assume a larger role in worldaffairs. One of TR's legacies was the Panama Canal.

On August 10 1927 the project was dedicated, with President Calvin Coolidge and3,000 others attending. President Coolidge presented a set of drillbits to Borglum, who promptly went to work.

Around 1/2 million tonsof soft and cracked surface rock was blown away to reach granite solid enoughfor carving. About 90% of the carving was done by dynamite blasts. A system known as "pointing" was developed to transfermeasurements from the 1/12-scale studio models to the mountain. Workers hungoff the top of the mountain in bosun's chairs. With practice, the drillerscould get to within a few inches of the final surface, then steel wedges wereused to remove the rest of the rock. Finally, the pock marks from drillingwere smoothed out with a facing-bit in a process called "bumping".

The George Washington head was unveiled in a ceremony on July 4 1930. In 1936President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke at the dedication of the Jeffersonhead. Gutzon Borglum died in 1941, leaving his son Lincoln to close down thework. For the 17 years Gutzon worked on the Mount Rushmore project, it was thefocus of his life.