Full Transcript for America's Monuments | Four Faces | 3

scandal in American history. Listen to American Scandal on 74 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:08.120 Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm 75 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:11.879 Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers, Our History. 76 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:32.529 your story. In the late 1920s, workers began blasting a 77 00:04:32.610 --> 00:04:36.189 granite cliff face in South Dakota's Black Hills, the first 78 00:04:36.230 --> 00:04:40.230 step in creating one of America's most enduring monuments. Mount 79 00:04:40.290 --> 00:04:44.480 Rushmore National Memorial features the sculpted heads of four American presidents, 80 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:50.300 George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. But 81 00:04:50.339 --> 00:04:54.100 the monument started out as something different entirely. It was 82 00:04:54.180 --> 00:04:57.459 created by a hard-charging sculptor, a man with an ego 83 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:00.120 as big and brazen as the towering figures on the 84 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:04.870 rock face. Gutzon Borglum had the talent, ambition, and stubborn 85 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:08.420 drive to take on the colossal challenge. But his temperamental 86 00:05:08.459 --> 00:05:10.879 personality also threatened the project. 87 00:05:10.579 --> 00:05:11.230 At every turn. 88 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:15.709 For 14 years, workers battled a harsh and remote landscape 89 00:05:15.750 --> 00:05:18.949 to blast and jackhammer nearly half a million tons of 90 00:05:19.009 --> 00:05:22.050 rock off the mountain. Along the way, Rushmore became an 91 00:05:22.209 --> 00:05:26.610 epic struggle for money, political support, and artistic independence. And 92 00:05:26.649 --> 00:05:30.189 from the very beginning, it sparked intense debate. For some, 93 00:05:30.230 --> 00:05:33.720 the sculpture was a shrine to democracy, a triumph of engineering, 94 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:37.089 and a source of national pride. For others, it was 95 00:05:37.129 --> 00:05:41.649 a symbol of desecration, broken promises, and white supremacy. Nearly 96 00:05:41.689 --> 00:05:45.920 a century after its creation, Mount Rushmore remains as awe-inspiring 97 00:05:46.060 --> 00:05:49.680 and controversial as ever. This is Episode 3 of our 98 00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:59.279 six-part series on America's monuments, Four Faces. In 1889, South 99 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:02.959 Dakota became the 40th state. Over the decades that followed, 100 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:06.959 its residents continued to rely on farming, forestry, and mining 101 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.259 to make their living. But by the 1920s, as cars 102 00:06:10.339 --> 00:06:13.939 transformed the economy, South Dakotans started looking for ways to 103 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:17.500 boost tourism to their state. One of those boosters was 104 00:06:17.540 --> 00:06:20.920 state historian Doane Robinson, who cast his eye on the 105 00:06:20.980 --> 00:06:24.800 Black Hills

region. Its beauty, he felt, was unmatched, a 106 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:29.170 rugged landscape of forests, lakes, and jagged granite peaks. But 107 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:32.149 he worried that scenic vistas alone were not enough to 108 00:06:32.209 --> 00:06:35.509 lure Americans to this remote corner of the country. So 109 00:06:35.610 --> 00:06:38.709 in 1923, he led a new effort to attract visitors, 110 00:06:39.129 --> 00:06:42.370 telling state lawmakers that tourists soon get fed up on 111 00:06:42.449 --> 00:06:45.370 scenery unless it has something of special interest connected with 112 00:06:45.410 --> 00:06:49.410 it to make it impressive. And Robinson had an impressive idea. 113 00:06:49.889 --> 00:06:52.410 He wanted to carve a massive tribute to the American 114 00:06:52.470 --> 00:06:54.930 West in a cluster of granite pillars in the Black 115 00:06:54.949 --> 00:06:57.889 Hills called the Needles. He thought it would put South 116 00:06:57.910 --> 00:07:00.990 Dakota on the map. But Robinson knew that such a 117 00:07:01.069 --> 00:07:05.120 huge undertaking would require the right artist. Robinson had read 118 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:07.779 about a Confederate memorial that was being carved into a 119 00:07:07.819 --> 00:07:11.579 mountainside in Georgia. He tracked down the man behind that project, 120 00:07:11.750 --> 00:07:15.870 a sculptor named Gutzon Borglum. In August 1924, he wrote 121 00:07:15.910 --> 00:07:18.870 to Borglum, asking whether a similar carving could be done 122 00:07:18.910 --> 00:07:22.829 in the Black Hills. Gutzon Borglum was himself a Westerner, 123 00:07:23.189 --> 00:07:27.470 born in Idaho in 1867 to Danish Mormon polygamists. He 124 00:07:27.509 --> 00:07:30.009 went on to study art in Paris, training under the 125 00:07:30.050 --> 00:07:35.180 celebrated sculptor Auguste Rodin. By the 1920s, the stocky, mustache 126 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:38.779 Borglum was himself a famous sculptor, renowned for carving a 127 00:07:38.819 --> 00:07:41.420 bust of Abraham Lincoln that was displayed in the White House. 128 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:46.170 He was friends with millionaires and politicians, including Leland Stanford 129 00:07:46.290 --> 00:07:49.470 and Theodore Roosevelt. He and his wife Mary raised their 130 00:07:49.509 --> 00:07:53.490 three children on a 500-acre Connecticut estate he christened Borgland, 131 00:07:54.050 --> 00:07:58.050 but his extravagant spending often landed him in debt. Borglum 132 00:07:58.100 --> 00:08:00.899 was a man who possessed all the characteristics carving a 133 00:08:00.939 --> 00:08:06.470 mountain required. Tremendous talent, perfectionism, and an enormous ego. Borglum's 134 00:08:06.569 --> 00:08:09.490 arrogance propelled him to take on projects few dared attempt, 135 00:08:09.930 --> 00:08:12.560 but his combative temperament made him difficult to work with. 136 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:16.839 He thrived on conflict. One of his friends reflected, Gutzon 137 00:08:16.860 --> 00:08:19.980 was for war, for all sorts of war, six wars 138 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:23.579 at a time. In August 1924, Borglum was working on 139 00:08:23.610 --> 00:08:27.379 the colossal Confederate memorial on Georgia's Stone Mountain. He had 140 00:08:27.389 --> 00:08:32.620 designed a 1,500-foot freeze featuring Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, 141 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:37.100 Jefferson Davis, and hundreds of Confederate soldiers. The Ku Klux 142 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:40.639 Klan helped fund the memorial, and Borglum shared their strong 143 00:08:40.679 --> 00:08:44.179 belief in white supremacy. During this time, he wrote racist 144 00:08:44.220 --> 00:08:47.879 letters about the superiority of the Nordic race, voicing his 145 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:51.159 fear that America was under threat from a mongrel horde 146 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.840 of immigrants. But after a decade working on Stone Mountain, 147 00:08:55.309 --> 00:08:58.830 Borglum's relationship with the Klan was starting to fray. He 148 00:08:58.870 --> 00:09:02.100 was plunging again into debt, and he clashed with organizers 149 00:09:02.179 --> 00:09:06.379 over his contract and salary. So Doan Robinson's invitation to 150 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:08.740 the Black Hills couldn't have come at a better time. 151 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:12.080 Borglum jumped at the offer to throw himself into a new, 152 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:16.370 even grander project in South Dakota, even as he continued 153 00:09:16.419 --> 00:09:23.379 work on Stone Mountains. Borglum met Robinson on a train 154 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:26.370 in South Dakota to discuss plans for his mountain carving 155 00:09:26.379 --> 00:09:29.710 in the Black Hills. As the landscape of cottonwood trees 156 00:09:29.789 --> 00:09:33.649 rushed by, the pair began talking through a design. Robinson 157 00:09:33.690 --> 00:09:36.269 had envisioned a monument to heroes of the American West, 158 00:09:36.710 --> 00:09:39.710 such as Buffalo Bill Cody and the Native American Lakota 159 00:09:39.750 --> 00:09:42.950 chief Red Cloud. Borglum told the historian he had a 160 00:09:42.970 --> 00:09:46.950 better idea. He proposed a national subject focusing on America's 161 00:09:47.029 --> 00:09:52.070 greatest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Borglum later added 162 00:09:52.149 --> 00:09:55.419 two additional presidents to his design, Thomas Jefferson and his 163 00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:59.230 own personal friend, Theodore Roosevelt, for their roles in America's 164 00:09:59.289 --> 00:10:03.320 territorial experience. Borglum said that the four portraits would represent 165 00:10:03.379 --> 00:10:08.080 the founding, preservation, growth, and development of the nation. Borglum 166 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:10.960 dreamed up his monument at a time of growing nationalism 167 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:14.350 in America. The United States had just helped win World 168 00:10:14.389 --> 00:10:17.860 War I,

