Carving Mount Rushmore was no easy task . It took14 yearsand nearly 400 men to shape the 60 - foot - high faces out of unforgiving Black Hills granite , often from precarious angle and dizzying heights . The men who craft the memorial work hard — but they also played hard .
Lincoln Borglum , the Word of sculptor Gutzon Borglum , was a big fan of baseball . In fact , it ’s one of the ways the boss ’s Logos get in good with the workings - class guys . On important game day , Lincolnparkedhis car by the hoist mansion and bequeath the radio on so the hoist operator could listen to the game . The operator would then phone scores and biz updates up to the Man working on the sight . Realizing that everyone ’s share love of the fun could be used to bolster camaraderie , the Borglums decided to form a Mount Rushmore baseball game team to play against other local amateurs .
But the Borglums were also exceedingly competitive . In the belated 1930s , they decide to put together on an additionalresume requirementfor the work force who applied to operate on Mount Rushmore : They had to be good at baseball game . Nick Clifford washiredfor his athleticism , but the fact that he live how to run a jackhammer from working in the nearby mines was definitely a plus — many of the seasonal hires were just there to swing a bat . When Clifford was n’t pitching or practicing , he help oneself shape the face of Roosevelt and Lincoln . “ We worked eight hours a day , six days a week . I realise 50 cents an hr when I got started , ” Clifford say . “ We practiced globe after work and played on Sundays . ”
The whole residential area rallied behind the Rushmore Drillers , and thanks to the Borglums ’ recruiting efforts , the team made it to the semi - finals of the State Amateur Baseball Tournament in 1939 . They placed third . After a particularly thrilling game that went into 10 innings , Gutzon Borglum pay for both the Drillers and their opponents back to his house for dinner party .
Unfortunately , the guy rope did n’t have too many years after that to savour their successful team — they disband when study on the monument ended following the decease of the elder Borglum in 1941 .
