Mount Rushmore
GLO Record of the Week for June 28, 2020
This week's GLO record of the week will take you back in time to discover how the world's largest sculpture was created. The survey plat pictured below is of Township 2 South, Range 5 East, of the Black Hills Meridian in South Dakota. Today, this area is home to the famous sculpture, Mount Rushmore, which is depicted on the East boundary of Section 13.
The East and South boundaries of this township, as well as its subdivision lines, were surveyed by U.S. Surveyor Leo M. Petersen, and was completed on July 18, 1927. Interestingly, this is the same year that construction began on Mount Rushmore! Petersen lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, and went on to become an early member of the Utah Section of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. Later, he moved to Alaska and became the Chief Cadastral Engineer for the State Department of Lands.
The Black Hills region gets its name from the Lakota Sioux, who arrived in the area in the 18th century around the same time of the Lewis and Clark explorations. The Lakota called the lands Paha Sapa, which means "hills that are black." Before the Lakota, these lands were home to the Arikara, Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, and Pawnee Tribes. These lands are still sacred to the Lakota Sioux today.
Photograph of a Lakota Sioux, ca. 1900.
Mount Rushmore was conceived to promote tourism in Black Hills, South Dakota. A state historian by the name of Doane Robinson (known as the Father of Mount Rushmore), had the idea to sculpt four of the most influential figures in American history. They are the faces of four of America's most prominent presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Robinson chose these presidents because of their historic contributions to the country. George Washington was chosen because he represented the birth of America and earning its freedom; Thomas Jefferson for the growth of America during the Louisiana Purchase and by being one of the writers for the Declaration of Independence; Theodore Roosevelt brought economic growth by building the Panama Canal, opening more work opportunities; and Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Federal legislation was passed by Congress on March 3, 1925, authorizing the carving and setting forth the purpose of Mount Rushmore State Park. President Roosevelt signed an Executive Order on June 10, 1933, that placed Mount Rushmore under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. All responsibilities were finally transferred to the National Park Service in 1941.
In 1924, Robinson reached out to a sculptor by the name of Gutzon Borglum. Eager to follow through with the project, Borglum wasted no time. In August 1925, he moved to South Dakota and declared Mount Rushmore as the designated place to begin building.
Borglum began carving the face of George Washington on October 4, 1927. It took seven years to complete and was dedicated to the public on Independence Day, 1934. The last face was Theodore Roosevelt, completed July 2, 1939. Finer details of the faces took another two years and Mount Rushmore was completed in 1941, taking 14 years to carve.
Borglum had plans to include a Hall of Records, with a grand entrance to an 80-by-100-foot vault carved directly into the granite face of the small canyon behind Lincoln's head. He imagined 800 granite steps leading from his studio to the entrance of the Hall. In 1938, his crew began working on this vision. Unfortunately, he was unable to see the finished work he started. In 1941, he died from complications from surgery. His son, Lincoln Borglum, then took over the project.
Photograph of Gutzon Borglum on Mt. Rushmore.
Towering 5,725 feet above sea level, the sculpture measures 400 feet wide, with each head sitting 500 feet up the side of the mountain and measuring around 60 feet tall.
There were more than 400 workers. They used harnesses connected to cables while working. Not one fatality was recorded.
At the time, $250,000 was funded by Congress to begin the project. The total cost to complete the sculpture was $989,992.
Even in its unfinished state, the attraction of Mount Rushmore brings in roughly 3 million tourists from around the world each year, making it number one of the Seven Wonders of South Dakota.
Fun Fact: The first fireworks display was conducted in 1998, but discontinued in 2009 because of hazardous fires. There are plans to resume fireworks on July 3, 2020.
Fireworks exploding over Mount Rushmore.
