In the Black Hills of South Dakota, there is a monument that is dedicated to four of the most influential figures in American history. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt are names that still to this day trigger thoughts of greatness and awe-inspiring men. All four of these men were presidents of the United States. They each had a signature style or brought a particular ideal the American forefront. George Washington was known as the "father of our country." Thomas Jefferson co-authored the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation. Theodore Roosevelt fought for the little man, was known for his brashness, and formed the Rough Riders, a cavalry unit during the Spanish-American War. These men were not only presidents, but more importantly they helped to shape this country and a mountain. This mountain was known as Mount Rushmore and it was located in South Dakota. Just as these men made America what it is today, so is the story as to how a mountain was carved to tell a story about a nation and its independence. This then is more than just a story about the making of a mountain or the history of the Black Hills, but instead the making of a shrine of democracy.

Table of Contents:
I. Introduction
II. History
    1. Beginning
    2. Shrine of Democracy
III. Artistry
    1. Sketches in Plaster
    2. Inches to Feet
    3. The Faces Emerge
    4. Finishing Touches

IV. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
    1. Physical Systems: Processes that Shape Patterns on the Earth's Surface
    2. Human Systems: The Complexity of the Earth's Cultural Mosaic
    3. Environment and Society: The Consequences of the Interactions between Human and Physical Systems.
V. Conclusion

Introduction:
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is one of the most outstanding phenomena of American History. It is typically American: a massive sculptural project corresponding to the other manifestations of bigness in twentieth-century style. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum believed that art in America was not thoroughly American. It was not sufficiently large or meaningful enough to represent or typify the dreams, ambitions, and accomplishments of this young robust republic. Thus on a granite mountainside, high up into the clouds, he sat out to carve a great national shrine dedicated to the principles and ideals of America. And just as Gutzon set out to build a great feat, so will this paper and its interpretation and story-telling of the past. The history behind this monument, the artistry that is and was displayed, and the basic skills of location, environment, and factors that influence geography will also be discussed here. This work by Gutzon was not just mere sensationalism or commercialism, as has normally been the angle of reporters, but instead this will take on the historic aspect as it was originally intended to bring out.
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HISTORY

History: The Beginning
It started as an idea to draw sightseers, but in 1923 state historian Doane Robinson suggested carving some giant statues in South Dakota's Black Hills. Robinson was not the first American to think that a big country demanded big art. As early as 1849, Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton proposed a super-scale Christopher Columbus in the Rocky Mountains ⁽¹⁾. In 1886 the 150-foot Statue of Liberty was unveiled. In the 1920's, an unconventional sculptor named Gutzon Borglum was carving a Confederate memorial on Stone Mountain in Georgia. Robinson wanted his sculptures to stand at the gateway to the west, where the Black Hills rise from the plains as a geographical prelude to the Rocky Mountains. Here, the granite outcropping resist erosion to form the Needles, a cluster of tall, needle-like peaks reminiscent of the spires on a Gothic cathedral. Robinson imagined the Needles transformed into a parade of Indian leaders and American explorers who shaped the frontier. Robinson's own enthusiasm did not translate into public support ⁽²⁾. Many people were doubtful or outright hostile. Undaunted, the memorial backers called in the master sculptor of Stone Mountain. In an era when many artists scorned traditional patriotism, Gutzon Borglum made his name through the celebration of things American. Gutzon was born in Idaho in 1867, the son of Danish Mormons, he went to study art in Paris. Upon returning to the states, he worked in the shadow of his brother Solon even after several works brought Gutzon moderate fame. Among them were a remodeled torch for the Statue of Liberty, saints and apostles for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, a seated Lincoln in Newark, New York, and an oversized Lincoln bust for the United States Capitol. In 1915, he began the Stone Mountain memorial which brought experience in large-scale granite carving and in showmanship.

