An idyllic scene, a gentleman in a suit fish on beautiful Slate Creek near Mystic, South Dakota in 1927. If one looks closely, the man in the suit is a recognizable face of the time. Why…it’s U.S. President Calvin Coolidge! President Coolidge spent the summer of 1927 in the Black Hills State Game Lodge, desiring to escape the city for health reasons. He spent the summer touting the tourist attractions and beauty of the state. Having learned to fish the year before, he took time out hoping to catch trout, always dressed in his business suit, starched collar, hat and waders.
That summer, Coolidge, who took office in 1923 after Warren G. Harding’s sudden death, decided not to run for a second term. He felt that it up until that time no president had ever sat in office for more that eight years, and he shouldn’t either. However, it was also at this time that the starting work for Mount Rushmore was dedicated. In his dedication speech, he recognized that South Dakota, despite being small, was still full of pioneering ideas, saying, “The fact that this enterprise (carving of Mount Rushmore) is being begun in one of our new states not yet great in population, not largely developed in its resources, discloses that the old American spirit still goes where our people go, still dominates their lives, still inspires them to deeds of devotion and sacrifice.” Coolidge’s 1927 summer was a busy one, working on matters of state, taking time to meet the people and fishing.