Making Mount Rushmore
The story of an extraordinary American undertaking
President Calvin Coolidge speaks at the dedication of Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Aug. 10, 1927.
(Image credit: (Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service, photographer Charles D'Emery)Borglum had originally conceived of the figures with more detail — including clothing and limbs. But the mounta)
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum on a ladder with his model, c. 1936.
(Image credit: (Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo)The workers were paid $8 an hour, which is more than $100 an hour by today's standards. But the work was brutal and dangerous. They had to e)
Mount Rushmore on Aug. 15, 1927. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum has marked off the rock for carving.
(Image credit: (AP Photo))
The blasting of Abraham Lincoln's sculpture.
(Image credit: (Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service, photographer Charles D'Emery))
Drillers, suspended in harnesses and fastened with cables to the winches at the top of the mountain, work on George Washington on July, 22, 1929. Gutzon Borglum, sculptor, directs the carving from a projecting ledge at the left.
(Image credit: (AP Photo))
Winch houses were built on top of Mount Rushmore during the construction. Workers in harnesses attached to steel cables would be raised and lowered by the winches while they worked on the carving.
(Image credit: (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service, photographer Lincoln Borglum))
A staged photo of Jefferson's eye.
(Image credit: (Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service, photographer Charles D'Emery))
Guzman Borglum and his son, Lincoln, use the tramway.
(Image credit: (Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service, photographer Charles D'Emery))
