
On this day in history, Oct. 4, 1927, Mount Rushmore's moment of creation begins in South Dakota
Fox News
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began carving the images of four U.S. presidents into Mount Rushmore on Oct. 4, 1927. The effort employed 400 people and took 14 years to complete.
The monument immortalizes presidents George Washington (1789-97), Thomas Jefferson (1801-09), Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) and Abraham Lincoln (1861-65). "A monument's dimensions should be determined by the importance to civilization of the events commemorated." — Gutzon Borglum The process for carving the monument from a mountain face of granite and sandstone was ambitious, daring and dangerous. Not one person died in the 14 years of construction despite the explosives, heights and daunting conditions. Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.
Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum led the effort, which employed about 400 men and women before it was completed on Oct. 31, 1941.