Who planned the heads on Mount Rushmore?
Gutzon Borglum was born in Idaho just about 100 years ago. And he was a born artist of tremendous talent. He was a gifted sculptor who could carve stone. Some of the figures he carved were small. But Borglum really loved to carve in a big way and his most famous works are larger, much larger than life. Most of these stupendous statues are of important persons in American history and all of them are national treasures. Naturally the government was interested in his work. In the 1920s he was paid a government commission to create the National Memorial on Mount Rushmore. Four American presidents were selected for the project, Washington and Jefferson, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. And Gutzon worked out the plans to carve them on the majestic granite cliff of the mountain. He created small scale models, allowing one inch for each foot of the finished work. The models were hoisted up the cliff and stoneworkers recreated them to the proper scale. Borglum worked out several brand new plans
