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<title>Mount Rushmore</title>
<authors>Wikipedia</authors>
<publisher>wikipedia.org</publisher>
<publishedplace>network</publishedplace>
<publishedyear>2010</publishedyear>
<edition></edition>
<category>Abraham Lincoln in art</category>
<section id="16221" fatherid="0" title="" lv="" priority="-1" level="1">
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, near Keystone, South Dakota, is a monumental granite sculpture by Gutzon Borglum (1867–1941), located within the United States Presidential Memorial that represents the first 150 years of the history of the United States of America with  sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents ( to ): George Washington (1732-1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).Mount Rushmore National Memorial. December 6, 2005.60 SD Web Traveler, Inc. URL accessed on April 7, 2006.  The entire memorial covers McGeveran, William A. Jr. et al. (2004). The Word Almanac and Book of Facts 2004. New York: World Almanac Education Group, Inc. ISBN 0-88687-910-8. and is  above sea level.Mount Rushmore, South Dakota (November 1, 2004). Peakbagger.com. URL accessed on March 13, 2006. It is managed by the National Park Service, a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior. The memorial attracts approximately two million people annually.
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<section id="16222" fatherid="0" title="History" lv="" priority="2" level="1">
Originally known to the Lakota Sioux as Six Grandfathers, the mountain was renamed after Charles E. Rushmore, a prominent New York lawyer, during an expedition in 1885.Belanger, Ian A. et al. Mt. Rushmore- presidents on the rocks. URL accessed on March 13, 2006. At first, the project of carving Rushmore was undertaken to increase tourism in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. After long negotiations involving a Congressional delegation and President Calvin Coolidge, the project received Congressional approval. The carving started in 1927, and ended in 1941 with some injuries and no fatalities.
As Six Grandfathers, the mountain was part of the route that Lakota leader Black Elk took in a spiritual journey that culminated at Harney Peak. Following a series of military campaigns from 1876 to 1877, the United States asserted control over the area, a claim that is still disputed on the basis of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie (see Controversy below). Among white American settlers, the peak was known variously as Cougar Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, Slaughterhouse Mountain, and Keystone Cliffs. It was named Mount Rushmore during a prospecting expedition by Rushmore, David Swanzey (whose wife Carrie was the sister of author Laura Ingalls Wilder), and Bill Challis.Keystone Area Historical Society Keystone Characters (accessed October 3, 2006).
Historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea for Mount Rushmore in 1923 to promote tourism in South Dakota. In 1924, Robinson persuaded sculptor Gutzon Borglum to travel to the Black Hills region to ensure that the carving could be accomplished. Borglum had been involved in sculpting the Confederate Memorial Carving, a massive bas-relief memorial to Confederate leaders on Stone Mountain in Georgia, but was in disagreement with the officials there.People and Events : The Carving of Stone Mountain, PBS (accessed August 8, 2008). The original plan was to perform the carvings in granite pillars known as the Needles. However, Borglum realized that the eroded Needles were too thin to support sculpting. He chose Mount Rushmore, a grander location, partly because it faced southeast and enjoyed maximum exposure to the sun. Borglum said upon seeing Mount Rushmore, "America will march along that skyline."Carving History (October 2, 2004). National Park Service. Congress authorized the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission on March 3, 1925. President Coolidge insisted that along with Washington, two Republicans and one Democrat be portrayed.Fite, Gilbert C. Mount Rushmore (May 2003). ISBN 0-9646798-5-X, the standard scholarly study.
Between October 4, 1927, and October 31, 1941, Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers sculpted the colossal 60-foot (18 m) carvings of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln to represent the first 150 years of American history. These presidents were selected by Borglum because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory.Albert Boime, "Patriarchy Fixed in Stone: Gutzon Borglum's 'Mount Rushmore'," American Art, Vol. 5, No. 1/2. (Winter - Spring, 1991), pp. 142–67. The image of Thomas Jefferson was originally intended to appear in the area at Washington's , but after the work there was begun, the rock was found to be unsuitable, so the work on the Jefferson figure was dynamited, and a new figure was sculpted to Washington's .
In 1933, the National Park Service took Mount Rushmore under its jurisdiction. Engineer Julian Spotts helped with the project by improving its infrastructure. For example, he had the tram upgraded so that it could reach the top of Mount Rushmore for the ease of workers. By July 4, 1934, Washington's face had been completed and was dedicated.  The face of Thomas Jefferson was dedicated in 1936, and the face of Abraham Lincoln was dedicated on September 17, 1937. In 1937, a bill was introduced in Congress to add the head of civil-s leader Susan B. Anthony, but a rider was passed on an appropriations bill requiring that federal funds be used to finish only those heads that had already been started at that time.American Experience "Timeline: Mount Rushmore" (2002). URL accessed on March 20, 2006. In 1939, the face of Theodore Roosevelt was dedicated.
The Sculptor's Studio—a display of unique plaster models and tools related to the sculpting—was built in 1939 under the direction of Borglum. Borglum died from an embolism in March 1941. His son, Lincoln Borglum, continued the project. Originally, it was planned that the figures would be carved from head to waist,Mount Rushmore National Memorial. but insufficient funding forced the carving to end.  Borglum had also planned a massive panel in the shape of the Louisiana Purchase commemorating in eight-foot-tall gilded letters the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Louisiana Purchase, and seven other territorial acquisitions from Alaska to Texas to the Panama Canal Zone.
The entire project cost US$989,992.32.Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Tourism in South Dakota. Laura R. Ahmann. URL accessed on March 19, 2006. Notably for a project of such size, no workers died during the carving.Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Outdoorplaces.com. URL accessed on June 7, 2006.
On October 15, 1966, Mount Rushmore was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An essay from Nebraska student William Andrew Burkett, selected as the winner for the college-age group in 1934, was placed on the Entablature on a bronze plate in 1973. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush officially dedicated Mount Rushmore.
In a canyon behind the carved faces is a chamber, cut only  into the rock, containing a vault with sixteen porcelain enamel panels.  The panels include the text of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, biographies of the four presidents and Borglum, and the history of the U.S.  The chamber was created as the entranceway to a planned "Hall of Records"; the vault was installed in 1998.
Ten years of redevelopment work culminated with the completion of extensive visitor facilities and sidewalks in 1998, such as a Visitor Center, the Lincoln Borglum Museum, and the Presidential Trail. Maintenance of the memorial annually requires mountain climbers to monitor and seal cracks.  The memorial is not cleaned to remove lichens.  It has been cleaned only once. On July 8, 2005, Kärcher GmbH, a German manufacturer of cleaning machines, conducted a free cleanup operation; the washing used pressurized water at over .Mount Rushmore faces finally washed  (July 30, 2005). CNN via Google cache. URL accessed on December 7, 2006.,