and the economy was booming. Borglum believed that 169 00:10:17.899 --> 00:10:21.940 America's burgeoning global superiority could only be expressed by art 170 00:10:22.070 --> 00:10:24.929 on a colossal scale. He saw the sculpture as an 171 00:10:24.990 --> 00:10:28.090 enduring monument to the Republic, one that would survive through 172 00:10:28.110 --> 00:10:31.289 the ages like the pyramids of Egypt. Gazing on the 173 00:10:31.330 --> 00:10:35.000 Black Hills for the first time, Borglum declared, American history 174 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:39.000 shall march along that skyline. But from the beginning, the 175 00:10:39.059 --> 00:10:42.799 monument sparked controversy. As news spread of the ambitious plan, 176 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:46.799 Local journalists and environmentalists were horrified by the idea of 177 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.679 carving up part of the Black Hills for commercial gain. 178 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:53.379 One editorial questioned, why should we desecrate the work of 179 00:10:53.450 --> 00:10:57.190 nature with a puny work of man? Still, local business 180 00:10:57.269 --> 00:11:00.850 owners and politicians rushed to support Borglum, hoping the monument 181 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:04.830 would give their remote state much-needed publicity, attracting tourists and 182 00:11:04.850 --> 00:11:09.039 their wallets. The sculpture's most important champion was South Dakota 183 00:11:09.059 --> 00:11:13.090 Senator Peter Norbeck, Norbeck was a stout, plain-spoken son of 184 00:11:13.139 --> 00:11:16.149 Norwegian immigrants who rose out of childhood poverty to walk 185 00:11:16.190 --> 00:11:19.470 the halls of power in Washington. He was passionate about 186 00:11:19.529 --> 00:11:22.389 developing tourism in the Black Hills, and he would be 187 00:11:22.470 --> 00:11:25.970 key to turning Borglum's dream of a mountain memorial into 188 00:11:26.009 --> 00:11:33.049 a reality. After his visit to the Black Hills, Borglum 189 00:11:33.090 --> 00:11:36.309 returned to Georgia to continue work on Stone Mountain. But 190 00:11:36.350 --> 00:11:40.169 by February of 1925, the Confederate monument had run out 191 00:11:40.220 --> 00:11:43.629 of money. and the committee overseeing its construction fired Borglum, 192 00:11:44.129 --> 00:11:48.379 citing his offensive egotism and delusions of grandeur. Borglum flew 193 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:50.740 off in a rage. He took an axe to his 194 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:53.899 models and raced across state lines before police could charge 195 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:57.279 him with destruction of property. But as the Stone Mountain 196 00:11:57.320 --> 00:12:01.679 Project was breaking down, Senator Norbeck was lobbying legislators for 197 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:04.519 permission and funding to carve the needles in South Dakota. 198 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:08.840 Norbeck easily secured permission at the federal level. Most state 199 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.820 officials in South Dakota also

supported the monument, but they 200 00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:14.860 stopped short of committing money to it, especially after hearing 201 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:18.120 that the Stone Mountain Memorial was in shambles. A few 202 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:21.000 months later, Borglum returned to the Black Hills to settle 203 00:12:21.059 --> 00:12:24.500 on a location for the monument. Riding horseback through the mountains, 204 00:12:24.899 --> 00:12:27.879 Borglum set eyes on Mount Rushmore for the first time. 205 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:30.919 He knew instantly that he had found the site for 206 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:36.100 his sculpture. The granite cliff faced southeast, guaranteeing maximum sun exposure. 207 00:12:36.700 --> 00:12:40.210 Borglum made some rough sketches, already envisioning how he could 208 00:12:40.250 --> 00:12:43.629 transform the rock into the heads and torsos of four presidents. 209 00:12:44.389 --> 00:12:46.970 Borglum thought he had found his canvas, but he had 210 00:12:47.049 --> 00:12:50.009 also chosen a site with a long and disputed history. 211 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:54.039 The place was named after Charles E. Rushmore, a wealthy 212 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:58.000 New York attorney who visited the Black Hills in 1885. 213 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.379 But long before it was called Mount Rushmore, this towering, 214 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:05.590 pine-clad bluff was sacred to the Lakota Sioux. The Lakota 215 00:13:05.629 --> 00:13:09.210 called the mountain Six Grandfathers. after the powerful spirits of 216 00:13:09.250 --> 00:13:12.830 the East, West, North, and South, the sky above and 217 00:13:12.850 --> 00:13:17.110 the earth below. In an 1868 treaty, the United States 218 00:13:17.169 --> 00:13:20.490 government promised the Lakota Sioux property rights over all of 219 00:13:20.529 --> 00:13:24.730 the Black Hills, including six grandfathers, in perpetuity. But just 220 00:13:24.789 --> 00:13:28.049 a few years later, prospectors discovered gold in the region. 221 00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:31.370 White settlers moved in, and the government broke the treaty. 222 00:13:31.929 --> 00:13:34.929 The United States forced the tribes to relinquish their claims 223 00:13:34.970 --> 00:13:38.649 to the land, pushing them onto federal reservations. The Lakota 224 00:13:38.710 --> 00:13:42.450 mounted a resistance that lasted until 1890, when finally U.S. 225 00:13:42.509 --> 00:13:46.129 soldiers killed some 300 men, women, and children at Wounded Knee, 226 00:13:46.549 --> 00:13:49.610 a creek in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. 227 00:13:50.210 --> 00:13:52.789 It was the final clash of the long, bloody wars 228 00:13:52.830 --> 00:13:56.389 between the U.S. Army and the Plains Indians. So for 229 00:13:56.409 --> 00:14:00.330 the Lakota, Mount Rushmore was a sacred peak stolen from them. 230 00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:03.649 Carving it with the faces of four presidents was a 231 00:14:03.669 --> 00:14:07.799 traumatic reminder of the U.S. government's betrayal and theft. But 232 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:11.019 for Borglum, Mount Rushmore was the ideal spot for his 233 00:14:11.090 --> 00:14:14.690 grand shrine to American expansion, a monument that had become 234 00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:17.889 his new obsession. And he wasn't about to let anything 235 00:14:18.029 --> 00:14:25.779 or anyone stand in his way. Imagine it's August 1925. 236 00:14:25.779 --> 00:14:29.539 You're staying at a game lodge in South Dakota's Custer 237 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:30.120 State Park. 238 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:31.340 You're a U.S. 239 00:14:31.379 --> 00:14:34.289 Senator representing South Dakota, and you're sitting down for a 240 00:14:34.350 --> 00:14:37.409 nightcap with Gutz and Borglum, the man you're relying on 241 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:38.730 to finally put your. 242 00:14:38.549 --> 00:14:40.779 State on the map. Well, cheers, Senator. 243 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:44.879 Borglund takes a sip of the wine, then winces. A 244 00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:49.360 little too earthy for my taste, but fitting, though, I suppose, 245 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.940 for the wilderness. You must come visit me at Borgland someday, Senator. 