148 Presidents and American Symbols: Supplemental Guide 9A | Carving Mount Rushmore
Why do you think he chose Theodore Roosevelt?- Theodore Roosevelt conserved nature; he protected forests, lakes, and
rivers.
Show image 9A-7: Hammer and chisel
Gutzon Borglum usually used a hammer and chisels with sharp points
to make sculptures out of rock. But this statue was different. This
carving was too big to create with a hammer and chisel. Some of the
chunks of rock he wanted to cut away from the mountainside were
as big and heavy as a truck. He would have to blow them away with
dynamite. Show image 9A-8: Borglum teaching his workers
Gutzon Borglum had about four hundred people helping him. Many
had worked in mines and knew about cutting rock. Mines are places
where people dig in the ground to get coal and other minerals. Some
workers had used dynamite to blow open holes for the mines. But
none of them had ever made a statue out of a mountain before!Borglum had to figure out how to do that himself and teach his
workers. Every step had to be done very carefully. If they cut too
much rock, they could not put it back. Show image 9A-9: Mount Rushmore under construction
It took more than fourteen years to complete the project of carving
Mount Rushmore. Unfortunately, Gutzon Borglum died just six months
before the faces were finished. His son, Lincoln, who Borglum had
named after President Lincoln, was determined to finish what his
father had begun—he did not give up working to finish the monument. Show image 9A-10: Mount Rushmore
Today, millions of people visit Mount Rushmore every year. They
come from all across America and all around the world to see the
enormous images of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln.
You can see the carved faces from sixty miles away![Name a familiar location about sixty miles away to provide reference.]