Saturday, February 26, 2011

1923 to Present ~ A Mt. Rushmore Visual History Tour

Included below is an old silent movie (video) of the 1927 start of work at Mt. Rushmore Memorial.   Coolidge and his group are shown on horseback riding the trail to the base site of Mt. Rushmore. President Coolidge and Gutzon Borglum then share the formal ceremonial start of work at the dedication site. Then Coolidge hands dynamite to Borglum followed by a demonstration explosion. There are various scenes of Borglum at work on models of George Washington and Lincoln.  I believe the clip of President Roosevelt visit, by open top limo, was 1936.  Various stages of the the face carving compress to the completed project. 


Play only one video at a time


This recent tour provides the oral Mt. Rushmore history and glimpse of how it appears today. The old original pine log visitor building they refer to was torn down along with the entrance pathway.

For good or bad, the new entrance was built in the mid 1990s and is a massive gray granite monolith structure that blocks the face's view until you pass into the new pathway.

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