The Father of Mount Rushmore


Back in the year 1923, historian Doane Robinson, aka “The Father of Mount Rushmore,” was struck with a brilliant idea to get tourists to visit South Dakota. So in the year 1924, he met up with sculptor Gutzon Borglum. Borglum had helped in creating The Confederate Memorial Carving on Stone Mountain in Georgia.
Robinson told him about his idea of doing a similar project Black Hills of South Dakota, and Borlgum was in. Originally, the monument’s location was set to be in the Needles near Custer, South Dakota. The granite pillars turned out to be too thin so it was a no-go.