246 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:55.500 I only stock the best in my cellar. Oh, I 247 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:56.090 don't doubt it. 248 00:14:56.710 --> 00:14:59.049 Anyway, cheers to choosing a site. Rushmore, huh? 249 00:14:59.850 --> 00:15:02.110 I won't lie, I wish you'd pick somewhere with better 250 00:15:02.149 --> 00:15:05.409 road access. Roads can be built, Senator. I've just spent 251 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:07.360 ten days on the mountain. If you could see the 252 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:11.340 way the light strikes the cliffside at dawn, the granite 253 00:15:11.419 --> 00:15:13.360 is as good as I could have hoped for, much 254 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:16.059 better than Stone Mountain. Well, I am glad you are 255 00:15:16.100 --> 00:15:19.970 pleased with it. Borglum sets down his glass and begins 256 00:15:20.029 --> 00:15:22.529 scratching out a likeness of George Washington on a pad 257 00:15:22.570 --> 00:15:26.169 of paper. His face is flush with excitement. Well, Senator, 258 00:15:26.190 --> 00:15:29.149 we must talk plans. The vastness of that landscape demands 259 00:15:29.190 --> 00:15:32.460 something even greater than what I first envisioned. I'm going 260 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:35.559 to carve a grand entablature beside the four presidents. It'll 261 00:15:35.580 --> 00:15:38.899 tell the whole history of America, important dates and events. 262 00:15:39.809 --> 00:15:42.389 Your eyes widen as you glance over at his drawing 263 00:15:42.529 --> 00:15:45.649 of a large inscription. This monument seems to be getting 264 00:15:45.690 --> 00:15:49.850 more elaborate by the day. When you say the whole history, yes, 265 00:15:49.929 --> 00:15:53.529 the whole history will honor America's great builders and explorers, 266 00:15:53.570

--> 00:15:55.009 Lewis and Clark, Sam Houston. 267 00:15:55.450 --> 00:15:55.889 What do you think? 268 00:15:56.789 --> 00:15:59.559 Does William Seward deserve a spot? Let's back up and 269 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:02.500 talk numbers. What's your latest estimate on the cost of 270 00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:06.340 this thing? But Borglum turns back to his drawing. Well, 271 00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:08.720 whether it costs a half a million dollars or ten million, 272 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:11.200 it doesn't really matter. I'm not worried about the money. Well, 273 00:16:11.220 --> 00:16:14.120 that's good, but someone has to be. You seem to 274 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:15.840 take it for granted that this will all go off 275 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:18.299 without a hitch. Senator, I trust you'll come up with 276 00:16:18.340 --> 00:16:22.350 something clever. Mint commemorative coins, perhaps, or find some idle 277 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.309 millionaire with deep pockets. Rockefeller, or maybe that fellow in 278 00:16:25.330 --> 00:16:25.929 charge of U.S. 279 00:16:25.970 --> 00:16:26.309 Steel. 280 00:16:26.830 --> 00:16:29.610 Gutzon, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Do I need 281 00:16:29.629 --> 00:16:31.870 to remind you that you're not technically under contract to 282 00:16:31.909 --> 00:16:35.409 start work at all? Borglum leans back in his chair 283 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:37.960 and crosses his arms. Do you have someone else waiting 284 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:40.460 in the wings with my talent and expertise? Tell me, 285 00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:42.960 are there many sculptors of mountains here in South Dakota? 286 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:45.779 You must introduce me. I'd love to meet them. No, 287 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:50.350 of course not, Gusson. You know you're our man. Borglum 288 00:16:50.389 --> 00:16:53.529 smiles and returns to his sketching. But you're left wondering 289 00:16:53.570 --> 00:16:55.190 how you'll ever come up with the money for this 290 00:16:55.269 --> 00:16:59.559 monument and whether you can manage Borglum's boundless vision. even 291 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:08.099 more boundless ego. In August 1925, Borglum chose Mount Rushmore 292 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:10.519 as the site for his sculpture. But he still lacked 293 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:13.420 the funds to begin work, a prospect made more difficult 294 00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:17.269 by the mountain's remote location. Mount Rushmore was only accessible 295 00:17:17.329 --> 00:17:21.269 via old logging trails. The nearest road ended three miles 296 00:17:21.329 --> 00:17:24.250 away in the small town of Keystone. Just to start 297 00:17:24.289 --> 00:17:26.990 the monument would first require a massive investment in road 298 00:17:27.029 --> 00:17:30.589 building in addition to the half-million dollars Borglum estimated it 299 00:17:30.609 --> 00:17:33.990 would cost to carve the mountain. On October 1st, hundreds 300 00:17:34.009 --> 00:17:36.269 of people climbed up

to the base of Mount Rushmore 301 00:17:36.329 --> 00:17:39.930 for a dedication ceremony complete with speeches and music. The 302 00:17:39.970 --> 00:17:44.109 local business community had raised $ 5, 000 for survey work, but 303 00:17:44.150 --> 00:17:48.279 it wasn't nearly enough. Over the next two years, Borglum, Norbeck, 304 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.799 and Robinson scrambled to find wealthy donors, making little progress 305 00:17:51.859 --> 00:17:55.220 on the mountain itself. Borglum was still not under contract. 306 00:17:55.670 --> 00:17:58.309 and his personal finances suffered to the point that he 307 00:17:58.349 --> 00:18:02.349 could not pay his mortgage on Borgland, his Connecticut estate. Still, 308 00:18:02.390 --> 00:18:06.369 Borglum continued to forge ahead with plans and sketches. And 309 00:18:06.410 --> 00:18:09.710 then the project had a breakthrough. In the summer of 1927, 310 00:18:09.710 --> 00:18:13.710 Senator Norbeck convinced President Calvin Coolidge to vacation in the 311 00:18:13.750 --> 00:18:18.089 Black Hills. While continuing his presidential duties, Coolidge enjoyed the 312 00:18:18.109 --> 00:18:20.690 scenery and spent his time trout fishing in a creek 313 00:18:20.750 --> 00:18:24.799 kept well-stocked by local boosters. Three weeks turned into three months, 314 00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:28.160 giving Borglum time to persuade Coolidge to participate in a 315 00:18:28.259 --> 00:18:32.640 second formal dedication of Mount Rushmore in August. Coolidge donned 316 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:35.609 cowboy boots and a 10-gallon hat for the ceremony, in 317 00:18:35.630 --> 00:18:38.049 which he gave a speech pledging government support for what 318 00:18:38.089 --> 00:18:41.450 he called a national shrine to the spirit of patriotism. 319 00:18:42.130 --> 00:18:44.609 In a display of showmanship, Borglum clambered up to the 320 00:18:44.670 --> 00:18:48.549 summit and drilled six symbolic holes, marking the starting points 321 00:18:48.589 --> 00:18:52.410 for George Washington's face. Finally that fall, Borglum and a 322 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:56.329 small crew began blasting away granite for Washington sculpture. But 323 00:18:56.369 --> 00:18:59.029 it was a false start. Bad weather and a shortage 324 00:18:59.069 --> 00:19:03.259 of manpower and money continued to hamper progress. Soon enough, 325 00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:05.730 funds dried up, bringing work to a halt for an 326 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:09.140 entire year. It had already been three years since Borglum 327 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:13.380 had first set eyes on Rushmore. But by 1928, despite 328 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:17.359 grand plans and relentless efforts, unless Borglum could find a 329 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:20.859 massive cash infusion, It looked like his shrine to American 330 00:19:20.900 --> 00:19:23.140 democracy was doomed to fail. 331 00:19:29.529 --> 00:19:32.369 It started with a loophole. One man on a transatlantic 332 00:19:32.410 --> 00:19:35.250 flight read through a gambling law and found a crack 333 00:19:35.349 --> 00:19:38.509 just wide enough to build an empire. Within a few years, 334 00:19:38.609 --> 00:19:42.490 FanDuel and DraftKings were blanketing every screen in America with 335 00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:46.160 the promise that you could win real cash, legally, by 336 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:49.079 picking the right players. Hey there, I'm David Brown, the 337 00:19:49.140 --> 00:19:52.079 host of the podcast Business Wars. Every season we bring 338 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:54.920 you the true stories behind the companies that shape our world, 339 00:19:55.220 --> 00:19:59.279 their rivalries, their reinventions, and their spectacular rises and falls. 