Mount Rushmore

For the band, see Mount Rushmore (band).

Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Shrine of Democracy
Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe
Mount Rushmore features Gutzon Borglum's sculpted heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln (left to right).
Map showing the location of Mount Rushmore National Memorial Shrine of Democracy Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe
Map showing the location of Mount Rushmore National Memorial Shrine of Democracy Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe
Map showing the location of Mount Rushmore National Memorial Shrine of Democracy Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe
Map showing the location of Mount Rushmore National Memorial Shrine of Democracy Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe
LocationPennington County, South Dakota
Nearest cityKeystone, South Dakota
Coordinates43°52′44″N 103°27′35″W / 43.87889°N 103.45972°W / 43.87889; -103.45972
Area1,278 acres (5.17 km2)
AuthorizedMarch 3, 1925; 99 years ago (1925-03-03)
Visitors2,440,449 (in 2022)[1]
Governing bodyNational Park Service
Websitewww.nps.gov/moru
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Built1927–1941
ArchitectGutzon and Lincoln Borglum
NRHP reference No.66000718
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, United States. The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, named it the Shrine of Democracy,[2] and oversaw the execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum.[3][4] The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln,[5] chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development, and preservation.[6] Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually[1] to the memorial park which covers 1,278 acres (2.00 sq mi; 5.17 km2).[7] The mountain's elevation is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.[8]

Borglum chose Mount Rushmore in part because it faces southeast for maximum sun exposure. The carving was the idea of Doane Robinson, a historian for the state of South Dakota. Robinson originally wanted the sculpture to feature American West heroes, such as Lewis and Clark, their expedition guide Sacagawea, Oglala Lakota chief Red Cloud,[9] Buffalo Bill Cody,[10] and Oglala Lakota chief Crazy Horse.[11] Borglum chose the four presidents instead.

Peter Norbeck, U.S. senator from South Dakota, sponsored the project and secured federal funding.[12] 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,[13] and only Washington's sculpture includes any detail below chin level.

The sculpture at Mount Rushmore is built on land that was illegally[14] taken from the Sioux Nation in the 1870s. The Sioux continue to demand return of the land, and in 1980 the US Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians that the taking of the Black Hills required just compensation, and awarded the tribe $102 million. The Sioux have refused the money, and demand the return of the land. This conflict continues, leading some critics of the monument to refer to it as a "Shrine of Hypocrisy".[15]

  1. ^ a b "Annual Park Ranking Report for Recreation Visits in: 2022". National Park Service. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  2. ^ Rosenberg, Jennifer (January 16, 2021). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Mount Rushmore". ThoughtCo. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Roberts, Sam (June 28, 2016). "An Immigrant's Contribution to Mount Rushmore Is Recognized, 75 Years Later". The New York Times. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  4. ^ Andrews, John (May 2014). "Slight of Hand". South Dakota Magazine. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  5. ^ Mount Rushmore National Memorial Archived August 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. December 6, 2005.60 SD Web Traveler, Inc. Retrieved April 7, 2006.
  6. ^ "Why These Four Presidents?". nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  7. ^ McGeveran, William A. Jr. et al. (2004). The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004. New York: World Almanac Education Group, Inc. ISBN 0-88687-910-8.
  8. ^ "Mount Rushmore, South Dakota". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved March 13, 2006.
  9. ^ !, episode 5x08 "Mount Rushmore", May 10, 2007.
  10. ^ "Making Mount Rushmore | Mount Rushmore". Oh, Ranger!. Archived from the original on November 20, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  11. ^ Pekka Hamalainen, "Lakota America, a New History of Indigenous Power", (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019), p. 382.
  12. ^ "Senator Peter Norbeck". American Experience: Mount Rushmore. PBS. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  13. ^ "Complete Program Transcript . Mount Rushmore". American Experience. PBS. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  14. ^ Barbash, Fred; Elkind, Peter (July 1, 1980). "Sioux Win $105 Million". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).