Wednesday, August 4, 2010, Deadwood, South Dakota

Today we are going into Deadwood early to be able to visit the Adams Museum before we leave this town. Yesterday when it hailed so bad, the museum closed for the rest of the day. Everybody is outside today cleaning the debris off their stoops! The mud, rocks and branches went everywhere. Downtown wound up getting all of it because they are at the lowest point in the area.
The Adams Museum was very interesting with all of the details and collections of items saved from the gold rush days. They had one of the steam engines that was used to bring the people to Deadwood during the gold rush. They had maps and showed the progression of the town in the beginning when it was just Indian territory and then how it grew and changed once the gold was found. There were pictures of the town in 1876 and some of those included pictures of the residents. One picture showed Calamity Jane standing on the porch of the general store. There were many pictures of the town just after the fire that just about destroyed the whole town. The people were really tough and just turned around and rebuilt it; this time in stone, rock and brick.
There were many items that were found when they excavated the area that was called Chinatown. Many items were the everyday things the Chinese used, such as broken bowls and plates, razors, ribbons, pots, toys and hundred of opium pipes. The Chinese had dug many tunnels under the ground in their section of town to be able to stash their opium. They probably hid down there to use the opium too. This section of town was called the "Badlands" because of the opium and the prostitutes. The bus guide 2 days ago said the tunnels are still there and when he was still in high school him and his friends came to check out these tunnels one night. He said he accidentally bumped into a 12 foot Buddha that scared the heebie-jeebies out of him. Of course, they were in the dark with just flash lights. But teenage boys love adventure!
Last night we went to the re-created Trial of Crooked Nose Jack McCall at the Masonic Lodge. It was put on by some local actors and the Dover Boys Band. They played cowboy and western music and were very good. This is just a sideline for them, they have regular jobs during the day. Some of the extra actors were from the audience. In fact, back in 1876 the jury was taken from a group of miners. So for this mock trial they also used a group of MINORS- children!!!! The sheriff was a 10 year old boy from the audience. He was pretty good with the fake gun he had aimed at Crooked Nose Jack McCall! In the real trial in 1876, McCall said he killed Wild Bill because Wild Bill had killed his adolescent brother in the back when he was stealing food because they had none! So he was just getting him back. He was found "Not Guilty" and told to get out of Deadwood. He left and his sister sent the judge a thank you letter stating he was her only brother and that it was nice that they didn't convict him. So now they had proof that McCall had lied. When they followed him out west, he eventually bragged about killing Wild Bill in a shoot out; face to face. This meant that he could draw his gun faster than Wild Bill. They had caught him. He was put on trial again, found guilty and sent to the Territorial capital of Yankton. So now Wild Bill's murder has been avenged. This was a very entertaining play!!!
Now we are on the road again at 10:23 AM to Rapid City, South Dakota and then on to Mount Rushmore. We are staying at Crooked Creek in Hill City, South Dakota which is only 9 miles from Mount Rushmore. It's amazing but we are still seeing oodles of motorcycles. When Daddy had to stop suddenly because the truck in front of stopped quickly and had no brake lights, the 100 quart cooler slid forward abreast of us.
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore is the largest monument in the world and it was created when the US was at a time of great national challenge with the Great Depression of the 1930s. With unemployment, the dust bowl and poverty so high, the US was at its lowest point, and this is when Borglum was starting the monument. Gutzon Borglum was a well known sculptor, having created many statues of famous Americans and in granite. He had to campaign to raise funds and then petition to Congress for this sculpture when most felt his idea was an unrealistic fantasy. The South Dakota State Historian Doane Robinson originated the concept in 1923, but when Gutzon Borglum had announced publicly that he was ready to begin, the locals didn't support him. Borglum faced monumental challenges building this monument. There were inadequate funds and extremely harsh winters creating roadblocks most of the time.
At first Borglum had considered carving the well known Needles area for the monument because of its granite spires, but when he inspected the rock, he decided against it. Plus, the citizens felt that a huge statue among the Needles or on Harney Peak would be as ridiculous as keeping a live cow in the Capitol Rotunda! When he found Mount Rushmore with its eastern orientation and its smooth grained granite, he realized he found the perfect place. This granite is 1.7 billion years old and the Grizzly Creek that flows through the area originates in the Black Elk Wilderness. These mountains lead to the Rockies and when the glaciers were here during the Ice Age, they deposited boreal plants that do not usually grow this far south. There are 480 species of boreal plants here. All of this area needs to protected. Originally, Doane Robinson had conceived multiple monuments of US legends like Lewis and Clark, Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull and Red Cloud; but Borglum, being so very patriotic, felt the mountain warranted the best of our history. So he decided on Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. They were the most important Presidents in our history up to that time. All four believed that man has the right to be free and never lost sight of that. These four presidents represent the first 150 years of the great experiment in democracy that America is.
President Washington was chosen because he was the "Father of Our Country", assisted in the writing of the Constitution, gave of himself unselfishly to obtain our independence and struggled for our freedom even though it seemed bleak when we were up against the largest and strongest power in the world at that time. In fact, when some colonists felt he should be our King because of his strength and character, he refused. He would not turn his back on freedom and democracy for all men. President Jefferson was chosen because he wrote the Constitution, his idea of government by the people, his "Manifest Destiny"' and his foresight in the purchasing of the Louisiana Purchase. President Lincoln was chosen because of his unfailing belief in equality of all men and in his belief that the US must remain a unified country with permanent borders.He led our country in persevering through this most difficult war. President Theodore Roosevelt was chosen because of his belief in conservation and his accomplishment of securing the role of the US in the 20th century world affairs. Roosevelt had secured over 234 million acres for preservation for our future generations.
