Mt.Rushmore

Naming the mountain

A New York lawyer named Charles E. Rushmore visited Black Hills, South Dakota in 1885.  He went over to a local prospector and asked the name of the 6,000 foot peek before them.  Since the peek had no name, the prospector replied humorously "Mt. Rushmore".  The name has never been changed.

This epic sculpture links the faces of four exalted American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Rooseavelt, and Abraham Lincoln.  South Dakota's Black Hills provide the backdrop for Mount Rushmore, the world's greatest mountain carving.    

The monument

Mt.Rushmore consists of four leaders ,George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt.

• George Washington the first president of the U.S. and commander of the Revolutionary army.

• Thomas Jefferson, third president, author of the Decoration of Independence, and advocate of westward expansion.

• Abraham Lincoln, 16th president whose leadership restored the Union and ended slavery on U.S. soil.

• Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president who promoted construction of the Panama Canal and ignited progressive causes such as conservation and business reform.         

The Beginning

        It started as an idea to draw sightseers.  In 1923 state historian Doane Robinson suggested carving some giant statues in South Dakota's Black Hills.  Robinson was not the first American to think that a big country demanded big art. As early as 1849,  Missouri Senator, Thomas Hart Benton, proposed a super-scale Christopher Columbus in the Rocky Mountains.  In 1886, the 150-foot Statue of Liberty was unveiled.  Robinson wanted his sculptures to stand at the gateway to the west, where the Black Hills rise from the plains as a geographical prelude to the Rockies.  Here, granite outcroppings resist erosion to from the Needles, cluster of tall, thin peeks reminiscent of the spires on a Gothic Cathedral. Robinson imagined the Needles transformed into a parade of Indian leaders and American Explorers who shaped the frontier.