340 00:19:59.700 --> 00:20:02.960 In our new season, FanDuel and DraftKings didn't just compete 341 00:20:03.019 --> 00:20:06.440 with each other. They fought regulators, rewrote gambling laws, and 342 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:11.130 helped turn a legal gray area. into a $ 167 billion industry. 343 00:20:11.690 --> 00:20:14.369 It's the story of how sports betting took over America 344 00:20:14.970 --> 00:20:17.380 and what it's costing all of us. Make sure to 345 00:20:17.420 --> 00:20:21.039 follow Business Wars wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers 346 00:20:21.059 --> 00:20:23.960 can binge all episodes of Business Wars early and ad-free 347 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:26.920 right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by 348 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:28.819 subscribing on Apple Podcasts. 349 00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:33.549 On January 1st, 1892, a young Irish immigrant named Annie 350 00:20:33.589 --> 00:20:36.849 Moore became the first person processed at the new immigration 351 00:20:36.890 --> 00:20:40.029 station on Ellis Island. For the millions who followed her, 352 00:20:40.309 --> 00:20:42.549 this small island in New York Harbor would become the 353 00:20:42.589 --> 00:20:46.319 place where their American dream would either begin or end. Hi, 354 00:20:46.420 --> 00:20:49.380 I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of the podcast American History Tellers. 355 00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:52.240 We take you to the events, times, and people that 356 00:20:52.299 --> 00:20:56.180 shaped America and Americans, our values, our struggles, and our dreams. 357 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:59.460 In our latest series, we trace the history of Ellis Island. 358 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:02.339 For more than three decades, it served as the gateway 359 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:05.470 through which millions of hopeful immigrants entered the United States. 360 00:21:05.630 --> 00:21:08.630 But as the nation struggled to decide who belonged, some 361 00:21:08.670 --> 00:21:11.569 would find the gates shut to them. Follow American History 362 00:21:11.609 --> 00:21:14.970 Tellers wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge 363 00:21:15.130 --> 00:21:18.700 all episodes of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. 364

00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:21.539 Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on 365 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:31.240 Apple Podcasts. While progress on Mount Rushmore slowed to a 366 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:35.250 crawl in 1928, Senator Peter Norbeck was back in Washington 367 00:21:35.369 --> 00:21:39.089 fighting for funding. Norbeck had an ally in President Coolidge, 368 00:21:39.230 --> 00:21:41.829 who became committed to the project after his summer stay 369 00:21:41.890 --> 00:21:45.119 in South Dakota. During Coolidge's final days in office in 370 00:21:45.220 --> 00:21:49.359 February 1929, he signed a bill into law appropriating matching 371 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:54.339 funds up to $ 250, 000 for Mount Rushmore, close to $ 4 million. 372 00:21:54.059 --> 00:21:54.720 In today's money. 373 00:21:55.319 --> 00:21:58.940 The law also created a 12-member Mount Rushmore National Memorial 374 00:21:58.980 --> 00:22:03.140 Commission to oversee construction and allocate the funds. Finally, it 375 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:06.980 seemed like the project was building momentum. But just months later, 376 00:22:07.059 --> 00:22:10.369 the stock market crashed, and the American economy spiraled into 377 00:22:10.380 --> 00:22:14.170 the Great Depression. With private money drying up, Rushmore would 378 00:22:14.210 --> 00:22:16.950 increasingly depend on the federal government to keep it afloat. 379 00:22:17.490 --> 00:22:20.289 But this meant that officials would repeatedly come into conflict 380 00:22:20.349 --> 00:22:24.150 with Gutzon Borglum, who was fiercely protective of his artistic vision. 381 00:22:25.259 --> 00:22:28.400 As the Depression deepened, unemployed men in South Dakota were 382 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:31.119 desperate to find jobs, and jobs were to be had 383 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:35.200 on Mount Rushmore. At first, Borglum resisted hiring locals he 384 00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:39.380 considered unqualified, but with carving falling behind schedule, he had 385 00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:42.440 no other choice. He used his limited funds to hire 386 00:22:42.500 --> 00:22:45.859 local miners who were familiar with using jackhammers and dynamite. 387 00:22:46.539 --> 00:22:49.640 Every morning, up to 50 workers climbed 700 steps to 388 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:53.220 the summit of the mountain. Using harnesses and thick steel cables, 389 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:55.650 they were lowered down the face of the mountain dangling 390 00:22:55.710 --> 00:22:58.069 high up in the air as they worked, blasting and 391 00:22:58.130 --> 00:23:01.250 drilling to shape the rock into the 60-foot-high faces of 392 00:23:01.329 --> 00:23:05.569 four presidents. First, the workers used dynamite to blast large 393 00:23:05.650 --> 00:23:08.450 chunks of granite off the mountain and create general shapes. 394 00:23:09.049 --> 00:23:11.950 The next stage of the carving was a process called honeycombing, 395 00:23:12.390 --> 00:23:15.809 in which the workers drilled shallow, closely spaced holes in 396 00:23:15.829 --> 00:23:19.069 a grid pattern. The workers used chisels and hammers to 397 00:23:19.130 --> 00:23:22.210 remove small pieces of rock between the holes, creating the 398 00:23:22.269 --> 00:23:26.059 contours of eyes, lips, and noses, to match Borglum's models. 399 00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:28.950 At the end of each workday, the workers were covered 400 00:23:29.049 --> 00:23:32.650 head-to-toe in granite dust. And then finally, after nearly a 401 00:23:32.710 --> 00:23:36.569 year of work, George Washington's head was recognizable enough for 402 00:23:36.609 --> 00:23:41.690 Borglum to hold yet another dedication ceremony. On July 4, 1930, 403 00:23:41.690 --> 00:23:44.980 an aircraft flyover and rifle salute marked the unveiling of 404 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:48.880 Washington's granite portrait. Newsreels of the event played in theaters 405 00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:52.960 across the country. Rushmore captured the nation's attention. and tourists 406 00:23:53.019 --> 00:23:55.029 began to journey to the Black Hills to see the 407 00:23:55.089 --> 00:23:58.640 work in progress for themselves. But Borglum had spent most 408 00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:01.890 of his remaining budget on the ceremony, and the workers 409 00:24:01.930 --> 00:24:05.390 were exhausted after laboring 16-hour days in the lead-up to 410 00:24:05.410 --> 00:24:09.690 the dedication. Just weeks after Washington's head was unveiled, carving 411 00:24:09.809 --> 00:24:13.230 once again slowed to a crawl. The following year brought 412 00:24:13.289 --> 00:24:16.910 new problems. Work had begun on Jefferson's head, located to 413 00:24:16.970 --> 00:24:19.829 Washington's right, but the rock on that section of the 414 00:24:19.869 --> 00:24:23.930 mountain proved too crumbly to withstand carving, After 18 months, 415 00:24:23.990 --> 00:24:26.390 the workers were forced to blast away their work and 416 00:24:26.450 --> 00:24:32.089 start over, relocating Jefferson to Washington's left. By 1932, the 417 00:24:32.150 --> 00:24:35.809 project was piling up debt. With the economy still in tatters, 418 00:24:36.069 --> 00:24:39.599 there was little hope of attracting private donations. Construction on 419 00:24:39.650 --> 00:24:43.519 Rushmore shut down, and the workers were laid off. Borglum 420 00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:47.220 barnstormed around Washington in search of sponsors, but once again 421 00:24:47.259 --> 00:24:49.940 it was the tireless Senator Norbeck who came to the rescue. 422 00:24:50.809 --> 00:24:54.490 The government had begun distributing relief money as the Depression worsened. 423 00:24:55.150 --> 00:24:59.470 Norbeck managed to secure $ 100, 000 to pay workers on Rushmore. 424 00:25:00.089 --> 00:25:02.309 The following year, he arraigned for the monument to come 425 00:25:02.369 --> 00:25:05.349 under control of the National Park Service, paving the way 426 00:25:05.430 --> 00:25:08.769 for even more federal

