Welcome to the classic Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The memorial shows four US presidents
who all played key roles in the first 150 years of the history of the United States.
The mountain has gotten its name from Charles E Rushmore, a New York lawyer and prospector
who searched the mountain for minerals during the late 19th century. The history of the
memorial itself started in 1923, when the historian Doane Robinson got the idea to promote
tourism in South Dakota by creating a large sculpture on Mount Rushmore. The main sculpter,
Gutzon Borglum, and his 400 workers began the work on the colossal carvings in October,
1927. It was decided that the sculpture would depict four US presidents who all played major
parts in the preservation and expansion of the United States. I will give you some more
in depth info of these men in just a while. When the carving of the sculptures started
in 1927, the first on the line was the man you can see to the far left; George Washington.
George Washington was born in 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He embarked on a career
as a planter and became the owner of a fairly large estate. Through his half brother, Lawrence
Washington, he got involved in the military and served during the British-French war as
a militia officer. After the war had ended, he quickly went back
to the business life and his plantations. It was only after Britain forced more and
more laws and acts over the colonies that George Washington got into politics. But when
he did, he acquired a leading position right away as he was selected as a delegate to the
First Continental Congress. When the first fighting began in 1775, Washington, with his
military experience, his charisma and his reputation of being a strong patriot, was
elected commander-in-chief for the Continental Army. Later when the war was won, he became
the first United States president when he was unanimously elected in 1789. The Washington
Sculpture was dedicated to the public on Independence Day, 1934.
Next one on the line was the man you can see next to Washington; Thomas Jefferson. The
Jefferson sculpture was originally placed to the left of Washington, not at its current
right position. Halfway through the sculpting, Borglum discovered that the stone quality
became worse the further in they worked. This eventually forced them to blast the Jefferson
sculpture off and instead start again on the right side of Washington. If you look to the
left of Washington, you will see the big hole the explosions left. So who was Thomas Jefferson?
Thomas Jefferson was born in Virginia year 1743. Already at the age of nine, Jefferson
began studying French, Greek and Latin. Through his college years he also studied mathematics,
metaphysics and philosophy, finishing all classes with excellent grades. Thomas Jefferson
was known for his diverse interests and high intelligence. After finishing his studies,
Jefferson began working as a lawyer while he at the same time became active as a Virginian
politician. He protested against the new laws and acts the British rule imposed on the colonies.
Jefferson argued that the colonists had the natural right to govern themselves. Soon after
the outbreak of the American War of Independence, Jefferson was made responsible for creating
the famous Declaration of Independence. The declaration of Independence is what Jefferson
is most famous for. He did however have a rich political career following his declaration,
where became a Virginian Governor, later Minister to France, Vice President and finally President.
Jefferson died on the 4th of July 1826. By then he could look back on his life as a large
land owner, political philosopher, architect, musician, book collector, scientist, horticulturist,
diplomat, inventor and third President of the United States. He is by many held as the
most intelligent and intellectual US president of all times. Jefferson's sculpture on Mount
Rushmore was dedicated in 1936. The next sculpture on the line was the one
to the far right, the one depicting Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809 on a small farm south of Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was
raised in a poor home, being the son of two uneducated farmers. Abraham himself however,
quickly developed an interest in studies. While his formal education consisted of about
18 months of schooling from unofficial teachers, he still mastered the Bible, William Shakespeare's
works, English history and American history. He was very much self educated, reading every
book he could get his hands on. He soon developed a plain writing and rhetorical style that
puzzled audiences. This brought him into politics at the age of 23, when he became a member
of the Whig party, and later elected to a term is the US House of Representatives in
1846. With his unorthodox rhetorical style he made both enemies and friends and left
the politics after one term and began working as a lawyer. He later returned to politics,
and this time got a much more central role, as he won the Republican Party nomination
in 1860 and was elected president the same year. Lincoln's hatred for slavery made the
already strained relation between the northern and southern states even more problematic.
The civil war broke out the very next year. Throughout the civil war, Lincoln was the
political leader for the Union and his leadership qualities helped to preserve the Unites States
to what it is today. Lincoln is most known for issuing his Emancipation Proclamation
and his contribution in passing the Thirteenth Amendment which permanently abolished slavery
in the US. In 1865, shortly after the war was won, Lincoln was assassinated while watching
a theatre act. This made him a martyr for the ideal of national unity and he's today
one of the most famous and highly ranked of all US presidents. The sculpture of Lincoln
was dedicated in 1937. The last president, the second from the right,
is Theodore Roosevelt. As the face of
Roosevelt was being sculpted, Borglum
and
his worker had problems finding suitable rock, which forced them deeper into the mountain.
Luckily, they didn't have to go too far before finding rock they were able to sculpt on.
This is the reason why, as you can see, Roosevelt's sculpt is place far behind the other three.
Roosevelt's head was dedicated in 1939. When constructing the sculptures, Borglum
used dynamites in an innovative way, which helped remove large amounts of rocks relatively
quickly and inexpensively. Around 90 percent of all removed granite was blown off using
dynamite. The more detailed work was done using drills, chisels and hammers, finished
off by a special pneumatic drill which provided a smooth surface. When construction the sculptures,
huge amounts of granite was removed from the mount, which is evident by the huge granite
pile you can see below the memorial. Even though the memorial is of huge proportions,
much attention has been giving to detail. The irises of the eyes were sculpted as holes
with a cube of granite were left inside to represent the reflection highlight. This is
why the eyes of the presidents look so alive and realistic. If you have access to a binocular
and take a close look at the sculpture of Roosevelt, you will see that even his characteristic
glasses are present. The majority of the workers were experienced
mountaineers, often former miners and rock climbers. This was probably one reason why
not even a single worker died during the project, something rather unusual back then for a project
of this size. With the completion of the face of Roosevelt
in 1939, the memorial looked much like it does today. Borglum's plans for Mount Rushmore
did however include much more than just the faces of the presidents. The original plan
was to sculpt a massive panel next to the faces, in the shape of the Louisiana Purchase.
The Louisiana Purchase was a deal between the United States and France, where France
sold much of today's central US to the newly formed country. The panel would be inscribed
with gilded letters of the Declaration of Independence and other territorial acquisitions.
Borglum also wanted to create a hall into the mountain behind the memorial which would
be known as "The Hall of Records" and hold much of the US history the four presidents
represent. He said "you might as well drop a letter into the world's postal service without
an address or signature, as to send that carved mountain into history without identification."
The original plan also included sculptures of the Presidents head-to-waist, not only
their faces. However, as you can see, neither of the Presidents
torsos is sculpted, only the beginning can be seen on Washington and Lincoln. Borglum's
"Hall of Records" was also started but never completed. The main reason for this is that
the architect and the man who drove the project forward, Gutzon Borglum, suddenly died from
an embolism in 1941. His son Lincoln tried to continue the work, but the father's death
and the raging Second World War lead to serious funding problem which caused a halt in the
construction the very same year. With this, the Mount Rushmore memorial was left as we
know it today. The memorial was officially dedicated in 1991 by President George H. W.
Bush. Today, the historian Doane Robinson's original
vision of boosting the South Dakotan tourism has become reality. The memorial receives
million of visitors each year and it has become a true American icon.