8-14-2019 Hot Springs, SD Part 2

There are certain astonishing things that beg to be seen more than once.  This is the case with Mount Rushmore.  Crafted primarily by sculptor Gutzon Borglum between 1927 and 1941, it is a phenomenal, breathtaking monument towering skyward and belonging to the ages.  It beckoned like a flame does to moths.

The route was long and deliberately arduous, we chose a squiggly road that on the map looked like a brain.  Some of the small tunnels would have decapitated Noobee, however the relatively teeny Jeep negotiated the road with no trouble and it wasn’t scary.  The Wildlife Loop was wonderful, populated with interesting animals. 

Antelope (or pronghorn)

Bambi's Mom

Bambi

Buffalo herd

Donkeys

MISTER Buffalo, to you!

"Did you guys hear that?!"

Don't know what this animal is.

Just the drive to the mountain with all the stops to take in the views was 3 hours of fun!  As we drew closer, bridges span the canyons and tunnels were strategically placed to provide a unique view of the monument.  This was the work of an engineer named Cecil Clyde Gideon in 1932.  He was told his “pigtail bridges” were impossible to build and that set the hook.

"Pigtail bridge"

There they are!  Strategic
view from one of Gideon's tunnels.

Gutzon Borglum was working on the bas relief carving at Stone Mountain (I wrote about that earlier.) when the concept of the in-the-round sculpture in South Dakota arose.  He left Stone Mountain in 1925 and came to the Black Hills and chose Mt. Rushmore for his artwork because of its size, orientation to the sunlight and the quality of the granite.  He proposed US Presidents as the subjects of the sculpture.  He said, “I want somewhere in America a memory of the great things we accomplished as a nation, placed so high it won’t pay to pull it down for lesser purposes.” 

Fantastic artistry

The sun changes the shadows (Impossible
to stop shooting pictures!)

It took 400 workers 14 years at 35 cents - $1.50/hour to make the sculpture into what we see today.  There were a few minor injuries and no deaths.  Incidentally, the cost of the original Mt. Rushmore sculpture was $989,992.32.  In the 1990s, the renovation and redevelopment of this monument was $56M.  Borglum died in 1941 before it was finished and his son, Lincoln, completed his work that same year. 

George's profile

George, Thomas, Teddy, Abe and Lindy

They added a fifth head!

You may recall that the sculptor of Crazy Horse, Korczak Ziolkowski, worked with Borglum on Mt. Rushmore for a time.  The feds got involved in the Rushmore project, dedicating, authorizing, and so forth and ultimately creating a commission to raise funds and “oversee operations.”  The stock market crash in 1929 threatened to collapse the project.  This may be the reason that Korczak refused two $10M federal grants for the Crazy Horse project.  He was worried about government interference.  We’ve made a few interesting, coincidental connections:  Gutzon Borglum began the Confederate Memorial Carving on Stone Mountain near Atlanta.  He left the project to go west and create the Mt. Rushmore monument.  Korczak worked with him on Rushmore and then moved along to create Crazy Horse.  We’ve happened upon all three on this trip.  Connecting the dots!

Rob pointing out Korczak
Ziolkowski's name on the
Rushmore Workers Wall

Heading home from Rushmore we found the Buffalo Inn and Steakhouse and stopped in for dinner.  The inn was built in 1908.  Later, a new proprietor, John Braun, wanted to build a restaurant adjacent to the inn.  There was one problem:  an enormous boulder, far too big to remove and most of which was beneath the ground.  Well, there was only one option:  build around it.  So in the middle of the dining room, a massive rock sits amid the tables, chairs and the bar.  And the food wasn’t bad, either!

The rock in the Buffalo Steakhouse.
Much of it has been chipped away but this
chunk still remains.