funding. But money was just one 427 00:25:08.809 --> 00:25:11.690 of the many challenges on the mountain. The workers were 428 00:25:11.730 --> 00:25:16.549 doing delicate work in extreme conditions. Borglum constantly complained about 429 00:25:16.589 --> 00:25:19.170 what he saw as their inexperience and lack of skill, 430 00:25:19.849 --> 00:25:22.789 but their task was immense. No one could predict the 431 00:25:22.829 --> 00:25:25.569 difficulties they would encounter in their struggle to transform the 432 00:25:25.589 --> 00:25:29.890 mountain into Borglum's vision of the huge, expressive faces of presidents. 433 00:25:34.569 --> 00:25:37.650 Imagine it's a blistering hot day in the summer of 1935. 434 00:25:37.650 --> 00:25:41.869 You're high up on a small, suspended platform on Mount Rushmore, 435 00:25:42.210 --> 00:25:46.170 working on the carving of Thomas Jefferson. You're an experienced stonecutter, 436 00:25:46.210 --> 00:25:48.900 just like your father and grandfather. You move to the 437 00:25:48.940 --> 00:25:52.299 United States from Italy 15 years ago, hoping your talents 438 00:25:52.339 --> 00:25:55.059 would take you far. But you've never faced a challenge 439 00:25:55.099 --> 00:25:57.980 like this before. Your assistant hands you a chisel and 440 00:25:58.029 --> 00:26:01.309 studies the rock. You think this will work? You wipe 441 00:26:01.329 --> 00:26:03.109 your brow with your handkerchief and shrug. 442 00:26:03.650 --> 00:26:05.549 It has to. If we fail, it's going to look 443 00:26:05.569 --> 00:26:07.029 like the president has a cold sore. 444 00:26:07.930 --> 00:26:10.170 Earlier, you were forced to dig a dark strip of 445 00:26:10.289 --> 00:26:13.109 feldspar out of the pale granite, but this left a 446 00:26:13.190 --> 00:26:16.890 gaping hole in Jefferson's upper lip. Your assistant gives you 447 00:26:16.910 --> 00:26:19.559 a wry smile. I'm still haunted by the crack above 448 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:22.309 his right nostril. Can't wait until this is over and 449 00:26:22.329 --> 00:26:25.109 we can move on to Lincoln. I prefer old Abe anyways. 450 00:26:25.170 --> 00:26:26.130 As far as presidents go. 451 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:28.490 As long as they look like they're supposed to look, 452 00:26:28.589 --> 00:26:29.450 it doesn't matter to me. 453 00:26:30.609 --> 00:26:34.759 All right, lower it down. Ah, steady, steady now. 454 00:26:35.660 --> 00:26:38.380 From the clifftop above, workers lower a heavy piece of 455 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:41.220 granite down to you until it's suspended level with the lip. 456 00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:44.700 The stone measures two feet across, ten inches wide and 457 00:26:44.740 --> 00:26:45.349 ten inches deep. 458 00:26:46.009 --> 00:26:47.970 A few days ago, you carefully. 459 00:26:47.569 --> 00:26:49.430 Picked it out of the rubble pile and shaped it 460 00:26:49.509 --> 00:26:50.990 to fit the dimensions of the crevice. 461 00:26:51.569 --> 00:26:52.710 All right, you

want to do the honors? 462 00:26:53.650 --> 00:26:56.970 Your assistant nods, his face blazing with determination as he 463 00:26:57.029 --> 00:26:59.559 drops a ladle into a bucket of molten sulfur. 464 00:27:00.539 --> 00:27:01.240 Careful now. 465 00:27:02.420 --> 00:27:05.720 He pours the sulfur into two holes you've pre-drilled into the. 466 00:27:05.700 --> 00:27:09.019 Piece of granite. All right, let's slot it in. Quickly now, though. 467 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:10.940 We've got to make sure these holes match up with 468 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:11.859 the steel pins. 469 00:27:11.660 --> 00:27:13.099 In the cavity. All right. 470 00:27:14.829 --> 00:27:17.910 Your assistant beams as the rock slides perfectly into place. 471 00:27:18.910 --> 00:27:19.589 Like a glove. 472 00:27:20.549 --> 00:27:23.230 You smile, feeling like you've really started to prove yourself 473 00:27:23.289 --> 00:27:25.609 on the mountain. Maybe even enough to be tasked with 474 00:27:25.650 --> 00:27:26.730 carving Lincoln's eyes. 475 00:27:27.329 --> 00:27:29.250 That would be an honor. But whatever. 476 00:27:30.039 --> 00:27:36.700 You just hope the boss is happy. Work on Rushmore 477 00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:40.400 was not always supervised by Gutz and Borglum. He frequently 478 00:27:40.460 --> 00:27:42.460 left the mountain for months at a time to raise 479 00:27:42.539 --> 00:27:45.670 money and work on other commissions. While he was gone, 480 00:27:45.869 --> 00:27:48.569 Borglum left the monument in the hands of his son, Lincoln, 481 00:27:48.750 --> 00:27:51.289 and his other assistants. The most skilled of them was 482 00:27:51.369 --> 00:27:55.430 chief carver Luigi del Bianco, an Italian immigrant and classically 483 00:27:55.509 --> 00:27:59.700 trained artist and stonecutter. Bianco solved the difficult challenge of 484 00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:02.539 filling a crack on Jefferson's lip, and he was also 485 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:06.980 responsible for Lincoln's lifelike eyes. Borglum described Bianco as the 486 00:28:07.180 --> 00:28:11.289 only intelligent, efficient stonecarver on the work. But when Borglum 487 00:28:11.349 --> 00:28:14.579 was on hand to oversee carving, his workers chafed against 488 00:28:14.599 --> 00:28:18.640 their combative and demanding boss. Borglum constantly complained about the 489 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.339 inexperience of the former miners who did the majority of 490 00:28:21.380 --> 00:28:24.700 the carving. But Borglum reserved his fiercest anger for the 491 00:28:24.779 --> 00:28:27.970 government officials that he believed were interfering with his project, 492 00:28:28.349 --> 00:28:30.509 and no one bore the brunt of the sculptor's ire 493 00:28:30.609 --> 00:28:33.210 as much as John Boland, the general manager of the 494 00:28:33.250 --> 00:28:36.190 project for the Mount Rushmore Commission and the National Park Service. 495 00:28:37.049 --> 00:28:40.410 Boland was a mild-mannered local businessman and a former mayor 496 00:28:40.430 --> 00:28:43.269 of Rapid City, South Dakota. He had backed the monument 497 00:28:43.309 --> 00:28:47.089 from the beginning, spearheading a local fundraising drive. Boland was 498 00:28:47.150 --> 00:28:50.650 tasked with allocating government dollars for Rushmore, and he had 499 00:28:50.710 --> 00:28:53.690 come to Borglum's rescue multiple times, even giving him a 500 00:28:53.750 --> 00:28:56.250 personal loan that saved the sculptor from the brink of 501 00:28:56.309 --> 00:29:00.509 financial ruin. Despite this, Borglum was convinced that Boland was 502 00:29:00.690 --> 00:29:03.930 out to undermine him. He resented Boland's control over the 503 00:29:03.970 --> 00:29:08.059 purse strings, calling him uncultured and meddlesome. He complained that 504 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:11.500 Boland was interfering with his creative vision. The spats were 505 00:29:11.539 --> 00:29:14.660 so testy that Senator Norbeck was repeatedly forced to step 506 00:29:14.700 --> 00:29:18.200 in as a mediator and to help with fundraising. But 507 00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:22.759 in 1935, Norbeck was fighting cancer. Despite this, he still 508 00:29:22.819 --> 00:29:26.869 managed to win a new federal appropriation of $ 200, 000 for Rushmore, 509 00:29:27.009 --> 00:29:30.269 nearly $ 4 million in today's dollars. The following year, the 510 00:29:30.309 --> 00:29:33.910 National Park Service upgraded infrastructure on the mountain, making construction 511 00:29:33.930 --> 00:29:36.970 more efficient, even as Borglum butted heads with the Park 512 00:29:37.009 --> 00:29:41.369 Service's chief engineer. That August, the hard-earned Jefferson head was 513 00:29:41.450 --> 00:29:44.670 finally unveiled in a ceremony attended by President Franklin D. 514 00:29:44.730 --> 00:29:45.150 Roosevelt. 515 00:29:45.750 --> 00:29:49.470 Progress continued, unabated, for the next year. Then in 1937, 516 00:29:49.470 --> 00:29:53.720 the Lincoln head was nearing completion, and the Theodore Roosevelt 517 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:57.259 head was well underway. Borglum was brimming with confidence about 518 00:29:57.299 --> 00:30:00.700 his masterpiece— Speaking at the dedication for the Lincoln Head 519 00:30:00.740 --> 00:30:04.960 in September, Borglum declared, We have literally driven a super-clipper 520 00:30:05.019 --> 00:30:08.480 into the stratosphere of noblest human aspirations, on a crust 521 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:10.779 and a gallon of gas, in spite of a resisting, 522 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:16.420 unbelieving world. Proudly, Borglum celebrated his victories. But behind the scenes, 523 00:30:16.440 --> 00:30:19.660 a contract dispute was bringing his conflict with government officials 524 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:22.750 to a head. Borglum wanted more money, but the commission 525 00:30:22.789 --> 00:30:26.650 refused to budge. Borglum was furious, especially after working months 526 00:30:26.690 --> 00:30:29.799 without pay while waiting for a