Borglum scouted out a location far better than the fragile Needles, a 5, 725-foot mountain named Mount Rushmore. Its broad wall of exposed granite faced southeast to receive direct sunlight for most of the day. Borglum's choice of location promised to elevate the national memorial from a regional enterprise to a national cause, in commemoration, preservation, and continental expansion of the United States. Borglum envisioned four United States presidents beside an entablature inscribed with a brief history of the country. In a separate wall behind the carved figures the Hall of Records would preserve national documents and artifacts and acting as a museum. President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the memorial in 1927, commencing 14 years of work. The only real problem with the structure was finances, because this was begun during the Great Depression. It was here that Gutzon Borglum's abilities not only as a master carver, but also as a tremendous fund-raiser came into action. He personally lobbied state officials, congressmen, cabinet members and presidents. He was not only taking pride in his personal accomplishments, but he also saw that what he was doing was a national effort and therefore his pride was in his country. Since the public works department created jobs and good will for the country, and a lot of those jobs were at the monument, then it was easy to convince the government to channel federal money for the work at the monument. The Washington head was formally dedicated in 1930, followed by Jefferson in 1936, Lincoln in 1937 and Roosevelt in 1939. Borglum died in March 1941 and yet was the official dedication of his work was not until 1991. The carving stopped upon our entry into World War II, and during that time Gutzon's son Lincoln was supervising all the work. It seemed obvious that now was the time to defend the principles preserved in stone.
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History: Shrine of Democracy
^{Gutzon Borglum's vision for Mount Rushmore was no less than the formal rendering of the philosophy of our government into granite on a mountain peak.  Having wan fame for a realistic portraiture, Borglum naturally chose to give human form to the abstract.  His monument to America was a grouping of four leaders who brought the country from colonial times into the 20th century. The most prominent position went to George Washington, commander of the Revolutionary army and the first President of the United States. Washington believed in the liberty and destiny of the republican form of government for which the United States Constitution was based. He also entrusted this form of government on the people of the United States as a whole. Next was Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, 3rd President of the United States and advocate of westward expansion as noted in his purchase of Louisiana. After that, and to the right was our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, whose leadership restored the Union and ended slavery. Lastly, was Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, who was a personal hero of Borglum's (3). Teddy was our 26th President, who promoted the construction of the Panama Canal and ignited such progressive causes as conservation and business reform.}

^{Everyone wanted to see the men on the mountain, for all the above reasons, and that they formed among them a memorial to our country. Gutzon Borglum, who regarded his masterpiece as far more than a tourist attraction, was undoubtedly reassured when the phrase "Shrine of Democracy" was coined at the 1930 dedication of Washington's head. 
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^ARTISTRY

