Mount Rushmore

Finally! I made it to Mount Rushmore, the end of a journey I started in 1998. That original trip was interrupted by a motorcycle accident,  multiple surgeries, three years of recovery, and many changes in my life. Finally after all these years, Lulubelle, Daisy, and I made it to this magnificent place.

I visited a private museum about the sculptor Gutzon Borglum. Unfortunately for Lulubelle and Daisy, it wasn’t dog-friendly, so they had to stay in the cool shade of the truck. I had a wonderful visit learning about this fascinating man.

Maybe what impressed me most was that the sculptor didn’t start on the Mount Rushmore project until he was 60 years old. I didn’t start my writing career until age 60, so I identified with starting a dream late in life. Borglum’s son Lincoln worked with him supervising the 400-man crew, and Lincoln took over and brought the project to fruition when Gutzon died. The fact that he had this vision and finally got started with it at that age really impressed me.

Borglum had spent time in San Antonio before and during the work on Mount Rushmore, and there is a lot of his work in the Witte Museum here.

I loved the museum and the sculpture. The only thing that disappointed me a little was the commercialism of the surrounding area, but I guess that’s to be expected anywhere popular with tourists.

I bought a book about the sculptor: Six Wars at a Time: The Life of Gutzon Borglum, Sculptor of Mt. Rushmore by Howard and Audrey Shaff. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about this fascinating man and this magnificent national treasure.

photo credit: raquell;