The
Black Hills of South Dakota is home to, in my opinion, the most magnificent and
unique national memorial, Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore shows the faces of
presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln carved in the side of
a mountain. Mount Rushmore
received Congressional approval after long negotiations involving a
Congressional delegation and President Calvin Coolidge. Upon hiring Gutzon Borglum, a
Danish-American sculptor born in Idaho, the carving began on October 4th,
1927. Borglum died in March, 1941 before the construction of Mount Rushmore
could be completed.After the death of Gutzon Borglum, his son Lincoln Borglum,
named after president Lincoln, took over the construction.
I learned quite a lot when I visited Mount Rushmore. I learned that there was supposed to be only three presidents, starting with Jefferson on the left, Washington in the center, and Lincoln on the right. Borglum selected these presidents because they represent the first 150 years of American history and their roles in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory. After starting the construction, on Thomas Jefferson, Borglum and his team of 400 men ran into quite a problem. The granite surface was found unsuitable therefore having to blast off President Jefferson. That is how Washington took the left side of the mountain. After blasting away at any unusable rock, Mount Rushmore was left with this huge craves in the center. This craves is now where Theodore Roosevelt face sits. There is only ten feet between Roosevelt and the back of the mountain.
I urge you to take a trip to see this magnificent memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Not only is the memorial a site to see, so is the drive. Grassy plains that accompany rocky mountains making for some beautiful scenery. Take the family, tour through the first 150 years of American history, and learn what each of these amazing presidents did to earn their spot on Mount Rushmore.
Great informative blog on national parks, i did not know about the initial plans for Mt. Rushmore. During your research did you read anything about another monument built ~17 miles away? In Memorial of Crazy horse, Native americans built a statue of the leader riding a horse pointing directly at mt. Rushmore. (In the sake of Time, wiki on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial)
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