^{Artistry: Sketches in Plaster
Gutzon Borglum knew portraiture, in his youth he studied art in Paris with renowned sculptor Auguste Rodin. Having read avidly and boasting about Lincoln and being personally acquainted with Theodore Roosevelt, Borglum was thoroughly prepared when the Mount Rushmore commission came his way in 1925. He based the models on life masks, paintings, photographs, descriptions, and his own interpretations. Plaster copies were always displayed on the mountain as a guide for workmen. Yet Borglum did not merely transpose the models directly into the granite. The differences between the models in the sculptor's studio and the heads on the mountain show how Borglum fine-tuned the four granite giants into true works of art.
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^{Artistry: Inches to Feet
When it came time to transfer the models to the mountain, Borglum's answer was his "pointing machine." (4) This machine allowed the models to be equivocal with the mountain-side measurements. One inch on the foot of the model was equal to one foot on the mountain. A metal shaft was placed upright at the center of the model's head, attached at the base of the shaft was a protractor marked in degrees, and a horizontal ruled bar that pivoted to measure the angle form the axis. A weighted plumb line hung from the bar; it slid back and forth to measure the distance from the central head point, and raised and lowered to measure vertical distance from the top of the head. Thus, each point on the model received three separate measurements. The numbers were then multiplied by 12, with the angles remaining the same, and transferred to the granite face via a large-scale pointing mechanism anchored at the top of the mountain. (5)
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^{Artistry: The Faces Emerge
The only shaping technique that was available to these carvers during the 1920's, was the removal of the stone itself. No material could be added, and therefore only shaping on the rock itself could be done. With such an unforgiving medium, Borglum at first ruled out dynamite. Yet he quickly changed his mind, since the only practical way to remove huge portions of stone this hard for carving was to blast away. After an egg-shape volume of rock was prepared for each head, the pointers went to work measuring for facial features. Skilled demolition experts dynamited to within inches of a desired measurement. The closer these technicians got to the finished face, the more carefully Borglum studied the heads, making changes as necessary. The most drastic change was the relocation of the Jefferson head from Washington's right to his left side because of insufficient rock to complete the figure (6).
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^{Artistry: Finishing Touches
After blasting, the features were shaped by workers suspended by cables in swing seats called "Bosun chairs." (7) First they used pneumatic drills to honeycomb the granite with closely spaced holes to nearly the depth of the final surface, excess rock was thin chiseled off. A blacksmith would sharpen hundreds of drill bits each day since they would dull quickly on the rock. Afterwards the men would use pneumatic impact-hammers and drills to "bump" away the drill holes in order to create a smooth, white surface. It was this attention to detail that gave humanity to the sculptures. Up close one is revealed to the pupils of the eyes as they lie shallow with recessions and projecting shafts of granite. From a distance, this unlikely shape makes the eyes sparkle and bring the Presidents evermore to life. (8)
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^{Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills
Physical Systems: Physical Processes Shape Pattern's on the Earth's Surface:
In spite of their size, the man-carved monuments in the Black Hills are minuscule in relation to the total environment of the mountains, and as for sheer artistic effect it is possible to argue that these man-made shapes pale in contrast to the natural shapes of the Badlands. Now a national monument, this unbelievably stark, desolate, and beautiful area lies on the northern edge of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Many million years ago, when the inland sea receded, this area was a great marshland, tropically hot, inhabited by the huge beasts and reptiles that we have come to call dinosaurs. The reasons for extinction of these creatures remains a mystery; but when they died, they were covered with sediment over thousands of centuries. As the earth cooled and firmed, and grass grew on the new plain, new species evolved. Fossils of remains provided scientists with a rich store of information on ancient life before the appearance of man, and petrified wood has added to the peculiar beauty of the region. (9)
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^{Human Systems: The Complexity of the Earth's Cultural Mosaic
In 1826, the Sioux Indians began to arrive in significant numbers in the area of the Black Hills, having been forced out of Minnesota by the Chippewa during the previous three-quarters of a century. As they spread westward, they stopped in several places in the land that would become the Dakotas, with some pushing south into Iowa and Nebraska, others angling north toward Canada, and the largest group spreading over South Dakota. The bands that discovered the Black Hills named them "Paha Sapa" for the color of the pines seen from a distance. They made camps in the lower Hills, heard strange noises from the higher Hills, and gradually felt that they were in a sacred place. For the white man, however, the Hills were a place of profane potential, a possible location for gold. (10)
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^{Environment and Society: The Consequences of the Interactions between Human and Physical Systems
Within the anthropological definition of the word culture, the patterns of learned behavior which are descriptive of religious, ethnic, and nationality groups, South Dakota contains a variety of cultures which have more or less mixed together and become less definable than they were almost a century ago. Some Old World customs persisted into the 20th century but nationality distinctions have been breaking down. Only the Sioux remain a distinct cultural group, set apart from the other merged groups by racial rather than nationality characteristics. (11)
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^{Conclusion
Its bold to see such delicate work done on such a grand scale, and to view the end result. Mount Rushmore is a massive tribute to the lives of four men and to the nation as a whole, as survivors and fighters. And as a patriotic shrine, Mount Rushmore has no equal in the United States. The entire setting is dramatic. Nature has blended the elements of earth, stone, trees, valleys, mountains, skies, and clouds into a panorama of beauty which no artist could ever depict so effectively on canvas. The history, the artistry, and flair demand homage of all who see it or even hear of it. Frank Lloyd Wright, the well-known American architect, said this upon seeing Mount Rushmore for the first time: "The noble countenances emerge from Rushmore as though the spirit of the mountain heard a human plan and itself became a human countenance." (12) Mount Rushmore National Memorial is as much a product of time as it is the work of a talented sculptor. Today, the dream lives on as holders of the vision bring hope and support to this truly American icon (13).
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<sup>1. Fite, Gilbert C. Mount Rushmore, 1952. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma. pg. 9.
2. Fite, pg. 11
3. Borglum, Lincoln. Mount Rushmore: The Story behind the Scenery, 1999. Econo-Clad Books, Topeka, Kansas. pg. 6
4. Carter, Robin Borglum. Gutzon Borglum: His Life and His, 1998. Eakin Press, Austin, Texas. pg. 51.
5. Carter, pgs. 54-57.
6. Fite, pgs. 64-65.
7. Borglum, pg. 21.
8. Fite, pgs. 79-80.
9. Milton, John. South Dakota: A Bicentennial History, 1977. W. W. Norton and Company, Inc, New York, New York, pgs. 139-140.
10. Milton, pgs. 23-24.
11. Milton, pg. 143.
12. Fite, pg. 236.
13. Meredith Corporation. "The Making of Mount Rushmore", American Park Network: Mount Rushmore History: The Making of Mount Rushmore; http://www.americanparknetwork.com/parkinfo/ru/history/carve.html (10 October 2000).</sup>

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Created 11-15-00

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