The Carving of Mount Rushmore

by Rex Alan Smith

to be quite sure how he got there. Some say that just before the crash he jumped, hoping to land on the roof of the compressor house. Others say he was thrown out of the cage when it struck. But even though the event may have been confused, its result was not. Anderson had a fractured arm and several broken ribs. All who had been in the accident were sent by Lincoln to Rapid City, where they were hospitalized for observation. Five were sent, but through a mix-up six were hospitalized. Glen Jones, who had helped take the men to town, explained (or has been quoted as having explained), “By God! Those nurses took one look at me and threw me in a room and put me to bed, and I wasn’t even in the damn thing when it wrecked!” But, as Howdy Peterson commented later, “O1’ Glen was quite a card. He was a real cutup.” Hence, it is quite possible the mix-up was engineered by Jones, himself. As it finally turned out, all injuries but Anderson’s were minor, and his healed completely and with no lasting damage. And so