Mt. Rushmore "Shrine of Democracy"...Keystone, South Dakota

DATE:  October 7, 2015

HISTORICAL SITE:  Mount Rushmore (Shrine of Democracy)

LOCATION:  13000 SD-244, Keystone, Pennington Co., South Dakota  57751

MARKER #:  66000718

DEDICATED:  October 15, 1966

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

Not quite as breathtaking as the Grand Canyon or the Painted Desert, Mt. Rushmore is still a sight to see. I can write all kinds of adjectives to describe the size and undertaking this must have been but it’s one of those things you need to see for yourself. Where the Grand Canyon’s beauty lies in its creation, no matter how you felt that happened, the grandeur of Mt. Rushmore is man’s determination to leave a lasting memorial to a great nation.

The mountain was known by its Native American name “Six Grandfathers” and was part of the Lakota Nation. After the Great Sioux War of 1876, the U.S. seized lands given to the Lakota in perpetuity as part of the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. The mountain was renamed Mt. Rushmore after Charles E. Rushmore led an expedition to the area in 1885.

A state historian of South Dakota, Doane Robinson, came up with the idea of carving in the mountains. He knew it would bring tourists…and dollars…to the area. He contacted a sculptor who was unavailable. Robinson knew of Gutzon Borglum but he was currently working in Georgia on a monument to General Lee. Borglum was in a dispute with the developers and when Robinson approached him, he eagerly signed on.

 

On board with the project, there was disagreement between Robinson who wanted something that represented the west (Lewis & Clark, Buffalo Bill Cody, Red Cloud), while Borglum felt it should be something more on a national level.

Borglum wanted the memorial to speak to the “spirit and ideals of American geographical expansion and political development”. The two almost immediately agreed upon Washington and Lincoln and for some time, these were the only sculptures that were going to be done.

It was Borglum who ultimately decided on the 4 presidents. To me, three were very obvious choices, but I had a problem with Roosevelt until I read why he was picked.

Washington…for contribution to the struggle for independence and the establishment of the government and constitution.

Jefferson…for his firm belief of government by the people, but also the purchase of the Louisiana territory that was a great example of the spirit of American continental growth.

Lincoln for equality of all men and the preservation of the union.

Roosevelt for the role of the U.S. in world affairs and definitely reflecting the restless spirit that made the ocean to ocean republic inevitable.

Now that the subjects were picked, they needed the funding. Robinson wanted the funds to come from South Dakota but the voters didn’t see the same economic vision he had. Borglum went to the Sec of the Treasury for funding. He asked for only ½ of the funds necessary thinking he wouldn’t have problems getting the “matching” funds from private sources. The Senator introducing the funding bill was stunned that Borglum turned down the offer of full funding.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial was established in October 1925 to “symbolize the spirit and ideas of westward expansion of America and the growth of democratic ideals and institutions”.

Legislation passed giving $250,000.00 in “matching” funds collected elsewhere. It was those matching funds that caused problems until finally it was dropped and the Feds took up full funding in later years.

Drilling began in late 1927 with the cornerstone being laid and President Coolidge’s dedication on August 10, 1927. Borglum started with 16 former Black Hills gold miners and ended training more than 300 men during the life of the project.

The Washington bust was unveiled on July 4, 1930 and work started that same year on Jefferson but as they worked, it was realized there wasn’t enough room on Washington’s left to finish. The outline was blasted away in 1934 and started again on Washington’s right. Jefferson’s bust was dedicated on August 30, 1936 with President Roosevelt speaking at the unveiling.

A bill introduced in 1937 for funding included that the bust of Susan B. Anthony would be added to the monument. The reasons it failed can be argued, but the official reason was because of a mandate that federal funds could only be used on those carvings already begun.

In planning, Lincoln’s bust was supposed to be directly to Jefferson’s right but had to be moved farther to make room for the two already completed. Lincoln’s was dedicated on September 17, 1938.

The position of the Roosevelt bust needed to be between Jefferson and Lincoln, but Borglum wasn’t sure there was enough surface for sculpting. After blasting away 120 feet of granite, suitable stone was uncovered and the bust was dedicated on July 2, 1939.

Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941, with the project incomplete. The figures were supposed to be from the waist up but funding dried up and Borglum’s son oversaw the scaled back finishing.

Before Borglum’s death he had said the monument would be there “until the wind and rain alone shall wear them away”.

In the end, 400,000 + tons of rock was blasted away with a final cost of $989,992.32

More importantly, in the 14 years of blasting and sculpting, absolutely no lives were lost.

Dirk and I messed up by not realizing there was an exhibit area until about 30 minutes before it closed so we had to hurriedly go through and I’m sure we missed a lot. Maybe we’ll get back there some day.

One of the notes that I had made during the trip really should have been included in the “Missouri Here I Come” blog. It’s a new game I call “Deer Dodge”. You know the signs we’ve all seen…Deer Crossing…I’ve always wondered what I would do if one actually crossed.

My first experience with it was back in June when Dirk and I were coming back from St. Louis. A deer jumped on to the freeway in front of us. Thankfully, there was only us and one other car nearby. The other car ducked in behind me…oh sure, let me hit the darn thing. I slowed WAY down and it finally trotted off.

So in all these years, that is the only deer I’ve seen on a highway…until now. From about ½ way through Wyoming, we’ve seen the occasional deer on the side of the road. Yes, alive. Then last night, after we left the Oregon Trail Ruts, we had to slow to a crawl because a few deer in the road. Then tonight, after leaving Mt. Rushmore, I’ve seen many deer on the road or near the road. Nothing like a deer passing in front of you to raise your heart rate and make you pay much closer attention to the road at dusk and nightfall.

