Unfinished in the Black Hills
Credit: Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service
Today the Mount Rushmore National Memorial embraces approximately 1,200 acres near Keystone, South Dakota. Originally it was known to the Lakota Sioux Indians as Six Grandfathers. Early American settlers knew the famous peak as Cougar Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, Slaughterhouse Mountain, or Keystone Cliffs. However, the massif was officially renamed in 1930 to honor a New York business man who had spent years in the area representing a mining company and big-game hunting. By the way, this fella gave the largest single contribution ($5,000) to the carving project, so apparently he purchased for himself the naming rights.
His name? Charles E. Rushmore (1857-1931).
South Dakota historian Doane Robinson (1856-1946) is credited with first conceiving the idea of carving the likenesses of famous people to promote local tourism. Robinson invited sculptor Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) to lead the effort following Borglum’s “incomplete” experience carving into the granite face of Stone Mountain in Georgia in 1924. It was Borglum who changed the location and the subject matter from that originally envisioned. The originally proposed location was moved because of the poor condition of the granite as well as its relation to the setting sun.
In lieu of perhaps more locally recognized personalities proposed by Robinson such as Lewis and Clark, Red Cloud or Buffalo Bill – the ultimate subjects (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt) were chosen “because of their roles in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory”. More precisely per the words of the sculptor Gutzon Borglum:
“The purpose of the memorial is to communicate the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the United States with colossal statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.”
Credit: Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service / plans for the Hall of Records
Construction began in 1927 and the four Presidential faces were completed by 1939. Although intended to depict all the way to their waist, the project stalled in 1941 due to Borglum’s death and World War II. But interestingly, the sculptural relief on the granite mountain face is not the only unfinished aspect of the project.
Borglum’s plan included a concept called “The Hall of Records”…a chamber carved into the mountain (behind Lincoln’s face) to secretly and safely store historical documents such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, as well as other valuable items of American ingenuity in the sciences, arts, and industry. The entrance, about 70 feet deep, is as far as they got before the work ceased due to multiple forces.
The Borglum family understandably wanted to finish the dream of Gutzon, and has continued to push for completion of the Hall. Finally in 1998, the National Park System installed a titanium vault, housing a teakwood box, in the granite floor in the entrance way of the Hall of Records. The box contains sixteen porcelain enamel panels. On these panels are written the words of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, a history of how and why Mount Rushmore was carved, a history of the four presidents with quotes from each, a biography on Gutzon Borglum, and the history of the United States.
Credit: Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service / The entrance to the unfinished Hall of Records, with the granite capstone covering the vault at the bottom of the photo.
The capsule is sealed with a granite capstone bearing an inscription from Gutzon Borglum’s speech at the 1930 dedication of the Washington figure:
“…Let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can, the words of our leaders, their faces, to show posterity what manner of men they were. Then breathe a prayer that these records will endure until wind and rain alone shall wear them away.” Gutzon Borglum, Sculptor
For more on this subject:
D. Tracy Ward, Architect
Originally prepared 2013. Edited and uploaded March 2018 – DTW’s Blog #0015
Our Original Posts, including images when applicable, are copyrighted © 1993-2018 by D. Tracy Ward and Benchmark Design, PC. God bless America! Treasure Liberty always and pass it on! “Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.” (President Harry S. Truman)
