Stone Heads

Aug 11, 2010

From Cody, WY we headed East towards Sturgis, SD with hundreds of motorcyclists. Our plan was to visit Mount Rushmore and then camp in the Badlands National Park.

Mount Rushmore, a 60-ft carving of the Presidential heads of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, was pretty impressive. We would recommend the information on the NPS website if you have a chance.

In 1924, historian, Doane Robinson, presented the idea of creating Mount Rushmore for the purpose of increasing tourism in South Dakota's Black Hills. Robinson convinced sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, to take on the project. Borglum was a well-known sculptor who had been commissioned to carve Stone Mountain in Georgia; however, he ended up leaving the Stone Mountain job unfinished because of disagreements over design and money.

Though Borglum was behind the design, the project involved the efforts of nearly 400 men and women using dynamite to carve 90% of the mountain:

"The workers had to endure conditions that varied from blazing hot to bitter cold and windy. Each day they climbed 700 stairs to the top of the mountain to punch-in on the time clock. Then 3/8 inch thick steel cables lowered them over the front of the 500 foot face of the mountain in a "bosun chair". Some of the workers admitted being uneasy with heights, but during the Depression, any job was a good job."

The Memorial's construction lasted from 1927 to 1941, during which time, not one fatality occurred.