new contract. He became 527 00:30:29.859 --> 00:30:32.420 more determined than ever to wrest control from the Mount 528 00:30:32.460 --> 00:30:36.319 Rushmore Commission, the National Park Service, and above all his nemesis, 529 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:40.700 John Boland. Beyond carving the four presidents, Borglum had dreamed 530 00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:44.980 up increasingly elaborate plans. He envisioned a grand stairway of 531 00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:48.950 800 carved granite steps, leading up to a large inscription 532 00:30:48.990 --> 00:30:52.150 he called his entablature, as well as a cavernous hall 533 00:30:52.170 --> 00:30:54.970 of records inside the monument. where he wanted to store 534 00:30:55.009 --> 00:30:59.450 the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence. But Borglum's new 535 00:30:59.529 --> 00:31:02.569 contract made no mention of any work beyond finishing the 536 00:31:02.650 --> 00:31:06.210 four faces. John Boland wanted to make sure that the 537 00:31:06.269 --> 00:31:09.859 main sculptures actually got done, on time and on budget, 538 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:13.359 before anything else was added to the monument. Borglum was 539 00:31:13.420 --> 00:31:16.220 now 70 years old, and Boland feared the faces would 540 00:31:16.279 --> 00:31:18.799 never be finished if something happened to the aging sculptor. 541 00:31:19.650 --> 00:31:22.630 But Borglum was convinced that his artistic vision was being 542 00:31:22.710 --> 00:31:26.269 stifled by government interference. He resented having to get the 543 00:31:26.309 --> 00:31:29.579 commission's approval on his creative decisions. He had devoted the 544 00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:31.960 past 12 years of his life to the carving of 545 00:31:31.980 --> 00:31:34.900 the monument. So over the next several months, he would 546 00:31:34.920 --> 00:31:38.000 launch a bitter war to win full control over the sculpture. 547 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:41.160 But the struggle would take a heavy toll. And soon 548 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:44.039 the future of Mount Rushmore would become even more uncertain 549 00:31:44.460 --> 00:31:47.559 as America's attention turned to the looming threat of a 550 00:31:47.700 --> 00:31:48.819 Second World War. 551 00:31:56.700 --> 00:32:00.180 James Arthur Ray was a charismatic self-help guru who promised 552 00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:03.019 his followers a path to wealth and enlightenment by becoming 553 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:06.289 the best versions of themselves. But not all who followed 554 00:32:06.329 --> 00:32:10.890 him finished their journey. After Ray appeared on Oprah, thousands 555 00:32:11.009 --> 00:32:13.710 flocked to his events. But what many people didn't know 556 00:32:13.750 --> 00:32:17.799 about were his more extreme methods. Methods that push his 557 00:32:17.859 --> 00:32:21.339 followers to their limits, giving some the transformative experience they 558 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:25.619 envisioned and killing others. For the best Bingeable series, like 559 00:32:25.630 --> 00:32:27.640 the one I just told you about, listen to the 560 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:28.819 Audible True Crime. 561 00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:30.539 Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. 562 00:32:31.180 --> 00:32:34.779 Audible subscribers can get all episodes early and ad-free right now. 563 00:32:35.420 --> 00:32:37.880 Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on 564 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:38.779 Apple Podcasts. 565 00:32:43.259 --> 00:32:47.099 By the early 2000s, college admissions in America were more 566 00:32:47.140 --> 00:32:50.319 competitive than ever. For students and their parents, it was 567 00:32:50.339 --> 00:32:53.700 an ordeal to be endured. But for college counselor Rick Singer, 568 00:32:54.140 --> 00:32:57.380 It was a chance to get rich. Exploiting the desperation 569 00:32:57.400 --> 00:33:00.640 of his clients, he invented what he called the side door, 570 00:33:00.900 --> 00:33:03.579 a new way into elite schools for those wealthy enough 571 00:33:03.619 --> 00:33:06.140 to pay the entry fee. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, host 572 00:33:06.180 --> 00:33:09.309 of the podcast American Scandal. We bring to life some 573 00:33:09.329 --> 00:33:14.390 of the biggest controversies in U.S. history, presidential lies, environmental disasters, 574 00:33:14.670 --> 00:33:18.480 corporate fraud. In our latest series, a college counselor mounts 575 00:33:18.519 --> 00:33:21.269 an audacious scheme to get his wealthy clients into the 576 00:33:21.349 --> 00:33:23.869 universities of their choice. He thinks he's found a way 577 00:33:23.930 --> 00:33:28.190 to rig the system until an unrelated FBI investigation inadvertently 578 00:33:28.250 --> 00:33:32.250 exposes the largest college admissions fraud in American history. Follow 579 00:33:32.289 --> 00:33:36.029 American Scandal wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can 580 00:33:36.069 --> 00:33:40.009 binge all episodes of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. 581 00:33:40.210 --> 00:33:42.809 Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on 582 00:33:42.910 --> 00:33:54.079 Apple Podcasts. In the spring of 1938, Gutzon Borglum was 583 00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:56.960 a man on a warpath, desperate to rid Mount Rushmore 584 00:33:57.000 --> 00:34:01.400 of government interference. Borglum moved to Washington and lobbied his 585 00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:04.380 friends in government, threatening to stop work on the memorial 586 00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:07.799 unless his demands were met. One of his biggest champions, 587 00:34:07.900 --> 00:34:11.860 Senator Peter Norbeck, had died of cancer in 1936. And 588 00:34:11.909 --> 00:34:17.239 without Norbeck playing mediator, Borglum was unfiltered and uncompromising. In March, 589 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:19.739 he told the Secretary of the Interior that Boland and 590 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:23.530 the men on the commission were incompetent, deliberately dishonest, and 591

00:34:23.570 --> 00:34:28.090 determined to degrade his sculpture. He didn't stop there. Soon, 592 00:34:28.130 --> 00:34:30.969 he took his complaints directly to the White House, bombarding 593 00:34:31.030 --> 00:34:35.019 President Franklin D. Roosevelt with angry letters. He complained, the 594 00:34:35.059 --> 00:34:38.559 Mount Rushmore Memorial has been bullied, starved, victimized from the 595 00:34:38.599 --> 00:34:41.940 beginning by local cheap ward politicians and a man from 596 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:45.179 the Park Department. I must now request this interference must 597 00:34:45.300 --> 00:34:45.820 all stop. 598 00:34:46.389 --> 00:34:47.010 Stop at once. 599 00:34:48.030 --> 00:34:53.150 His relentless efforts paid off. When Borglum's congressional allies introduced 600 00:34:53.190 --> 00:34:55.889 legislation to set up a new commission in May of 1938, 601 00:34:55.889 --> 00:34:59.530 they had the support of both the Interior Secretary and 602 00:34:59.590 --> 00:35:03.550 President Roosevelt. Ever the team player, John Boland issued a 603 00:35:03.570 --> 00:35:06.469 statement declaring, My only desire is to have the Mount 604 00:35:06.530 --> 00:35:09.969 Rushmore project completed and have Mr. Borglum carry on his 605 00:35:10.010 --> 00:35:12.670 great work. He agreed to step down. 606 00:35:12.429 --> 00:35:12.989 From the commission. 607 00:35:13.860 --> 00:35:17.309 In June, Congress dissolved the Mount Rushmore Commission, authorized the 608 00:35:17.329 --> 00:35:21.269 completion of Borglum's staircase, entablature, and Hall of Records, and 609 00:35:21.329 --> 00:35:25.409 then approved $ 300, 000 in funding, half of what Borglum had 610 00:35:25.489 --> 00:35:28.929 asked for. A new commission was formed under Borglum's control, 611 00:35:29.269 --> 00:35:32.320 with no involvement from Boland or the National Park Service. 