The Making of Mount Rushmore
The 70th anniversary of the completion of the South Dakota monument prompts a look back at what it took to create it
- By Megan Gambino
- Smithsonian.com, October 31, 2011
(Blaine Harrington III / Corbis; Maggie Steber / National Geographic Society / Corbis)
That year, nearly 400,000 people visited Borglum’s “shrine of democracy.” To put that success in perspective, according to National Park Service records, that same year around the same number visited the Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty.
Yet, for all its admirers, Mount Rushmore had, and continues to have, its critics. When Robinson first spoke in the 1920s of carving into the Black Hills, environmentalists were outraged. Why, they thought, did men have to mar the natural beauty of a mountain? Perhaps the strongest opposition has come from American Indians. Many local Lakota see Mount Rushmore as a desecration of their sacred homeland. To add insult to injury, the carving, of four white men, is a reminder of the affliction the Lakota faced.
The Treaty of Fort Laramie, hashed out between the United States and the Lakota in 1868, declared the Black Hills to be Lakota land. But, in the 1870s, at the behest of President Ulysses S. Grant, a small army led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer occupied the region. Gold was struck, and a rush of panhandlers began to illegally settle the area. The Great Sioux War erupted in 1876, and by 1877, an act of Congress forced the defeated Lakota to surrender their land.
In the 1930s, Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear took one stance. He hired a sculptor by the name of Korczak Ziolkowski to carve the face of Crazy Horse, the legendary Lakota leader, in a cliff just 15 miles away. Wrapped in its own controversy, the construction of the Crazy Horse Memorial, which eclipses Mount Rushmore in size, continues to this day. The memorial has refused government grants and is funded by visitors and private donors.
Meanwhile, Gerard Baker, Mount Rushmore’s first American Indian superintendent, from 2004 to 2010, took another. Under his leadership, park rangers began to include the Lakota perspective in the telling of Mount Rushmore’s history. “There will probably always be the ongoing debate of the desecration of the ancestral homeland for the American Indians,” says Bracewell. “But we hope that with conversations, and by openly acknowledging and talking about it, we can help heal the divide a little bit.”
Comments (13)
this doesnt help atallll
Posted by gracie on September 19,2012 | 09:16 AM
I've been researching my geneology and I did know my family owned the lumber company that provided scaffolding & etc for the construction of the monument & upon reading this article I also was able to confirm my great great grandfather was the mayor of Rapid City! No wonder I felt at home when I vacationed in South Dakota for the Sturgis Rally. I love this state even more!
Posted by Jana Boland on July 6,2012 | 08:00 AM
My great grandfather is Chris Vranich. He is on the memorial wall and worked on the build of Mount Rushmore. Yesterday I received many photos. Among them are four photos of my grandfather working on Mount Rushmore. Another ten or so photos are of him with his wife and children with the mountain in the background, under progress of being built. Also a few photos of their home at the time, which was located at the base of the mountain. It got me looking around online and these are some wonderful photos shown here also!! Very beautiful.
Posted by Shasta Espeland on April 25,2012 | 09:04 PM
I like this monument because it contains the picture of best president.
Posted by Brook Y. on December 8,2011 | 02:51 PM
This is a really good article about the making of Rushmore. Also glad to see the mention of the Lakota opposition to it.
A lot of people forget the Black Hills were sacred ground to the Lakota Sioux. So, it's not surprising they were offended by this shrine to their oppressors.
I wish they'd been able to finish the Hall of Records behind Mount Rushmore. When you read about it, it sounds impressive.
Michael D Walker
Thorne Smith biographer
Posted by Michael D Walker on November 28,2011 | 05:16 PM
Great information. I remember visiting Mt. Rushmore during a field trip to our Gillette natural gas operations in Wyoming. It was a nice drive. I do hope someday consideration will be given to adding a fourth head to the monument, that of America's first black president and Noble peace laureate, Barack H. Obama.
Posted by Angelo Pinheiro on November 27,2011 | 09:31 PM
A very good and very balanced account of the construction of Mt. Rushmore and the surrounding issues is found in Judith StGeorge's book, The Mt. Rushmore Story.
Posted by Taza Keene on November 13,2011 | 08:34 PM
The monument should have been dedicated to Sitting Bull, Tecumseh, Red Cloud, and the other great Native American leaders, who are the true founding fathers.
Posted by Sioiux on November 11,2011 | 03:05 PM
This was a wonderful article. My family operated the National Park Concession for 40+ years so I had the privelege of growing up at Mt. Rushmore. It will always be home.
Posted by Kate Riordan Gordon on November 8,2011 | 04:25 PM
while I was reading this story, I admired those people who was build monument. This story is only a word with wonderful
Posted by Sinem Sipahioglu on November 4,2011 | 12:09 PM
Great summary story of the making of Mount Rushmore and the celebration of its 70th. year after completion. Nice piece to add the factual recentment that the Lakoda Indians have/had.
Posted by Carter Gilmer on November 4,2011 | 10:53 AM
Ann and I stayed below Mount Rushmore in June 2011 for a week. We truly loved every minute that we woke up and looked up at George Washington looking down upon us and the valley. We took hundreds of pictures of Mount Rushmore and the surrounding area. Those four (4) Presidents being above us made us SO proud. Thanks for keeping the area in such a lovely condition for everyone to come see and be proud of America and your area of our country. We WILL BE back in the future to view the area in the future.
Posted by John E. O'Shea on November 3,2011 | 09:08 PM
Great story, and balanced regarding American Indian views of Mt. Rushmore. My grandmother corresponded with many artists of the time, including Gutzon Borglum.
It was probably gold prospectors panning for gold who invaded, rather than panhandlers.
Posted by Richard Merrill on November 3,2011 | 04:39 PM