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<section id="16223" fatherid="0" title="Controversy" lv="" priority="3" level="1">
Mount Rushmore is controversial among Native Americans because the United States seized the area from the Lakota tribe after the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. The Treaty of Fort Laramie from 1868 had previously granted the Black Hills to the Lakota in perpetuity. Members of the American Indian Movement led an occupation of the monument in 1971, naming it "Mount Crazy Horse". Among the participants were young activists, grandparents, children and Lakota holy man John Fire Lame Deer, who planted a prayer staff atop the mountain. Lame Deer said the staff formed a symbolic shroud over the presidents' faces "which shall remain dirty until the treaties concerning the Black Hills are fulfilled."Matthew Glass, "Producing Patriotic Inspiration at Mount Rushmore," Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 62, No. 2. (Summer, 1994), pp. 265–283.
In 2004, the first Native American superintendent of the park was appointed. Gerard Baker has stated that he will open up more "avenues of interpretation", and that the four presidents are "only one avenue and only one focus."First American Indian heads shrine to democracy, Indian Country Today. Accessed on April 3, 2006
The Crazy Horse Memorial is being constructed elsewhere in the Black Hills to commemorate a famous Native American leader and as a response to Mount Rushmore. It is intended to be larger than Mount Rushmore and has the support of Lakota chiefs; the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation has rejected offers of federal funds. However, this memorial is likewise the subject of controversy, even within the Native American community.Lame Deer, John (Fire) and Richard Erdoes.  Lame Deer Seeker of Visions.  Simon and Schuster, New York, New York, 1972. Paperback ISBN 0-671-55392-5
The Monument also provokes controversy because some allege that underlying it is the theme of racial superiority legitimized by the idea of Manifest Destiny. The mountains were carved with Borglum's choice of four presidents active during the time of the acquisition of Indian land. Gutzon Borglum himself excites controversy because he was an active member of the Ku Klux Klan.American Experience | Mount Rushmore | People -anddocsymbol- Events, PBS. Accessed on July 23, 2007Gutzon Borglum, The Story of Mount Rushmore, Accessed on August 11, 2009
In 2009, author Ivan Eland released Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty, a book that advocates a reappraisal of the greatness of three of the four presidents on the monument.

