Mount Rushmore
Colossal sculpture of four U.S. presidents in the Black Hills.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It features 60-foot-tall depictions of four United States presidents and was created under the direction of sculptor Gutzon Borglum from 1927 to 1941.
- location
- Black Hills, about 2 mi (3 km) southwest of Keystone, South Dakota
- elevation
- 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level
- area
- 1,278 acres (2.00 sq mi; 517 hectares)
- sculptor
- Gutzon Borglum, with his son Lincoln Borglum
- construction_period
- 1927–1941
- presidents_depicted
- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln
- annual_visitors
- more than two million
Lore & Background
The mountain was originally known to the Lakota as Igmu Tanka Pahá (Cougar Mountain) and later as Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe Pahá (Six Grandfathers Mountain). The name Mount Rushmore came from New York attorney Charles E. Rushmore, who visited the area in 1884–1885; his guide said the mountain would henceforth be named after him. The carving was the idea of Doane Robinson, South Dakota's state historian, who originally wanted to feature American West heroes. Gutzon Borglum convinced him to choose four presidents instead, arguing the sculpture should be national in scope. Senator Peter Norbeck sponsored the project and secured federal funding. Construction began in 1927; the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. After Borglum died in March 1941, his son Lincoln took over. Lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941, and only Washington's sculpture includes any detail below chin level.
Reader's Guide
Mount Rushmore was built on land taken from the Sioux Nation in the 1870s. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians that the taking required just compensation and awarded the tribe $102 million. The Sioux have refused the money and continue to demand return of the land. This conflict continues, leading some critics to refer to the monument as a 'Shrine of Hypocrisy'. The sculpture attracts more than two million visitors annually to the memorial park. Borglum named it the Shrine of Democracy. The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's foundation, expansion, development, and preservation. The site remains a subject of ongoing dispute between the U.S. government and the Sioux Nation.
Did You Know?
- Mount Rushmore was originally known to the Lakota as Igmu Tanka Pahá (Cougar Mountain).
- The sculpture was the idea of Doane Robinson, South Dakota's state historian.
- Only George Washington's sculpture includes any detail below chin level due to lack of funding.
- The U.S. Supreme Court in 1980 ruled the taking of the Black Hills required just compensation and awarded the Sioux $102 million, which they have refused.
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