Life After 50: Gotzon Borglum

I have always wanted to visit Mount Rushmore and am finally here. The feeling of pride when I saw the avenue of flags was breathtaking as I see Mount Rushmore behind the flags. I read that the avenue of flags was initially put up in celebration of the United States celebration of Bicentennial in 1976 as a request from a visitor.

I'd like to start and give some history about the final location of where the carvings are. The mountain did not even have a name until Charle E. Rushmore asked his guide, William Challis, "What is the name of that mountain"? Challis is said to have replied, "It never had one, till now... we will call the damn thing Rushmore".

Mount Rushmore was thought up by Doane Robinson in 1923. He was a South Dakota historian. He wanted to find a way to attack tourists to the state. At first, he wanted the carving to reflect Western Heros like Red Cloud, Lewis & Clark, and Buffalo Bill. He also wanted the carvings to be at the Needles. Robinson started looking for someone who could make his dream come true. A Danish American sculptor named Gutzon Borglum was enlisted to help with the project. At the time, he was working on a massive carving at Stone Mountain in Georgia. Borglum left that project and went to work with his son Lincoln.

The project began in 1927 and was finished in 1941. The actual carving was done by a team of over 400 men. This is remarkable but no one died during the construction. The final figures to be carved on Mount Rushmore were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Marlon and I walked around the base of Mount Rushmore and stopped at the studio to listen to the Ranger talk about the history of Mount Rushmore. It was very, very interesting.

This is what the sculptors sat in while sculpting Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore

We left here and drove to Hill City to chat with some people we had met at Texas Roadhouse. They own 3 stores and a hotel in Hill City. Went into Exxon gas station where he had told us one of his stores was. He just happen to be there, we bought some beverages and talked with him about the local sights to see. We are on our way to The Needles. Going to the Needles is an awesome Fall viewing. the roads are lined with Ponderosa Pine and yellow Aspen trees. The Aspen leaves are fluttering in the wind.

Loved watching the longhorns in this field. Their horns amaze me with how long they are.

love the red berries as he backdrops by the prairie dogs

We drove down this gravel road for miles looking for wildlife. We see a big herd of buffalo and need to get down the road right where they are. Marlon continues and takes it slow as we get closer to them. The buffalo were crossing the road right in front of us. We waited our turn to get down the road.