Rapid City, South Dakota City had survived a boom and bust and was establishing itself as an important regional trade center for the upper midwest. Although the Black Hills became a popular tourist destination in the late 1890s, it was a combination of local efforts, the popularity of the automobile, and construction of improved highways that brought tourists to the Black Hills in large numbers after World War I. Gutzon Borglum, already a famous sculptor, began work on Mount Rushmore in 1927 and his son, Lincoln Borglum, continued the carving of the presidents' faces in rock following his father's death in 1941. The work
Edward J. Fraughton integrity, thus improving efficiency during the direct modeling stage. Edward J. Fraughton Edward J. Fraughton (born March 22, 1939, Park City, Utah) is an American artist, sculptor, and inventor. He is primarily known for his epic monumental works and individual collector editions that often relate to the history of the American West. Fraughton's stylistic goals follow the American Neo-classic/Beaux-Arts, impressionistic realism traditions of J. Q. A. Ward, Henry Merwin Shrady, James Earle Fraser, Hermon Atkins MacNeil, Daniel Chester French, Augustus Saint Gaudens, Cyrus Dallin, Gutzon and Solon Borglum, and American animaliers Arthur Putnam, Edward Kemeys, Phimister Proctor. A literal sculptor