[Rarebooks] President Coolidge in the Black Hills

[Gary Austin]

PRESIDENT CALVIN COOLIDGE IN THE BLACK HILLS OF SOUTH DAKOTA

We are pleased to offer President Calvin Coolidge's Copy of A Guide to 
the Black Hills;

On June 15, 1927, Senator Norbeck and 10,000 South Dakotans warmly  
greeted President and Mrs. Coolidge, their two white collie dogs, and 
the First Lady's pet raccoon, Rebecca, as they stepped from  the train 
at the Chicago & Northwestern Depot in Rapid City.  They were soon 
settled comfortably into the Game Lodge and the Dakotan way of life. 
The State Game Lodge served as President Calvin Coolidge's summer White 
House. Coolidge himself relished the climate, felt  healthier, and took 
up trout fishing - and the three-week visit  turned into a three-month 
stay.

Coolidge couldn't have known that his fishing skills were greatly 
enhanced behind the scenes by park officials. Before the president's 
arrival, chicken wire was stretched across the creek upstream and 
downstream from the president's quarters at the Game Lodge.  Lunker 
trout from a nearby fish hatchery were trucked in nightly  under the 
cover of darkness - so many that Coolidge couldn't help but fill his 
creel as he "learned to fish."

This extended vacation allowed Senator Norbeck and Gutzum Borglum  
enough time  to convince Coolidge to participate in the formal 
dedication of Mount Rushmore. On August 10, the president rode 
horseback  to the mountain with his entourage, sporting cowboy boots 
and  a 10-gallon hat given to him by local residents.

  "We have come here to dedicate a cornerstone laid by the  hand of the 
Almighty," Coolidge told the crowd of 1,000 South Dakotans gathered in 
the trees and standing on rocks. In an impassioned speech by a man not 
known for his passion, Coolidge became the  first to refer to Mount 
Rushmore as a "national shrine,"  then pledged federal support for the 
project. The granite faces of four American presidents' is scaled to 
men who would stand 465 feet tall! President Calvin Coolidge believed 
Mount Rushmore was "decidedly American in its conception, magnitude and 
meaning. It is altogether worthy of our country,"

After listening with satisfaction to the president's remarks,  the 
60-year-old Borglum climbed to the mountain's craggy summit  and - as 
the president and the audience watched - symbolically  drilled six 
holes to mark the commencement of carving. The Mount  Rushmore dream 
would embrace the remaining 14 years of his life  and leave a monument 
unlike any other, a memorial not just to four men but to the American 
ideals and aspirations they did so  much to shape.

While vacationing in the Black Hills President Calvin Coolidge issued 
the most famous of his laconic statements, "I do not choose to run for 
President in 1928."

Bellamy, Paul E. and G. D. Seymour. A GUIDE TO THE BLACK HILLS. (Rapid 
City): Black Hills Transportation Company, 1927. First edition. Octavo. 
Full decorated green morocco, gilt. Presentation binding. Marbled 
endpapers. Bound by the Torch Press.  38pp. President Calvin Coolidge's 
copy. It bears his name in gilt on the front cover and his famous 
bookplate, by Timothy Cole, is present. A full page inscription 
reads,"I have prepared this small token for you with the sincere 
appreciation of your coming to the Hills - and with the hope that it 
will be a pleasant reminder of your visit. Very Sincerely, Paul 
Bellamy".  Very good. Spine and a small band near the top of the rear 
board faded from the green to a pleasant brown. OCLC locates eight 
copies with only four being found outside of South Dakota. A unique 
copy of a scarce guide.   $650.00

Terms: Postage is $3.50 for media or priority based upon weight and 
destination. Customary trade terms apply. Returns may be made within 
seven (7) days with prior notification. CWO, Mastercard, Visa, 
Discover, personal or business check. Institutions may be billed. 
Vermont residents please add 6% sales tax.

Members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), 
The Vermont Antiquarian Booksellers Association (VABA), The 
International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and the Ephemera 
Society.

Austins Antiquarian Books
123 West Main St.
PO Box 730
Wilmington, VT 05363

800 556-3727

802 464-8438

mail at austinsbooks.com

www.austinsbooks.com