Top Left: This building is typical of those that you see in Hot Springs, SD. Built entirely of carved red sandstone blocks, note the ornate rock work at the top (there is an owl sitting up there). There is at last 50 buildings in this small town that is built this way.
Top Right: Wooden jail house built with 2x4's laid on top of each other in a log type construction. Inscription reads, "JAIL" 1888 HOT SPRINGS, DAKOTA TERRITORY
2nd Row Left: Words of Roosevelt that have as much meaning today as they did when he spoke them.
2nd Row Right: The meaning of Mt. Rushmore
3rd Row Left: The Mountain
3rd Row Right: Entrance to the Park and Mt. Rushmore
4th Row Left: Terry and the Presidents
Click to enlarge all the pictures for better detail.
We are now 421.5 miles from Belle Fourche and 3,852.8 miles from home, have entered the furthest time zone of the trip (Central). Tonight, we are in Broken Bow, Nebraska. Tomorrow after a short drive, we will be in the area that my dad and mom were raised. Again, we had a fabulous day even though it was a cloudy overcast. Passed through Deadwood City, a quaint little community with a lot of casino's and some fabulous old buildings. This area is in the Black Hills of South Dakota, forget the little valley I found in Montana as a choice to live. This is one of the most beautiful areas that I have seen in the lower forty eight. Of course, all of you know I love my rocks, this area has some of the neatest rock formations that I have ever seen combined with the heavy forestation of Ponderosa Pine. I have found a town that I could live in, Hot Springs, SD. All of the buildings are made of red sandstone sculptured rocks, some of them dating back to the 1800's. The more modern buildings are made of brick to blend in. Fences, terraces, bridges are all made of rock and it also is nestled in a little valley surrounded by the Black Hills.
The highlight of the trip today, was Mount Rushmore. The pictures that you see of it does not do it justice, it is inspiring to see it looming over you. The entire area is beautiful, the museum, outdoor theatre, and two inside theatres are all of natural rock and beautiful, but the four presidents on the mountain are spectacular. Another history lesson for my grandchildren.
Mt Rushmore is also in the Black Hills of South Dakota, there are sheer rock formations several hundred feet tall. Originally in 1923 Doane Robinson thought some of rock needles should be carved into statues, Buffalo Bill and War Chief Red Cloud were mentioned as good choices. He contacted Gutzon Borglum, who was carving a confederate memorial on Stone Mountain in Georgia.
Borglum scouted the area and looked at the rock needles but was reluctant to try to carve them because of the softness of the rock and in their place he chose the mountain to do his art work because of the dense granite that could be preserved forever. To start the project,he had to blast 50 tons away from the cliff to gain access to the granite that he wanted to carve. He also thought that art work of this size should tell the history of the U.S. and those men who were instrumental in holding it together as a young nation. He envisioned four presidents, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the park in 1927 and the work commenced. The artist, Borglum was then age 57 when he commenced his work. To insure that things were proportionate in size, he made sculptured faces in small detail until they were perfect. Then on the mountain, a shaft was planted where of the center of head would be, a large protractor was then placed on the shaft hanging over the mountain with a weighted plumb line attached. The scale of the art work from the model was one inch on the model to twelve feet on the mountain. The carvings are in detail, down to the mustache of those presidents that ad one as well as the eyeglasses of Roosevelt including the rubber nose pads. Over four hundred men worked on the mountain, hanging from Bosn' chairs several hundred feet from the ground. The lead carver was the highest paid at $1.50 per day, the drillers that had to drill thousands of 2 inch holes received .65 cents per day. The majority of the sculpture was done by blasting, 90% was taken off with dynamite of various size charges dependent on how much rock they need to blow away. The drillers would drill 2 inch holes two inches apart in the area that needed blasting to a depth that need to be removed and then the proper size charge were placed. The blasts occurred twice a day, right before lunch break and again at quitting time. During the time it took to sculpture the mountain, not one single life was lost despite not having any type of safety gear. The head of Washington was dedicated in 1930, followed by Jefferson in 1936, Lincoln in 1937 and Roosevelt in 1939. Borglum died in March 1941. The final dedication was not held until 50 years later when President George Bush, SR dedicated the site. What most people do not know, is that behind Mt. Rushmore there is a break between the mountain and a second cliff, in this cliff Borglum started construction of a rock vault carved into the cliff that would house all of the artifacts of the project, drawings and hand tools. He passed away before this was accomplished and it has went onto remain unfinished. The park service now uses it to store tools and fireworks for the annual display that is held here each year on July 4th. History 101 is now completed and you will be tested on it around the firepit!
