Cold Open

It’s October 4th, 1927, on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

60-year-old sculptor Gutzon Borglum holds on tight as a wooden platform is lowered down a cliffside just below the mountain’s summit. He peers nervously over the edge, and his stomach clinches as he sees how far above the ground he is.

Three years ago, Gutzon was commissioned by the state of South Dakota to create a mountain carving so grand that tourists will flock from all over the country to see it. Today, work is about to begin. Gutzon’s first task is to prepare his workspace—and that means dynamiting thousands of tons of rock to create a flat surface.

Gutzon picks up a jackhammer from the floor of the platform and positions it carefully against a ledge jutting out from the rock face. He braces himself… then engages the clutch of the jackhammer. When he has cut a deep enough hole into the ledge… Gutzon switches the machine off and slides an explosive charge into the cavity.

Once he’s satisfied with his work, Gutzon gives a shout, and the platform is hoisted back above the summit. He’s glad to be heading back to safety - Gutzon’s worked in some extreme environments before, but never one as vertigo-inducing as Mount Rushmore.

When he’s at the summit, he and his workers then cover their ears... and Gutzon detonates the charge. The transformation of Mount Rushmore has begun.

Over the next few months, Gutzon Borglum will blast away another 400,000 tons of rock from the face of the mountain. Only once this clean canvas has been created will the real work begin—but the sculpting of Mount Rushmore won’t be deemed complete for another 14 years, and the monument will eventually acquire a very different meaning to the one its creator intended when he first began carving on October 4th, 1927.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is October 4th, 1927: Sculpting Begins on Mount Rushmore.

Act One

It’s an early evening in August 1925, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, two years before Gutzon Borglum commences work on his mountain carving.

Gutzon stretches in his saddle, trying to relieve his cramping legs and aching back. Ever since breakfast, he and his 13-year-old son have been riding through the Black Hills with a guide. The mountain views are spectacular, but the Borglums aren’t here as tourists.

For the last two decades, Gutzon has been one of America’s most famous artists. He’s made statues of saints and apostles for a cathedral in New York. And a marble bust he carved of Abraham Lincoln is on display in the rotunda of the Capitol Building in Washington DC. Two years ago, Gutzon embarked on his biggest work yet—a colossal carving of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Stone Mountain in Georgia. Gutzon soon quit that project after he fell out with its funders. But Georgia’s loss has been South Dakota’s gain. When the South Dakota Historical Society heard that Gutzon was available, they reached out and asked him to create a similar mountain carving in their state. They wanted to create a monument that will attract tourists from across the country. And instead of Confederate heroes, they have asked for an enormous sculpture of iconic figures from the Old West like explorers Lewis and Clark, and Lakota chief Crazy Horse.

Now, Gutzon is riding through the countryside to identify a suitable site.

But at 58 years old, his joints are aching after a long day in the saddle. He points up at a stony mountain path through the forest, telling his son that this is the last candidate they’ll check today. So far, nothing has caught Gutzon’s eye - not the sites suggested by the South Dakota Historical Society, nor the alternatives suggested by his guide. So as dusk settles, and they head up yet another mountain path, Gutzon is wondering if this is going to be a wasted journey.

But as the group emerges from the trees, an imposing peak rises in front of them. Gutzon immediately spots its potential. The mountain looks like a giant slab of granite, dumped amid dense forests just waiting for him to find it.

Their guide tells Gutzon that this peak is called Mount Rushmore after a New York attorney. But the Lakota people call it the Six Grandfathers. According to the Lakota, the curve of the mountain face looks like a group of people gathered high above the prairie.

Seeing this formation Gutzon feels a surge of renewed energy. He reaches for his sketchbook and begins to copy the mountain’s shape. Then he draws over the top, imagining how he might transform the natural rock face into a man-made wonder. And after a few minutes, he snaps the sketchbook shut, packs it into his bag, and announces that they can return to camp. He’s found a site that matches his lofty ambitions.

