Charles E. Rushmore

Charles Edward Rushmore (December 2, 1857 – October 31, 1931) was an American businessman and attorney for whom Mount Rushmore is named.

Born in New York City, he was the son of Edward Carman Rushmore and Mary Eliza (née Dunn) Rushmore, of Tuxedo Park, New York.

In 1885 Rushmore came to the Black Hills of South Dakota to check the titles to properties for an eastern mining company owned by James Wilson following the 1883 opening of the Etta tin mine.[1] How Mount Rushmore came to be named after Charles is subject to contradictory recounting,[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] but the United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name in June 1930, five years after Rushmore donated $5,000 (equivalent to $72,894 in 2019) towards Gutzon Borglum's sculpture. The memorial was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge on August 10, 1927.

Rushmore was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and a Freemason. He was married to Jeanette E. Carpenter.[3]

Notes and references

One day he was returning to headquarters of the Harney Peak Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., located at Pine Camp. With him was William W. Challis, a prospector and guide. As they neared the mountain, Rushmore turned to Challis and asked its name. Challis jestingly replied: "Never had any but it has now—we'll call the thing Rushmore."
According to rancher Jerry Urbanek, Rushmore returned to the Black Hills annually to hunt big game. One day, while accompanied by Ted Brockett of Keystone, South Dakota, Rushmore asked the name of the mountain and was told that it was Slaughterhouse Rock. Rushmore joked that his annual treks to the Hills had earned him the right to have the mountain named after himself. "So just for the hell of it," Urbanek claimed, the locals started calling the hill Mount Rushmore.[2]

Parker, Watson; Lambert, Hugh K. (1974). Black Hills Ghost Towns (1st ed.). Chicago, Illinois: The Swallow Press Incorporated. p. 88. ISBN 978-0804006385.
Urbanek, Mae (1958). The Uncovered Wagon. Denver: Sage Books. p. 97.
Bryson, Bill (October 1, 2013). "Chapter 21". One Summer: America, 1927. New York City: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-385-53782-7.

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[2] One day he was returning to headquarters of the Harney Peak Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., located at Pine Camp. With him was William W. Challis, a prospector and guide. As they neared the mountain, Rushmore turned to Challis and asked its name. Challis jestingly replied: "Never had any but it has now—we'll call the thing Rushmore."

[4] According to rancher Jerry Urbanek, Rushmore returned to the Black Hills annually to hunt big game. One day, while accompanied by Ted Brockett of Keystone, South Dakota, Rushmore asked the name of the mountain and was told that it was Slaughterhouse Rock. Rushmore joked that his annual treks to the Hills had earned him the right to have the mountain named after himself. "So just for the hell of it," Urbanek claimed, the locals started calling the hill Mount Rushmore.[2]

[bhgt-1] Parker, Watson; Lambert, Hugh K. (1974). Black Hills Ghost Towns (1st ed.). Chicago, Illinois: The Swallow Press Incorporated. p. 88. ISBN 978-0804006385.

[3] Urbanek, Mae (1958). The Uncovered Wagon. Denver: Sage Books. p. 97.

[Bryson2013-5] Bryson, Bill (October 1, 2013). "Chapter 21". One Summer: America, 1927. New York City: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-385-53782-7.