612 00:35:33.300 --> 00:35:36.340 Thrilled with his victory, Borglum returned to South Dakota and 613 00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:40.800 moved ahead quickly. Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson's faces were all complete, 614 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:44.860 with just detail work remaining. Only Teddy Roosevelt's head was left, 615 00:35:45.179 --> 00:35:49.380 the face shrouded in scaffolding as workers labored furiously. Along 616 00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:53.000 with overseeing work on Roosevelt's head, Borglum began excavating granite 617 00:35:53.039 --> 00:35:56.599 for his Hall of Records, an 80-by-100-foot vault to be 618 00:35:56.659 --> 00:35:59.889 carved into the rock behind Lincoln's head. He also started 619 00:35:59.929 --> 00:36:03.070 designing a restaurant, a reservoir, and a grand entrance gate. 620 00:36:03.829 --> 00:36:06.929 But after workers blasted 70 feet into the mountain, they 621 00:36:06.969 --> 00:36:09.690 realized the granite was too hard to carve any further. 622 00:36:10.250 --> 00:36:13.030 Plans for the Hall of Records were abandoned. Then in 623 00:36:13.090 --> 00:36:18.409 June 1939, Borglum received more bad news. President Roosevelt was 624 00:36:18.449 --> 00:36:22.070 streamlining the federal bureaucracy to better handle the lingering depression 625 00:36:22.260 --> 00:36:25.510 and the looming war in Europe. To cut costs, Roosevelt 626 00:36:25.550 --> 00:36:28.739 placed Rushmore back under the control of the National Park Service. 627 00:36:29.579 --> 00:36:32.099 The Park Service insisted that all work focus on the 628 00:36:32.179 --> 00:36:35.860 four faces alone. Lawmakers in Washington feared that if the 629 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:38.960 United States entered the war, the government would be unable 630 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:42.579 to fund Rushmore's completion. So the pressure was on to 631 00:36:42.659 --> 00:36:45.920 finish the monument as soon as possible, especially as Borglum's 632 00:36:45.980 --> 00:36:51.130 health had started to deteriorate. And soon enough, in February 1941, 633 00:36:51.130 --> 00:36:54.650 Congress cut off funding to Rushmore in order to prioritize 634 00:36:54.690 --> 00:36:59.889 defense spending. Days later, Borglum died unexpectedly from complications during 635 00:36:59.929 --> 00:37:04.440 prostate surgery. Overnight, the larger-than-life force behind Rushmore was gone. 636 00:37:05.260 --> 00:37:08.099 And so, too, was any possibility of the additional features 637 00:37:08.179 --> 00:37:11.179 Borglum wanted— or the chance to carve the presidents to 638 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:14.579 their waists, as originally planned. With Borglum gone and the 639 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:18.539 budget nearly depleted, the Park Service asked Borglum's son Lincoln 640 00:37:18.639 --> 00:37:21.300 to take the four heads as near to completion as possible. 641 00:37:22.119 --> 00:37:25.679 Twenty-nine-year-old Lincoln stepped into a massive void left by his father. 642 00:37:26.280 --> 00:37:28.099 He and his team spent the next few months on 643 00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:31.599 detail work, including Lincoln's collar and the hair on Jefferson 644 00:37:31.639 --> 00:37:36.300 and Roosevelt. Then on October 31, 1941, the workers laid 645 00:37:36.360 --> 00:37:39.179 down their tools and work on the sculpture stopped for good. 646 00:37:39.929 --> 00:37:43.110 Even though Borglum's plans were not fully carried out, Lincoln 647 00:37:43.170 --> 00:37:46.329 insisted that the monument's final form was more effective than 648 00:37:46.349 --> 00:37:51.019 his father's original designs. After 14 years, some 400 men 649 00:37:51.059 --> 00:37:55.280 had removed 450,000 tons of granite to carve Rushmore, at 650 00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:58.619 a total cost of nearly $ 1 million, or $ 17 million 651 00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:02.550 in today's money. Over the next several decades, Americans flocked 652 00:38:02.590 --> 00:38:06.190 to Mount Rushmore in droves. By 1970, the monument was 653 00:38:06.230 --> 00:38:09.559 drawing nearly 2 million visitors a year. But as the 654 00:38:09.599

--> 00:38:18.050 monument attracted tourists, it also continued to draw controversy. For 655 00:38:18.090 --> 00:38:21.130 the Native American residents of South Dakota, the Mount Rushmore 656 00:38:21.170 --> 00:38:24.349 Memorial persisted as a symbol of white supremacy and a 657 00:38:24.389 --> 00:38:26.750 bitter reminder of the violence inflicted by the U.S. 658 00:38:26.789 --> 00:38:27.170 Government. 659 00:38:27.829 --> 00:38:30.530 In the words of Lakota chief John Fire Lame Deer, 660 00:38:30.989 --> 00:38:33.030 they could just as well have carved this mountain into 661 00:38:33.070 --> 00:38:36.400 a huge cavalry boot standing on a dead Indian. But 662 00:38:36.460 --> 00:38:39.820 even before Mount Rushmore was finished, the Lakota had started 663 00:38:39.860 --> 00:38:44.260 their own monument in the Black Hills. In 1939, Lakota 664 00:38:44.300 --> 00:38:49.079 Sioux Chief Henry Standing Bear commissioned sculptor Korchak Julkowski to 665 00:38:49.159 --> 00:38:52.260 carve a mountain memorial to counter the four presidents' faces. 666 00:38:52.980 --> 00:38:55.940 Standing Bear told the sculptor, My fellow chiefs and I 667 00:38:55.980 --> 00:38:57.980 would like the white man to know that the red 668 00:38:58.019 --> 00:39:01.909 man has had great heroes too. They chose the 19th 669 00:39:01.949 --> 00:39:06.909 century Lakota warrior Crazy Horse as the subject. Located 17 670 00:39:06.909 --> 00:39:10.369 miles from Rushmore, the monument would depict Crazy Horse riding 671 00:39:10.409 --> 00:39:13.190 a horse and pointing in the distance. At more than 672 00:39:13.190 --> 00:39:17.469 500 feet tall, Crazy Horse would dwarf the 60-foot busts 673 00:39:17.550 --> 00:39:20.690 on Mount Rushmore. But the monument ended up sparking its 674 00:39:20.889 --> 00:39:24.670 own controversy, with many Lakota people questioning whether Crazy Horse 675 00:39:24.710 --> 00:39:27.530 would have wanted to be immortalized in further carving of 676 00:39:27.570 --> 00:39:31.059 a sacred landscape. The fight for Native rights entered a 677 00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:35.010 new phase in the 1960s and 1970s, as a spirit 678 00:39:35.050 --> 00:39:38.730 of social and political protest swept the nation, and Rushmore 679 00:39:38.989 --> 00:39:47.440 once again would become a flashpoint. Imagine it's September 1970. 680 00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:50.260 You're at Mount Rushmore on a ledge just behind the 681 00:39:50.300 --> 00:39:53.480 head of Teddy Roosevelt. Two days ago, you and two 682 00:39:53.539 --> 00:39:56.949 dozen fellow activists set up camp on the mountainside. Thou 683 00:39:56.969 --> 00:40:00.989 shalt not murder. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt honor 684 00:40:01.050 --> 00:40:04.489 thy treaties. One of the leaders of your group shouts 685 00:40:04.530 --> 00:40:07.849 through a bullhorn to the tourists below while you organize supplies. 686 00:40:08.449 --> 00:40:10.880 You've been to protests before, but this is the first 687 00:40:10.920 --> 00:40:14.059 time you've taken part in an occupation of a federal monument. 688 00:40:15.860 --> 00:40:17.780 You hand a can of red paint to a pair 689 00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:21.719 of protesters as they unfurl several sewn-together bedsheets that will 690 00:40:21.739 --> 00:40:24.570 serve as a banner. You plan to paint the words, 691 00:40:24.829 --> 00:40:28.250 Sue Indian Power, in bold letters across the banner, draping 692 00:40:28.289 --> 00:40:31.409 it right over Washington's face. But just as you pick 693 00:40:31.469 --> 00:40:34.789 up a brush, you're distracted by a panting reporter who's 694 00:40:34.849 --> 00:40:35.929 walking straight towards you. 695 00:40:36.510 --> 00:40:37.010 Hello there. 696 00:40:38.110 --> 00:40:42.099 I was hoping you might grant me an interview. Your 697 00:40:42.139 --> 00:40:45.579 gaze moves from his camera to your fellow activist's. wondering 698 00:40:45.639 --> 00:40:47.559 if you're really the best person to be talking to 699 00:40:47.579 --> 00:40:51.340 the press. Well, our spokesman is around here somewhere. No, 700 00:40:51.400 --> 00:40:54.760 you look like you'll do just fine. I don't want 701 00:40:54.780 --> 00:40:57.469 to carry this camera any further. Just a few questions? 