Mount Rushmore Climber Arrested, Pleads Guilty

A man who was attempting to climb the famous Mount Rushmore Memorial in western South Dakota was arrested on Monday afternoon and appeared in court by Tuesday morning.

Patrick Marshall, 53, was attempting to prepare for his climb up the mountainside when authorities spotted him on the loose rock below the famous carvings of four US presidents. Park rangers approached the man and took him into custody, escorting him down the mountain.

Mount Rushmore spokeswoman Maureen McGee-Ballinger says of the incident and protected sculptures:

“At no time during the incident was the sculpture or the visitors at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in any danger.”

Marshall pled guilty on Tuesday and was ordered to pay $500 for trespassing and an additional $50 in court fees.

According to McGee-Ballinger, the park has at least several visitors each year who attempt to climb the monument for various reasons.

“People are drawn for unknown reasons to disregard the regulations and climb up the sculpture,” she said.

If Patrick Marshall man had attempted to climb the monument in 2009 he might have been successful. Park rangers had to beef up security in 2009 after members of Greenpeace scaled Mount Rushmore as part of a protest.

Trying to climb Mount Rushmore without being seen would be a daunting task, more than 3 million people visit the monument each year to gaze at the sculptures of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt which were meticulously carved into the side of the Black Hills mountain.

Marshall is lucky he didn’t manage to actually make his way onto a Presidential face as his charges could have easily turned federal.