“Mount Rushmore Inspiration”

In 1923, on this outlook beneath Cathedral Spires, South Dakota State Historian Doane Robinson and his family stopped because the Model-T Ford he was driving overheated. He sent son Will down to a stream with a canvas water sack to get water for the car. Doane looked up and envisioned a westerner like Jim Bridger, Kit Carson or Red Cloud carved into the spires. He and Will were members of the Black and Yellow Trails Association which promoted tourism between Chicago and Yellowstone. Doane saw this inspiration as a unique way of drawing people to the state and to the beauty of the Black Hills. From the inception of this idea to its fruition, Robinson worked closely with Sen. Peter Norbeck, Rep. William Williamson, and John Boland who provided tireless support. One year later he toured the area with sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who found quartz, feldspar and mica mixed with the granite which was not ideal for carving. Impressed by the Spires, Borglum also reflected, “Who is he, but a man, to improve upon the hand of God.” They found suitable granite at a nearby mountain where work began on Mount Rushmore in 1927, and Robinson’s inspiration became a reality.

Warren and Suzanne Robinson Dixon Family

mi 71, Needles Highway, Custer State Park