Mount Rushmore: A Significant National Monument In The National Park

Mount Rushmore is a significant National Monument in the National Park system. It honors four outstanding Presidents of the United States. The Presidents’ faces are carved on a cliff in the Black Hills approximately 25 miles southwest of Rapid City, South Dakota. The sculpted faces are six stories high, so they are seen from about 60 miles away on a clear day.

This national monument was the vision of Doane Robinson, the official historian of the state of South Dakota. His idea was a huge granite monument that would bring people to South Dakota to see the beauty of the state. He wanted to depict heroes of the American West like Red Cloud, Lewis and Clark, and Buffalo Bill Cody on the side of a granite mountain.

Mr. Robinson enlisted the help of South Dakota politicians, Mayor Boland, Congressman Williamson and Senator Norbeck to get federal lands set aside for the project. They went to Washington D.C. and were successful in convincing the government to allow them to build the monument on federal land. The Native Americans had many protests about the building of the monument on their holy lands.

Now it was time to find a sculptor of stone monuments. In May of 1924, Mr. Robinson.invited Gutzon Borglum to come visit South Dakota. Borglum was carving a granite sculpture of the civil war in Georgia. He had the skills and ambition needed for this project. He was excited about Mr. Robinson’s vision, but did not like sit he had chosen. Mr. Borglum returned to Georgia, but came back the next year and explored many mountains and settled on Mount Rushmore, a perfect site. The geologists also studied and approved the site.

Gutzon Borglum wanted a more national scope for the monument that would attract more people from around the world...

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...rs give talks and tours. There are trails to hike to get closer to the mountain and to see the sculptures at different angles. Bighorn sheep can often be seen climbing on the rubble at the bottom of the monument.

The National Park Service employs many experts and workers .To monitor any changes in Mount Rushmore they use laser scanning to detect changes and to improve the accuracy of how the mountain looks. Since the 911 terrorist attack in New York the park rangers are armed to handle emergencies like a terrorist attack. The words of President Calvin Coolidge in a speech given in 1927 have come true. He said “this memorial will be another National Shrine to which future generations will repair to declare their continuing allegiance to independence, to self-government, to freedom, and to economic justice.” Mount Rushmore is truly a priceless national treasure.