Soon afterward, Gutzon meets with the South Dakota Historical Society and accepts their commission. But his work comes with a condition. Instead of carving figures from the Old West, Gutzon suggests building a monument to honor American democracy. He wants to sculpt the image of four presidents into the rock face, four men who Gutzon thinks have played a crucial role in American history: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.

The South Dakota Historical Society is happy to amend its plans. But before Gutzon can begin work, they must first secure funding. Gutzon estimates that carving the figures into Mount Rushmore will cost $460,000, almost $50 million today. Few people are willing to donate to such an expensive project, and South Dakota’s political representatives in Washington struggle to secure any federal funding either.

So two years after Gutzon’s first visit to South Dakota, work is still yet to start. So, Gutzon decides to get creative. When President Calvin Coolidge stays nearby, Gutzon hires an airplane to fly over the president’s lodge and drop an invitation to visit the still-dormant construction site. This gesture impresses President Coolidge—and when he visits Mount Rushmore, he’s wooed by Gutzon’s vision. Before he leaves, President Coolidge agrees to provide enough federal funding to get the project started, and Gutzon immediately sets to work hiring dozens of laborers to help his colossal vision become a reality.

A few weeks later, Gutzon will light the first explosive charge. The rock face will crumble, and Mount Rushmore will slowly transform from natural wonder into one of the most iconic sculptures in the world.

Act Two

It’s August 30th, 1936, at the foot of Mount Rushmore, nine years after carving began.

The sculptor Gutzon Borglum waits at the side of a service road with a large crowd. In the distance, Gutzon hears a car approaching—but the noise of its engine is soon drowned out when a brass band strikes up a patriotic tune.

Seven years ago, the Wall Street Crash signaled the beginning of the Great Depression. The collapse of America’s economy slowed down construction on Mount Rushmore, and the first phase of construction was only completed two years ago. But after George Washington’s face was finished, construction sped up. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s idea for America to spend its way out of the Depression meant that the Mount Rushmore project benefited from new federal grants. Gutzon used this cash to pay for hundreds of new workers. And thanks to them, the second president’s face has been finished in just another two years. Now, President Roosevelt, the man partly responsible for that speedy construction, is on his way to officially unveil the enormous carving of Thomas Jefferson.

As the brass band reaches a crescendo, a black open-topped car turns a corner. It stops by Gutzon, and President Roosevelt reaches out to shake his hand. Gutzon has been warned that the president won’t exit the car. Polio has left him unable to walk more than a few steps. But cameras capture every moment as President Roosevelt reads a short speech from the passenger seat.

When the president finishes speaking, Gutzon nods to his daughter, who waves a white flag back and forth. It’s a signal to workers on the mountain. And a few moments later, an explosion echoes through the hills and smoke rises on Mount Rushmore. Gutzon’s team has just cleared the next section to be carved. But the guest of honor hasn’t come all the way from the White House just to see a demolition. So, after the dust settles, a vast American flag covering part of the rock face is peeled aside, revealing the 60-foot-high sculpture of Thomas Jefferson’s face.

Over the next few days, the ceremony at Mount Rushmore is plastered across the nation’s newspapers. It’s great publicity and private donations soon flood in from proud Americans all over the country.

And thanks to this extra cash, construction speeds up even further, and the third face of Abraham Lincoln is completed in just over a year. So after the success of the visit of President Roosevelt, Gutzon arranges the unveiling ceremony for Lincoln’s face to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Founding Fathers signing the Constitution. It’s a smart move that attracts more attention to the project - and even more donations. The tactic is so successful that Gutzon uses the same trick again when the final face, of Theodore Roosevelt, is unveiled. For that ceremony, Gutzon chooses July 2nd, 1939, the fiftieth anniversary of South Dakota becoming a state.

