Mount Rushmore

As we mentioned in an earlier post, (if you missed that post you can see it here, https://enjoyingourdash.com/?p=1250 ), there are several areas to explore while in Wall, SD.

After the beauty of The Badlands NP, our next adventure took us to Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore is one of those places that if you are in the area, you should go see it. There isn’t much there besides the granite carvings. However, once you start to explore what was accomplished and the time frame that the carvings were done, you see it in a completely different light. I sure did.

The project began in 1923, with a suggestion to create the structure. The building of the monument began in October of 1927 and was completed 14 years later in October of 1941. The builders used dynamite to create the majority of the structure, but the detail work was done by hand. Check out this picture from the National Parks Service.

The drillers would sit in boson’s chairs with drills in hand to complete the detail work. Each time that more dynamite was needed, the drillers had to be cleared from the mountain. Workers in the winch house would hand crank the drillers back to the top of the mountain. Surprisingly, in the 14 years it took to complete, there was not a single fatality.

Ever wonder why these four presidents were selected for the monument? Each one was chosen for a specific reason. George Washington is the most prominent. As the father of the new country he laid the foundation of American democracy. Washington represent the birth of the United States. Thomas Jefferson, with his purchase of the Louisiana Territory, doubled the size of the country. Jefferson represents the growth of the United States. Roosevelt provided leadership when America experienced rapid economic growth as it entered the 20th Century. Roosevelt represents the development of the United States. Lincoln believed his most sacred duty was the preservation of the union. Lincoln represents the preservation of the United States.

When you see the monument up close, you begin to see that there are numerous ‘shades of grey’ in the faces of the presidents.