On August 10, 1927, Mount Rushmore was dedicated by President Coolidge. Ninety percent of the carving of the monument was done with dynamite. At first, Borglum did not want to use dynamite, but the granite was too hard not to. One half million tons of rock was removed in order to carve the faces. The rock has been left at the base of the mountain to add support and steady the mountain. Originally, Borglum wanted the Presidents to be carved from the waist up. But the funds were not there and Borglum died before he was able to finish the sculpture. His son, Lincoln, had to supervise the completion. Borglum made a huge model before he started carving the rock. This model was one-twelfth the size of the completed sculpture. He devised a system by which the workers could exactly reproduce what he had carved, just 12 times larger. As he went along he changed some things. Originally, Jefferson was to be to Washington's right; but when he started the granite wouldn't support it, so he placed him on Washington's left. Jefferson is portrayed as a 33 year old because that was closer to the time of the Louisiana Purchase. He gave Lincoln a beard because he had one when he was our President. Borglum had trouble with Lincoln's face because there was a flaw in the rock right down his nose. He had to tilt the face so the flaw was under his eye and by his mouth instead of on his nose. It would be more erosion resistant this way. He had the most trouble with Theodore Roosevelt. There was no way to be able to carve eye glasses; so he had to make it look like the glass frames were on the bridge of his nose. So he carved in the bridge of the glasses. It worked. Roosevelt's mustache appears to be blowing in the wind no matter what the weather.
For a little over 5 years Borglum and 400 men carved those colossal faces. The workers were mostly drill dusty miners who hung from boson chairs off the mountain in order to place dynamite into the mountain and carve. They would allow the dynamite to blow twice a day: once just as they went to lunch and the second time as they were leaving work for the day. This way the dust would settle down before they needed to climb up and place more dynamite. Washington's face was revealed and dedicated on July 4, 1930. Jefferson's face was dedicated in 1936; Lincoln's face was dedicated in 1937; and Teddy Roosevelt's face was dedicated in 1939. The final dedication did not come until 50 years after Borglum started because of World War II and Borglum's death slowed the carving process somewhat.
The monument is carefully cared for in order to preserve it for many future generations. In the past they used linseed oil, granite dust and white lead to fill in the many cracks that appear each year because of ground settling. Granite is very hardy and almost erosion resistant. It would take 1000 years to remove a hair width of granite. But Dow Chemical has made #790 silicon sealant which works even better and is less obvious.
Seeing the monument is an awesome experience. It takes your breath away when you see how enormous it really is. If they had complete bodies, they would stand 465 feet tall. George Washington's nose is 60 feet long!!!! All of that skepticism from the naysayers has now changed to awe and amazement. What is even more amazing is that at a time when hunger and unemployment was at its height, these workmen were carving an obscure mountain in South Dakota with an attitude of "can do, won't quit". When you visit you feel that spirit and are proud to part of this great country. Your patriotism becomes revitalized and the surroundings are just so serene and beautiful!
After you enter the gift shop which has a large collection of related items for sale, you walk down the Avenue of Flags. Every state and territory has a flag flying and the marble and granite columns are engraved with the state's name, year it entered the Union and in what numerical order it was admitted. We were surprised that Georgia was the second state admitted. We would have thought it to be Pennsylvania or Virginia. When you walk down the steps to the Visitor Center and Museum, you have many exhibits to view and 2 films on the history of the monument and biographies of the 4 presidents, why Borglum chose those four and stories about the very ordinary men who created this extraordinary sculpture. There are wooded trails of concrete and plank walkways that wind down to walk among the blasted rocks at the base of the mountain, which has just recently opened. This is the closest you can get to the monument. In the Sculptor's Studio is displayed the original models from which Borglum copied the final masterpiece. The original is scaled on a 1 : 12 ratio.
At 9 PM you go sit down in the amphitheatre and watch as the skies darken and shadows are cast across the great faces. They showed a 20 minute movie on Borglum and his mountain. The National Park Ranger asked the audience questions to see how much they knew before they came here. It was funny to hear so many wrong answers. Then everybody sings the "Star Spangled Banner" as the huge spotlights start revealing the four faces. Then they invite all veterans to come down to the stage. There was quite a large crowd of veterans there. Daddy walked down and I got a picture of him, but since we were sitting almost at the top of the amphitheatre, he's kind of hard to see; but I know it's him. They lowered the flag and several of the veterans assisted in the folding. Then they passed the flag to all of the veterans standing in about 5 rows on stage. Every single veteran was given the honor of passing the flag on. A man up to my left in the upper amphitheatre started singing "God Bless America" and lots of us joined in. It was a very moving scene. I was surprised how many people around me didn't know the words and just hummed along or did nothing. When the Park Ranger spoke again she said she was so moved by our singing of that song because she's been working there for 4 years now doing the same job every summer. She had never had an audience voluntarily sing such a patriotic song!!!!! It was really a tear jerker.
Then the monument starts to slowly light up in the dark sky. If you don't keep watching it, you'll miss when it starts. Each minute it gets brighter until it is shining brightly in the very dark South Dakota sky. They are stark white against a black sky.
They say the monument has so many moods depending on the shadows from the sun, times of the day, rain, snow or sleet. Each morning these 4 great faces greet the sun with pride and glory. Because the monument has an easterly orientation, the shadows on the faces are constantly changing all day. This brings mobility and fluidity to the monument. Their eyes are made so they sparkle with the quartz rocks in the granite. You almost feel they can actually see you. The monument can be viewed every day all year except for Christmas. In the summer it opens at 5 AM because the best photos are then. In the winter they delay opening until 6 AM. On the fourth of July at night they have an awesome fireworks display.