 Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz
 Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz
[continued from part I - marker SD19]
The job of raising money was the most difficult, and it fell largely on Borglum and a few South Dakota businessmen. They hoped to persuade a few tycoons to underwrite the whole project, and when their appeals fell on deaf ears, the project bogged down. However, in 1927 a monument drive was started in the South Dakota schools, and when the youngsters willingly gave their nickels and dimes, everyone took heart.
The big break came that same year, when, in a show of faith that held out the promise of federal assistance, Calvin Coolidge agreed to vacation in the Black Hills. The committee immediately announced that there would be a dedication ceremony when the President arrived, and Borglum began to plan the show.
By the time the presidential party reached the hills, everything was ready. Hanging Squaw Creek, renamed Grace Coolidge Creek, had been stocked with rainbow trout and blocked with hidden nets so the fish could not swim away. "This is either the best trout stream in the world," Silent Cal said as he pulled out his tenth trout on his tenth try, "or I'm the best fisherman that ever was."
The night before the dedication a huge barbecue was held in nearby Keystone. There was music and dancing. Huge sides of beef and buffalo were roasted over open fires, and there was enough mountain moonshine to please everyone.
In the morning, Borglum hired an open-cockpit airplane and flew over the summer White House, sprinkling rose pedals in honor of the First Lady. The pilot dipped his wings and Borglum waved to the group below, then hastily landed to get ready for the ceremony.
A huge crowd was slowly gathering in front of the mountain as the presidential limousine was pulled up the final grade by a team of horses from a local stable. The crowd cheered when the President stepped from his automobile wearing his usual New England vested suit - with a ten-gallon hat and fancy, hand-tooled cowboy boots. Without any fanfare, Coolidge walked to the speaker's platform and stood their, solemnly shaking hands with the children who had lined up early to receive that honor.
After the President's speech, Borglum was slowly lowered down the face of the mountain. The crowd grew silent as the sculptor carefully drilled four pilot holes for the head of George Washington; then they began to cheer wildly as he waved and walked back up the face of the mountain.
Borglum's crew of hard-rock miners carved for over fourteen years. The monument was plagued by financial problems as the country plunged into the depression of the 30's, but Borglum refused to give up. The same bickering that had destroyed Stone Mountain threatened Rushmore at times. The businessmen temperament of the committee sometimes clashed with the artist's ego, but fortunately everyone agreed that the carving was what counted and the bickering never got out of hand.
As the giant heads (proportioned to men 465 feet tall) took shape, Borglum ran into unexpected problems. Jefferson was started on Washington's right, but a poorly placed charge of dynamite sloped the forehead, beyond repair, and the design had to be changed. Borglum blew the nascent head off the mountain and stated again moving Jefferson to Washington's left side. This forced Roosevelt's head back into the rock. Then a hidden fault forced Roosevelt's head even further back, until the final carving ended within ten feet of the canyon that lies behind the mountain. Other problems were caused by traces of heavy deposits of brittle feldspar, while veins of silver run like worry lines across the face of Abraham Lincoln.
SD-244, 2 miles W. of US-16A, 2 miles SW of Keystone, Pennington County South Dakota
|
Comments () |
|
|
|
|
|
South Dakota 