I really never want a story to start with…remember that deer I hit?

Crazy Horse Memorial...Crazy Horse, South Dakota

DATE:  October 7, 2025

SITE:  Crazy Horse Memorial

LOCATION:  12151 Avenue of the Chiefs, Crazy Horse, Custer Co., South Dakota  57730

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

“My lands are where my dead lie buried”…Crazy Horse

The area is beautiful and we’ve been so lucky with weather. This is as far north as we’ll be going and there hasn’t been a day where I needed to wear long sleeves all day. You can see the monument way before you get there. At first, it’s like “is that it?”, sort of like what I did at the Grand Canyon. But in this case, yes, that is it and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

 

If I heard one more time that the Crazy Horse Memorial was on private land, being built entirely with private funding, and was much bigger than Mount Rushmore, I was going to scream. Honestly, I do admire the fact that they are doing this without any public funding, and are, obviously, proud, but really? Do you really need to bash Mt Rushmore as “much smaller”?

Although it is the “Crazy Horse” memorial, it really is a tribute to all American Indians. Originally commissioned by a Lakota elder (Crazy Horse was an Oglala Lakota), it has been “in progress” since 1948 and is far from complete.

The land is considered sacred by the Lakota and the memorial is not only the sculpture, but also the Indian Museum of North America, the Native American Culture Center and ultimately a satellite campus for the University of South Dakota. But even the Lakota disagree on whether the sculpture should even exist as it can be considered a desecration of sacred land.

Crazy Horse was born in 1840 and became one of America’s most powerful Indian Chiefs, just behind Sitting Bull. He took up arms against the U.S. government to fight against the Indian lands and way of life being taken away and fought in some of the largest wars against the “white man”. 

After finally surrendering in 1877, Crazy Horse was led into a room with bars on the windows and

What finished sculpture will look like

although having never seen a jail, instinctively knew what this meant. Crazy Horse pulled a knife and an Indian near him tried to subdue him. There was a struggle and he cut the hand of the Indian. Shouts of “shoot him” rang out and a military guard stepped forward and bayoneted Crazy Horse from the back. Crazy Horse did not die right away. His father made it to his side before  Crazy Horse’s last words “it is no good for the people to depend on me any longer; I am bad hurt”…and he died.

Crazy Horse did not like being photographed and was buried where his grave would not be found so his likeness isn’t really known. He was chosen because he was not only a great Chief but also of great character and loyalty to his people.

But this isn’t just the story of Crazy Horse but also of Korczak Ziolkowski, the sculptor, and his family.

In 1931, Luther Standing Bear contacted Gutzon Borglum, who was then carving Mt. Rushmore and suggested that Crazy Horse was the only Indian truly great enough to be placed side by side with Washington and Lincoln. Bear never heard from Borglum.

Henry Standing Bear began a campaign to get Crazy Horse sculpted on Mt. Rushmore but in 1935, he also was frustrated over the lack of commitment for the project. In late 1939, he wrote Ziolkowski and told him that the white man needs to know “that the red man has great heroes too”.

To show his commitment, Bear offered to trade 900 fertile acres for a barren mountain. The U.S. government was pretty enthusiastic over the trade and the National Forest Service granted a permit for the project, and more important…a commission. The commission was turned down in favor of private funding by Americans interested in the welfare of the American Indian.

Ziolkowski was offered $10 million…twice, by the U.S. government but turned it down thinking that his loftier educational goals would be tampered with by the government if he took the money. This man was totally dedicated to this project. To hear the story of his early work is to understand just how difficult this must have been and what great shape this guy had to have been in.

Ziolkowski died in 1982 and his widow, Ruth, took up oversight of the project. She deviated off her husband’s plan in a major way…she had the face of Crazy Horse finished before the horse under him which is how her husband had planned. She was correct in thinking that the finished face would increase tourism and so increase funds coming in.

Ziolkoski’s family has always been involved in all aspects of the memorial as evidenced by 7 of the 10 children working on site, either on the mountain or in the educational center; even to this day.

In 1998, the face was completed. Ruth died in 2014 but saw her daughter, also a sculptor, take over the project.

An interesting aside…there is a group of Indians, Lakota and otherwise, who feel the people behind the memorial need to make a big correction while it can still be made. It is said that no American Indian tribe considers it ok to point with just the index finger. In fact, they point out (pun intended) that it was only recently in the white man’s world that it was ok to point. Remember as kids… “quit pointing” was the admonishment we’d get from our parents. I was unable to find whether or not the memorial group will/has or is considering this request.

Dirk and I took a bus up to the base of the carving. This thing is huge. We walked through the culture center and saw interesting exhibits and some amazing crafts being sold. Dirk got a beautiful arrowhead necklace that caught his eye. Ziolkowski, before he died, commissioned this huge double gate to be built with all the animals that exist or have ever existed in this area. It’s a spectacular piece of metal art.

 

It would have been real cool to have seen the blasting and they do when needed throughout the year, but there are 2 “ceremonial” blasts each year. One is on June 26^th and is called “Ruth’s Night Blast” and “Little Bighorn Anniversary”, celebrating Ruth Ziolkowski’s birthday and the anniversary of the battle at Little Bighorn and September 6^th, which is the “Crazy Horse & Korczak Night Blast” celebrating the death of Crazy Horse and the birth of Korczak Ziolkowski. I’m really glad we took the time to come here before moving on to Mt. Rushmore.