The Carving of Mount Rushmore

by Rex Alan Smith

Usually Borglum announced his inspirations the moment he had them. This time, uncharacteristically, he kept quiet until the Hearst organization had accepted and perfected his idea and was about to release the first publicity on it. Then he told the Mount Rushmore commission about it. He thought he had executed a brilliant coup, and it appeared that he had. Hence, the response of the commissioners must have shocked him. They were upset. Powerfully upset. They were no opposed to the Entablature nor to Rushmore publicity, but they were concerned about the legality of what Borglum was doing. The congressional act under which Rushmore was being funded said the Entablature must “be indited by Calvin Coolidge,” and even though Coolidge was dead the act was still law. Unless or until it was changed, if it could be changed, no other Entablature wording could be lawfully used. Accordingly, the commission was of the opinion that this effort, too, would backfire. It would place both Rushmore and the Hearst papers in an embarrassing position