Mt. Rushmore

24 Aug 06 - These photos were actually taken today! The campground we are in (Horsethief Campground near Hill City) is one of the few that has WiFi and it is a luxury. A bit of history for those of us long out of school - Gutzon Borglum was chosen to head the sculpture project. He had previously created something similar at Stone Mountain Georgia which, due to a disagreement, was dynamited off!!! The second photo is a list of the workers on the project (there were no fatalities). The third photo is the 1/12 scale model Borglum created for the workers to take dimensions from. They used a simple angle protractor and plumb bob to take measurements to transfer to the mountain. You can just see the 'model' part of this device on Lincoln's head. Note that the original plan was to show each figure down to the waist but was abandoned before the project was completed. Estimate was $500,000 and 3 years - actual was $1,000,000 and 14 years. Sound familiar co-workers? The last photo is one of the surviving workers that happen to be at the center signing copies of his book. He is Donald "Nick" Clifford and is at the top of the second column in the workers listing.