Member Center

Local News

Tucson snowbird is last living carver of Mt. Rushmore

Posted: Feb 18, 2013 4:04 PM by Samantha Ptashkin
Updated: Feb 18, 2013 4:04 PM

Bookmark and Share
Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

TUCSON- If there ever was a fifth face on Mount Rushmore, it would belong to Nick Clifford.

"I could talk to you all day about Mount Rushmore," Clifford says.

The native South Dakotan started working on the National Memorial in 1938 at age 17. "When I first started I got 50 cents an hour and we worked eight hours a day, six days a week," Clifford says.

Today the Tucson snowbird is 91. He's the last living worker who helped carve out the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. "I worked some on Lincoln and mostly on Roosevelt, down on the chin on Roosevelt," Clifford says.

He worked on Mount Rushmore in 1938, 1939 and 1940, not knowing at the time how symbolic the faces would become. "We have people from all over the world that come to view Mount Rushmore," Clifford says. "We get about three-million people a year now."

Clifford still spends May thru December in South Dakota and he still frequents Mount Rushmore. In 2004 he wrote a book called "Mount Rushmore Q&A". He signs copies at the monument's gift shop. "Everyone tells visitors they should go see Nick, so I talk to lots and lots of people every day," Clifford says.

Throughout his 91 years Clifford has held several jobs, but he says none came close to his first. "Nothing quite like working on Mount Rushmore," Clifford says.

He says the four faces make history. "I think they were very important to the United States and helped guide how the country should be run today," Clifford says.

To learn more about Clifford and his adventures on Mount Rushmore head to:

www.mountrushmorecarver.com/

Comments

KVOA.com is Social!

Most Popular

DON'T MISS THESE!

Thumbnail
FC TUCSON

Check out the latest events FC Tucson has scheduled.

Thumbnail
SEASON 4 HOPE

Help those in need this holiday season

Thumbnail
SUBMIT NEWS TIP

Click here to submit a news tip to us!

Thumbnail
NEWS 4 TUCSON ON FACEBOOK

Become a Facebook Fan!

Thumbnail
@KVOA ON TWITTER

Follow us!

Thumbnail
BECOME A MEMBER

Sign up on KVOA.com for newsletters, exclusive deals, and more!

Thumbnail
KVOA.COM LATEST CONTESTS

Win! Win! Win!

Thumbnail
KVOA MOBILE APPS

Get news, weather and more on your smartphone and tablet!

Thumbnail
TEXT ALERTS

Get texts for news, traffic, deals and more!

Thumbnail
KRISTI'S KIDS

Stories and videos with Kristi's Kids

Thumbnail
NEWS 4 TUCSON @ 4

What's happening on News 4 @ 4

Thumbnail
ADVERTISE WITH KVOA.COM

Let us help grow your business

Thumbnail
COMMUNITY CALENDAR

What's happening?

Thumbnail
KVOA PROGRAM SCHEDULE

What's on KVOA and when!

Thumbnail
CONTACT US

Contact info for our department heads

Thumbnail
FCC ONLINE PUBLIC FILE

FCC Public File of Records, Reports, and More

Thumbnail
MEET US!

KVOA's on air personalities!

Thumbnail
KVOA CAREERS

Work at News 4 Tucson

Thumbnail
RSS FEEDS

Complete feeds of all KVOA.com stories