Although the faces of the four presidents are now complete, Gutzon’s vision is still only part-finished. He plans to add a body for every face, and he wants to excavate a huge vault behind the carving. This Hall of Records, as he terms it, will store unique documents from American history like the Declaration of Independence.

But two months after Theodore Roosevelt’s face is unveiled, World War Two breaks out in Europe. The government in Washington changes its priorities and Congress concludes that large-scale construction projects like Mount Rushmore are no longer first in line for federal funding. Instead, they will build up America’s arms industry in case the United States is dragged into the spreading war.

So, Gutzon’s request for an additional $300,000 to continue work at Mount Rushmore is rejected. Instead, he’s given just $86,000 and told to finish the job as soon as possible. But before he can resume work, tragedy strikes. Gutzon suffers a heart attack in March 1941 and dies, leaving the future of Mount Rushmore uncertain.

But Gutzon's son Lincoln takes up the reins. But with money now short, over the next seven months, Lincoln concentrates on completing the fine detail work on the presidents’ faces. And on October 31st, 1941, after all the cash has run out, Lincoln declares that Mount Rushmore is now complete.

With the carving done, a new phase in Mount Rushmore’s history will begin. As its creators hoped, the sculpture will draw tourists to South Dakota from all across America. But it will also attract growing criticism and questions over whether construction of the monument should ever have been allowed in the first place.

Act Three

It’s the evening of August 29th, 1970, at Mount Rushmore, 29 years after the sculpture was declared finished.

30-year-old Russell Means ambles along a viewing platform at the foot of the mountain. He’s spent much of the last hour studying the faces of the four presidents carved in stone—and he's not impressed.

Russell is a member of the Lakota tribe, the people who lived in this part of South Dakota before the arrival of white settlers. More than a century ago, the American government signed a treaty that promised the Lakota the right to live here in perpetuity. But just six years later, settlers discovered gold in the Black Hills, and the American government soon forgot its obligations. Hundreds of thousands of settlers pushed the Lakota off their ancestral land. And now, in the 20th century, Russell believes the carving of Mount Rushmore has further desecrated the landscape.

Most Americans seem ignorant of this history. So, Russell and a group of protestors have come here to remind them.

Russell glances around, catching the eye of fellow activists who’ve taken up positions near him. Then, he jumps over a low fence separating the crowd of tourists from the monument and begins running toward Mount Rushmore. He glances back to check that the other activists are following. They are—and after a moment, the shrill sound of a whistle indicates that they’ve been spotted by National Park Service rangers.

Russell and the other activists spend the night playing cat and mouse with the rangers. But by the time morning comes, they’ve managed to climb all the way to the summit of Mount Rushmore. And as dawn breaks, they unveil a banner reading “Sioux Indian Power” and set up camp.

The authorities decide that removing the protesters will create negative headlines, so they let the 23 protesters stay. Mount Rushmore remains open for visitors, but now, those who come to see the enormous carving are greeted with chants from protesters. After ten days, most of these protesters have had enough though, and come down off the mountain. But the last two remain on top of Mount Rushmore for two more months, until the onset of winter finally forces them down.

But this won’t be the end of the protestors’ campaign, and ten years later, the Lakota’s grievances will finally be aired in court. The United States Supreme Court will judge that the Lakota were not adequately compensated when they were removed from their land. The justices will order the government to pay $102 million, but that will stop short of giving the Lakota what they really want—ownership of the land that was taken from them, including Mount Rushmore, a dispute that goes on to this day.

Mount Rushmore is now far more than just a sculpture of four great presidents. For many, it’s also a symbol of the mistreatment of Native American communities throughout the history of the United States, an injustice that began long before and continued long after the first jackhammer cut into the surface of Mount Rushmore on October 4th, 1927.

Outro

Next on History Daily. October 7th, 1915. During World War One, British nurse Edith Cavell faces execution by German forces for helping wounded soldiers escape captivity.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Gabriel Gould.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Rob Scragg.

Edited by Scott Reeves.

Managing producer, Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.