The Carving of Mount Rushmore

by Rex Alan Smith

who had to restrain his strength when carving lest he shatter the marble, was even more rugged. As a consequence, Lincoln got the worst of it and had to be taken to Custer for minor repairs. Gutzon, who had been away on a trip when this happened, realized when he returned that he would have to let Korczak go. Judging by the letter of dismissal he wrote—a letter so tactful and considerate that until his death 43 years later Ziolkowski kept a photo enlargement of it mounted in his studio—Borglum did not do this in anger nor to avenge his son. After all, being well able to look after himself, Lincoln certainly would have resented and been embarrassed by that sort of parental shielding. But Lincoln was project superintendent, and Borglum well knew that no project manager can allow staff members to beat up his superintendent and still expect to maintain discipline in a crew as rough-and-tumble as that which built Rushmore. Shortly after leaving Rushmore Korczak went to New York to receive the gold medal