Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Presidential monument in Black Hills, South Dakota.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a monumental sculpture in the Black Hills of South Dakota, featuring four American presidents carved into rock. Each face measures roughly 60 feet (18 meters) in height and was cut directly from the granite mountainside.
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum led the work between 1927 and 1941, using dynamite and hand drilling to remove stone. Roughly 450,000 tons of rock were cleared during this period to reveal the faces.
The memorial is also called the Shrine of Democracy. The Lakota know the peak as Six Grandfathers (Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe), part of a route Black Elk followed on a spiritual journey to Harney Peak. The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty guaranteed the Black Hills to the Great Sioux Nation; the United States took the land back in 1877 after gold was found, and the Sioux still reject that loss.
The site opens daily in the early morning and closes late in the evening, with parking, a museum, and hiking trails available. Rangers offer regular programs that provide background and deepen the visit.
Behind the carved heads, a 30 by 24 metre chamber called the Hall of Records holds a teak chest inside a titanium vault. It contains 16 enamelled porcelain panels describing how and by whom the monument was carved, why these four presidents were chosen, and a short history of the United States. Sealed in 1998, it is meant for readers thousands of years from now.
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