Pictured above is a small-scale model of Gutzon Borglum’s design of Mt. Rushmore.
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During the 1920s, Doane Robinson—who was South Dakota’s state historian—thought a good way to attract tourists to Black Hills National Forest and the surrounding areas would be to make enormous sculptures of western heroes. Initially, he suggested sculpting Red Cloud—who was a Sioux chief—out of “the needles,” which were large granite pillars in the area.
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In 1924, Robinson contacted Gutzon Borglum about the possibility of doing the sculpture. Eventually, he agreed, abandoning the General Robert E. Lee sculpture he was working on at the time, and went to South Dakota to decide on the right spot for the sculpture.
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Before deciding on Mount Rushmore as the site of the sculptures, Gutzon suggested to Robinson that the sculptures be of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, reasoning that they would probably attract more tourists than Red Cloud. Later, he decided to add Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt to the sculpture.
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The project began in 1927, and by the time it ended in 1941, they had removed some 450,000 tons of rock and carved out enormous heads that were 60 feet tall. As can be seen from the model, the sculptures were originally intended to be from the waist up. However, the project ran out of funding, leaving just their faces completed.
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Today, roughly 2 million people visit Mt. Rushmore each year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in America.
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