Charles E. Rushmore - Wikipedia Charles E. Rushmore Charles E. 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 Carmen Rushmore and Mary Eliza ( née Dunn ) Rushmore, of Tuxedo Park, NY. He was married to the former Jeanette E. Carpenter. In 1883, a tin mine, the Etta, was opened, which caused excitement among Eastern investors. In 1885 Rushmore was in the Black Hills of South Dakota to check the titles to properties for an eastern mining company owned by James Wilson. Although an Easterner, Rushmore quickly made friends among the miners and prospectors. One day he was returning to headquarters of the Harney Peak Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., located at Pine Camp, which was north of the great granite peak soon to bear his name. With him were a local business man, and 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. Whatever the precise story, the United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name `` Mount Rushmore '' in June 1930. Forty years after the initial 1885 naming, Rushmore donated $5000 towards Gutzon Borglum 's sculpture of the four presidents ' heads on the mountain - the largest single contribution. The Memorial was dedicated by President Coolidge on August 10, 1927. Rushmore was also a member of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. Mr. Rushmore was also a member of Kane Lodge No. 454, F&AM ( NYC ). References Jump up ^ Bill Bryson ( 1 October 2013 ). `` 21 ''. One Summer : America, 1927. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978 - 0 - 385 - 53782 - 7. Jump up ^ Parker, Watson, and Hugh K. Lambert. Black Hills Ghost Towns. First ed. Vol. 1. Chicago, IL : The Swallow Press Incorporated, 1974. 88. 1 vols. Print. Jump up ^ Mae Urbanek, The Uncovered Wagon ( Denver : Sage Books, 1958 ), 97. This American law - related biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This article about an American businessperson born in the 1850s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This South Dakota - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_E._Rushmore&oldid=746844506 '' Categories : 1857 births 1931 deaths American lawyers People from Tuxedo, New York American jurist stubs American business biography, 1850s birth stubs South Dakota stubs 19th - century American businesspeople Talk About Wikipedia Français עברית Edit links This page was last edited on 29 October 2016, at 22 : 38. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: how did mt. rushmore get its name
Answer: Charles E. Rushmore (December 2, 1857 – October 31, 1931) was an American businessman and attorney