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<section id="16224" fatherid="0" title="Ecology" lv="" priority="-4" level="1">
The flora and fauna of Mount Rushmore are similar to those of the rest of the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Birds including the turkey vulture, bald eagle, hawk, and meadowlark fly around Mount Rushmore, occasionally making nesting spots in the ledges of the mountain. Smaller birds, including songbirds, nuthatches, and woodpeckers, inhabit the surrounding pine forests. Terrestrial mammals include the mouse, chipmunk, squirrel, skunk, porcupine, raccoon, beaver, badger, coyote, bighorn sheep, and bobcat. In addition, several species of frogs and snakes inhabit the region. The two brooks in the memorial, the Grizzly Bear and Starling Basin brooks, support fish such as the longnose dace and the brook trout.Nature -anddocsymbol- Science- Animals National Park Service. URL accessed on April 1, 2006. Some endemic animals are not indigenous to the area; the mountain goats are descended from goats which were a gift from Canada to Custer State Park in 1924 but later escaped.Mount Rushmore- Flora and Fauna. American Park Network. URL accessed on March 16, 2006.
At lower elevations, coniferous trees, mainly the Ponderosa pine, surround most of the monument, providing shade from the sun. Other trees include the bur oak, the Black Hills spruce, and the cottonwood. Nine species of shrubs live near Mount Rushmore. There is also a wide variety of wildflowers, including especially the snapdragon, sunflower, and violet. Towards higher elevations, plant life becomes sparser. However, only approximately five percent of the plant species found in the Black Hills are indigenous to the region.Nature -anddocsymbol- Science- Mount Rushmore. National Park Service. URL accessed on March 13, 2006.
Though the area receives about  of precipitation on average per year, alone it is not enough to support the abundant animal and plant life. Trees and other plants help to control surface runoff. Dikes, seeps, and springs help to dam up water that is flowing downhill, providing watering spots for animals. In addition, stones like sandstone and limestone help to hold groundwater, creating aquifers.Nature -anddocsymbol- Science- Groundwater. National Park Service. URL accessed on April 1, 2006.
Forest fires occur in the Ponderosa forests surrounding Mount Rushmore around every 27 years. This was determined from fire scars in tree core samples. These help to clean forest debris located on the ground. Large conflagrations are rare, but have occurred in the past.Nature -anddocsymbol- Science- Forests. National Park Service. URL accessed on April 1, 2006.

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<section id="16225" fatherid="0" title="Geology" lv="" priority="-5" level="1">
Mount Rushmore is largely composed of granite. The memorial is carved on the northwest margin of the Harney Peak granite batholith in the Black Hills of South Dakota, so the geologic formations of the heart of the Black Hills region are also evident at Mount Rushmore. The batholith magma intruded into the pre-existing mica schist rocks during the Precambrian period about 1.6 billion years ago.Geologic Activity. National Park Service. However, the uneven cooling of the molten rock caused the formation of both fine and coarse-grained minerals, including quartz, feldspar, muscovite, and biotite. Fractures in the granite were sealed by pegmatite dikes. The light-colored streaks in the presidents' foreheads are due to these dikes.
The Black Hills granites were exposed to erosion during the late Precambrian, but were buried by sandstones and other sediments during the Cambrian Period. The area remained buried throughout the Paleozoic Era, but was exposed again to erosion during the tectonic uplift about 70 million years ago. The Black Hills area was uplifted as an elongated geologic dome which towered some  above sea level, but erosion wore the area down to only .Irvin, James R. Great Plains Gallery (2001). URL accessed on March 16, 2006. The subsequent natural erosion of this mountain range allowed the carvings by stripping the granite of the overlying sediments and the softer adjacent schists. The contact between the granite and darker schist is viewable just below the sculpture of Washington.
Borglum selected Mount Rushmore as the site for several reasons. The rock of the mountain is composed of smooth, fine-grained granite. The durable granite erodes only  every 10,000 years, indicating that it was sturdy enough to support sculpting. In addition, it was the tallest mountain in the region, looming to a height of  above sea level. Because the mountain faces the southeast, the workers also had the advantage of sunlight for most of the day.

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<section id="16226" fatherid="0" title="Tourism" lv="" priority="6" level="1">
Tourism is South Dakota's second-largest industry, and Mount Rushmore is its top tourist attraction. In 2004, over two million visitors traveled to the memorial. The site is also home to the final concerts of Rushmore Music Camp and attracts many visitors over the week of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
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<section id="16227" fatherid="0" title="Popular culture" lv="" priority="-7" level="1">
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<section id="16228" fatherid="0" title="Notes and references" lv="" priority="-8" level="1">
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<section id="16229" fatherid="0" title="Further reading" lv="" priority="-9" level="1">
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<section id="16230" fatherid="0" title="External links" lv="" priority="-10" level="1">
Category:National Memorials of the United States
Category:National Register of Historic Places in South Dakota
Category:Mountain monuments and memorials
Category:Monuments and memorials in South Dakota
Category:Outdoor sculptures in South Dakota
Category:Rock formations in South Dakota
Category:Black Hills War
Category:Buildings and monuments honoring American Presidents
Category:George Washington
Category:Thomas Jefferson
Category:Theodore Roosevelt
Category:1941 works
Category:Tourism in South Dakota
Rushmore
Category:Symbols of South Dakota
Category:Pennington County, South Dakota
Category:Abraham Lincoln in art
Category:United States National Park Service areas in South Dakota
Category:Colossal statues
lij:Parco Naçionâ do Monte Rushmore

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