While at Mt. Rushmore, it was trying to spit a little snow, by the time we got off the mountain it was raining and as we crossed over into the badlands of Nebraska it was raining hard. I now know my father was a very wise man, when he decided to rip up his roots in Nebraska and move his family to Colorado! Rolling prairie for as far as the eye can see, the only trees you see are those planted around the farms or in the small communities. Several road signs made us laugh today as we entered some of these smaller towns, the smallest town we saw listed the populations as eight. One town had a post office but no commercial business of any kind. Anchor Point would be a metropolis to some that we have seen today. As for wildlife today, deer, antelope, and several large flocks of wild turkeys, Dutch and I tried to run them down so we could bring home fresh turkey for Thanksgiving, but they are a fast bird! We did get one feather! A great memorable day,
The highlight of the trip today, was Mount Rushmore. The pictures that you see of it does not do it justice, it is inspiring to see it looming over you. The entire area is beautiful, the museum, outdoor theatre, and two inside theatres are all of natural rock and beautiful, but the four presidents on the mountain are spectacular. Another history lesson for my grandchildren.
Mt Rushmore is also in the Black Hills of South Dakota, there are sheer rock formations several hundred feet tall. Originally in 1923 Doane Robinson thought some of rock needles should be carved into statues, Buffalo Bill and War Chief Red Cloud were mentioned as good choices. He contacted Gutzon Borglum, who was carving a confederate memorial on Stone Mountain in Georgia.
Borglum scouted the area and looked at the rock needles but was reluctant to try to carve them because of the softness of the rock and in their place he chose the mountain to do his art work because of the dense granite that could be preserved forever. To start the project,he had to blast 50 tons away from the cliff to gain access to the granite that he wanted to carve. He also thought that art work of this size should tell the history of the U.S. and those men who were instrumental in holding it together as a young nation. He envisioned four presidents, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the park in 1927 and the work commenced. The artist, Borglum was then age 57 when he commenced his work. To insure that things were proportionate in size, he made sculptured faces in small detail until they were perfect. Then on the mountain, a shaft was planted where of the center of head would be, a large protractor was then placed on the shaft hanging over the mountain with a weighted plumb line attached. The scale of the art work from the model was one inch on the model to twelve feet on the mountain. The carvings are in detail, down to the mustache of those presidents that ad one as well as the eyeglasses of Roosevelt including the rubber nose pads. Over four hundred men worked on the mountain, hanging from Bosn' chairs several hundred feet from the ground. The lead carver was the highest paid at $1.50 per day, the drillers that had to drill thousands of 2 inch holes received .65 cents per day. The majority of the sculpture was done by blasting, 90% was taken off with dynamite of various size charges dependent on how much rock they need to blow away. The drillers would drill 2 inch holes two inches apart in the area that needed blasting to a depth that need to be removed and then the proper size charge were placed. The blasts occurred twice a day, right before lunch break and again at quitting time. During the time it took to sculpture the mountain, not one single life was lost despite not having any type of safety gear. The head of Washington was dedicated in 1930, followed by Jefferson in 1936, Lincoln in 1937 and Roosevelt in 1939. Borglum died in March 1941. The final dedication was not held until 50 years later when President George Bush, SR dedicated the site. What most people do not know, is that behind Mt. Rushmore there is a break between the mountain and a second cliff, in this cliff Borglum started construction of a rock vault carved into the cliff that would house all of the artifacts of the project, drawings and hand tools. He passed away before this was accomplished and it has went onto remain unfinished. The park service now uses it to store tools and fireworks for the annual display that is held here each year on July 4th. History 101 is now completed and you will be tested on it around the firepit!
While at Mt. Rushmore, it was trying to spit a little snow, by the time we got off the mountain it was raining and as we crossed over into the badlands of Nebraska it was raining hard. I now know my father was a very wise man, when he decided to rip up his roots in Nebraska and move his family to Colorado! Rolling prairie for as far as the eye can see, the only trees you see are those planted around the farms or in the small communities. Several road signs made us laugh today as we entered some of these smaller towns, the smallest town we saw listed the populations as eight. One town had a post office but no commercial business of any kind. Anchor Point would be a metropolis to some that we have seen today. As for wildlife today, deer, antelope, and several large flocks of wild turkeys, Dutch and I tried to run them down so we could bring home fresh turkey for Thanksgiving, but they are a fast bird! We did get one feather! A great memorable day,
Tomorrow will be an interesting day to see if we can discover any additional information about our lineage and possibly run into some unknown cousins. See you on down the line.
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