702 00:40:58.429 --> 00:41:01.110 You know that if there's one thing this protest needs, 703 00:41:01.340 --> 00:41:04.030 it is publicity. So you take a deep breath and 704 00:41:04.070 --> 00:41:05.690 straighten your shoulders. Okay. 705 00:41:06.570 --> 00:41:07.230 What do you want to know? 706 00:41:08.250 --> 00:41:11.849 A beleaguered cameraman, also panting from carrying equipment up the mountainside, 707 00:41:12.110 --> 00:41:15.000 gives a thumbs up to indicate that he's rolling. The 708 00:41:15.059 --> 00:41:20.260 reporter raises his microphone towards you. What's your goal here today? 709 00:41:20.840 --> 00:41:23.659 These lands are legally ours by treaty, and we've come 710 00:41:23.699 --> 00:41:26.559 to take them back. The reporter has a dubious look 711 00:41:26.619 --> 00:41:29.469 on his face. That's a look you've seen many times before. 712 00:41:29.989 --> 00:41:31.989 How do you propose to do that? We want to 713 00:41:32.010 --> 00:41:34.889 meet with the Interior Secretary and demand the Black Hills 714 00:41:34.929 --> 00:41:35.820 be given back to us. 715 00:41:36.409 --> 00:41:38.730 Back to you. Could you explain that history for our 716 00:41:38.769 --> 00:41:41.269 viewers who don't know? You relax a little. 717 00:41:41.550 --> 00:41:44.010 As a history student, this is where you're most comfortable. 718 00:41:44.489 --> 00:41:44.820 Yes, my. 719 00:41:45.360 --> 00:41:47.820 The federal government said this land would belong to us 720 00:41:47.960 --> 00:41:50.480 as long as the sun shines and the grass grows. 721 00:41:51.179 --> 00:41:53.679 Then six years later, they sent General Custer into the 722 00:41:53.719 --> 00:41:57.570 Black Hills. And then they

discovered gold. After that, they 723 00:41:57.590 --> 00:42:01.150 turned around and took this land from us. The reporter 724 00:42:01.190 --> 00:42:04.429 pauses for a moment, considering your words. For you, what 725 00:42:04.489 --> 00:42:07.610 is the meaning of this occupation? This is the first 726 00:42:07.690 --> 00:42:11.349 Sioux uprising here since the stand against General Custer. And 727 00:42:11.389 --> 00:42:14.130 this is a breeding ground right here. You are going 728 00:42:14.170 --> 00:42:16.400 to see a spark. So you cling to the hope 729 00:42:16.420 --> 00:42:19.300 that someday this land will be yours again? We're going 730 00:42:19.340 --> 00:42:22.639 to continue this resistance against these oppressors, to continue to 731 00:42:22.719 --> 00:42:26.239 fight for what is rightfully ours. The reporter nods at 732 00:42:26.260 --> 00:42:27.570 the cameraman to stop rolling. 733 00:42:28.159 --> 00:42:28.809 Ah, thank you. 734 00:42:29.650 --> 00:42:32.670 But surely this occupation is purely symbolic, right? You're not 735 00:42:32.710 --> 00:42:36.409 actually thinking you're going to reclaim the Black Hills. Symbols matter. 736 00:42:37.030 --> 00:42:38.670 If they didn't, why would you have gone to the 737 00:42:38.710 --> 00:42:41.070 trouble of carving those presidents into this mountain? 738 00:42:41.929 --> 00:42:43.349 The reporter raises his eyebrows. 739 00:42:43.829 --> 00:42:45.510 And you get a sense that he may be starting 740 00:42:45.550 --> 00:42:48.369 to see Mount Rushmore and your movement in a new light. 741 00:42:48.949 --> 00:42:51.070 You just hope you can get the U.S. government to 742 00:42:51.110 --> 00:42:51.630 do the same. 743 00:42:55.929 --> 00:43:00.550 In August 1970, 23 young Native Americans scaled Mount Rushmore 744 00:43:00.659 --> 00:43:03.199 and set up camp, draping a banner over the mountain 745 00:43:03.239 --> 00:43:07.500 with a slogan, Sioux Indian Power. The protesters demanded the 746 00:43:07.539 --> 00:43:12.260 federal government honor its 1868 treaty guaranteeing Sioux ownership over 747 00:43:12.280 --> 00:43:15.659 the Black Hills. They remained on Rushmore for three months 748 00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:19.760 until severe winter storms drove them off. But the protests 749 00:43:19.920 --> 00:43:24.320 didn't end there. In 1971, protesters once again occupied Rushmore, 750 00:43:24.659 --> 00:43:28.849 and in 1973, 200 activists occupied the South Dakota town 751 00:43:28.949 --> 00:43:32.309 of Wounded Knee for more than two months. In gunfights 752 00:43:32.349 --> 00:43:35.510 with authorities, two activists were shot dead and a federal 753 00:43:35.590 --> 00:43:39.679 agent was shot and paralyzed. Then in 1980, the Supreme 754 00:43:39.739 --> 00:43:42.780 Court upheld a ruling granting the Sioux Nation more than 755 00:43:42.780 --> 00:43:46.860 $ 100 million in compensation for the illegal seizure of land, 756 00:43:47.019 --> 00:43:50.039 including the Black Hills.

But the Sioux have continued to 757 00:43:50.099 --> 00:43:53.559 refuse the money, now worth over $ 1 billion, insisting that 758 00:43:53.599 --> 00:43:57.059 the land was never for sale. Ownership of the Black 759 00:43:57.099 --> 00:44:00.050 Hills remains in dispute to this day, as does the 760 00:44:00.090 --> 00:44:03.650 meaning of the region's most iconic landmark. For many, it's 761 00:44:03.690 --> 00:44:06.869 a source of pride, a colossal symbol of American achievement 762 00:44:06.909 --> 00:44:10.219 and patriotism. But for others, it's a painful reminder of 763 00:44:10.260 --> 00:44:13.820 the injustices suffered by Native people. Perhaps most of all, 764 00:44:14.420 --> 00:44:17.420 it's a towering monument to the boundless ego and obsessive 765 00:44:17.480 --> 00:44:20.579 drive of the headstrong sculptor who never lived. 766 00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:21.219 To see it finished. 767 00:44:23.860 --> 00:44:26.960 From Wondery, this is Episode 3 of America's Monuments from 768 00:44:27.019 --> 00:44:30.300 American History Tellers. On the next episode, in the early 769 00:44:30.519 --> 00:44:34.059 20th century, San Francisco was one of America's leading metropolises. 770 00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:36.780 But to fuel its economic growth, it needed a bridge. 771 00:44:37.469 --> 00:44:39.630 Building over one of the most treacherous straits on the 772 00:44:39.670 --> 00:44:43.989 American seaboard, engineers and construction crews would endure punishing conditions 773 00:44:44.070 --> 00:44:47.670 to forge an engineering marvel and iconic landmark, the Golden 774 00:44:47.730 --> 00:44:55.639 Gate Bridge. American History Tellers is only possible because of 775 00:44:55.719 --> 00:44:59.099 listeners like you, so thank you. And don't miss an episode. 776 00:44:59.320 --> 00:45:02.219 Be sure to follow American History Tellers on Audible or 777 00:45:02.260 --> 00:45:05.880 wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge new 778 00:45:05.920 --> 00:45:09.340 seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. 779 00:45:09.719 --> 00:45:12.420 Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on 780 00:45:12.519 --> 00:45:15.639 Apple Podcasts. And to find out more about me, including 781 00:45:15.679 --> 00:45:19.360 my other podcasts, my live show, the history tours I'm arranging, 782 00:45:19.500 --> 00:45:26.010 and all sorts of other things, go to historyishuman.com. That's historyishuman.com. 783 00:45:30.849 --> 00:45:33.829 American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, 784 00:45:33.929 --> 00:45:37.380 Lindsey Graham for Airship. Sound design by Derek Behrens. This 785 00:45:37.429 --> 00:45:40.559 episode is written by George Ducker, edited by Dorian Marina. 786 00:45:41.019 --> 00:45:44.280 Our senior producer is Andy Herman. Our executive producers are 787 00:45:44.300 --> 00:45:49.460 Jenny Lauer-Beckman and Marsha Louis. Created by Hernán López for Wondery. 788 00:45:55.639 --> 00:45:58.320 Hey, I'm Cassie DePeckel, the host of Against the Odds 789 00:45:58.360 --> 00:46:01.829 from Audible Originals. In each episode, we share thrilling, true 790 00:46:01.869 --> 00:46:04.369 stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the 791 00:46:04.409 --> 00:46:07.300 people who lived to tell the tale. In our latest series, 792 00:46:07.489 --> 00:46:10.800 it's 1910, and a blizzard has stranded two trains carrying 793 00:46:10.840 --> 00:46:13.860 more than 100 people on an isolated stretch high up 794 00:46:13.940 --> 00:46:17.360 in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. The relentless snowfall has 795 00:46:17.400 --> 00:46:20.260 made it impossible to clear the tracks. But as snow 796 00:46:20.300 --> 00:46:23.949 piles up, the threat of a massive avalanche grows. The 797 00:46:23.989 --> 00:46:26.090 passengers and crew will have to rely on their wits 798 00:46:26.449 --> 00:46:29.820 and luck if they hope to escape alive. Follow Against 799 00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:32.900 the Odds wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can 800 00:46:32.920 --> 00:46:35.719 binge all episodes of Against the Odds early and ad-free 801 00:46:35.820 --> 00:46:38.969 right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by 802 00:46:39.010 --> 00:46:40.650 subscribing on Apple Podcasts.