Mount Rushmore National Memorial is centered on a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills in Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture's design and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son Lincoln Borglum.[2][3] The sculpture features the 60-foot (18 m) heads of Presidents George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), as recommended by Borglum.[4] The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development, and preservation, respectively.[5] The memorial park covers 1,278.45 acres (2.00 sq mi; 5.17 km2)[6] and is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.[7]
Explanation:
South Dakota historian Doane Robinson is credited with conceiving the idea of carving the likenesses of noted figures into the mountains of the Black Hills of South Dakota in order to promote tourism in the region. His initial idea was to sculpt the Needles; however, Gutzon Borglum rejected the Needles because of the poor quality of the granite and strong opposition from the Lakota (Sioux), who consider the Black Hills to be sacred ground; it was originally included in the Great Sioux Reservation. The United States broke up the territory after gold was discovered in the Black Hills.
The sculptor and tribal representatives settled on Mount Rushmore, which also has the advantage of facing southeast for maximum sun exposure. Robinson wanted it to feature American West heroes, such as Lewis and Clark, Oglala Lakota chief Red Cloud,Buffalo Bill Cody,Lewis and Clark expedition guide Sacagawea, and Oglala Lakota chief Crazy Horse.Borglum believed that the sculpture should have broader appeal and chose the four presidents.
Peter Norbeck, the US Senator from South Dakota, sponsored the project and secured federal funding.Construction began in 1927, and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. After Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941, his son Lincoln took over as leader of the construction project. Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941.
Sometimes referred to as the "Shrine of Democracy",Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually.
Although Mount Rushmore was constructed with the intention of symbolizing "the triumph of modern society and democracy",[15] for the original land occupants, the Lakota Sioux, the monument embodies a story of "struggle and desecration".[16] The U.S. Government promised the Sioux territory, including the perpetuity of the Black Hills in the Treaty of 1868. That lasted only until the discovery of gold on the land and soon after white settlers migrated to the area in the 1870s. The federal government then forced the Sioux to relinquish the Black Hills portion of their reservation.[16] The battle that took place in 1890 between the US Army and the Native Americans is known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, "where hundreds of unarmed Sioux women, children, and men were shot and killed by U.S. troops", as summarized by PBS regarding historian Dee Brown's account of the event.[16] This was all perpetuated by President Ulysses S. Grant's belief toward civilizing Indigenous cultures. He believed, "under the benign influences of education and civilization. It is either this or war of extermination".[16]
The four presidential faces were carved into the granite with the intention of symbolizing "an accomplishment born, planned, and created in the minds and by the hands of Americans for Americans".
