Big faces are carved in a mountain.
They are four leaders from long ago. The stone is very hard. This place is in South Dakota. It is a special place to see. Do you like big mountains?
Huge faces are carved into a mountain.
These faces are four US leaders. They are in South Dakota. A man named Gutzon Borglum led the work. He used dynamite to break the rock.
Workers also drilled small holes by hand. This work took many years to finish. The land is very special to the Sioux people. They call the mountain Six Grandfathers. It is a place for prayer. Many people visit the park every year.
It is a grand sight to see.
Huge faces are carved into a granite mountain.
This place is in the Black Hills of South Dakota. A sculptor named Gutzon Borglum led the work. He wanted to make a "Shrine of Democracy." He chose four U.S. presidents to show the nation's history. These leaders are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
Workers used dynamite to blast away much of the rock. They also used a way called "honeycombing." This means they drilled many small holes close together. Then, they removed small pieces of stone by hand. The work lasted from 1927 to 1941.
This land is very sacred to the Sioux Nation. They call the mountain "Six Grandfathers." It is a place for prayer and gathering. The U.S. government took this land in the 1870s. In 1980, the Supreme Court said the land was taken wrongly. They gave the tribe $102 million. The Sioux refused the money. They still want the land back.
Today, more than two million people visit the park every year.
High in the Black Hills of South Dakota, four giant faces look out from a granite mountain.
This place is called the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The sculptor Gutzon Borglum called it the "Shrine of Democracy." He chose four United States presidents to represent the nation. These leaders are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Each man was picked to show a different part of American history. Washington represents the nation's start. Jefferson shows expansion. Roosevelt represents development. Lincoln shows how the nation was preserved.
Making these huge faces was a very hard job. Workers used dynamite to blast away large amounts of rock. After the big blasts, they used a method called "honeycombing." This meant workers drilled many small holes very close together. Then, they could remove small pieces of stone by hand. The project was very large and took many years. Interestingly, the work was completed without a single person dying on the job.
The idea for the monument came from Doane Robinson. He was a historian in South Dakota. He wanted to bring more tourists to the state. Originally, he wanted to carve heroes from the Old West. He thought of people like Sacagawea or Chief Crazy Horse. However, Borglum wanted the project to be about the whole nation. He convinced others to choose the four presidents instead. Senator Peter Norbeck helped by finding the money for the project.
Construction began in October 1927. The faces were mostly finished between 1934 and 1939. Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941. His son, Lincoln Borglum, took over the work. The project ended on October 31, 1941, because there was not enough money. Because of this, only George Washington's face has detail below the chin.
This land has a very deep history for the Sioux Nation. They call the mountain "Six Grandfathers." For many centuries, the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho used this area to pray and find medicine. The mountain is a sacred place for them. In the 1870s, the United States took control of the Black Hills. In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that the land was taken wrongly. They awarded the Sioux $102 million. However, the Sioux have refused the money because they want the land back.
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a massive sculpture carved into the granite face of a mountain.
Located in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, it is often called the "Shrine of Democracy." The monument features the colossal heads of four United States presidents. These leaders are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Each president was chosen to represent a specific era of American history. Washington represents the nation's foundation. Jefferson represents expansion. Roosevelt represents development. Lincoln represents preservation.
Creating such a giant sculpture required a precise and dangerous engineering process. Workers first used dynamite to blast away huge amounts of rock from the mountainside. After the large blasts, they used a technique called "honeycombing." In this stage, workers drilled many small holes very close together in the granite. This allowed them to carefully remove smaller pieces of stone by hand to shape the faces. The project was incredibly large, involving about 90 percent of the rock being blasted away. Despite the dangerous work, the entire construction was completed without a single fatality.
The sculpture's design went through several changes during its development. Originally, the sculptor Gutzon Borglum planned to carve the faces into granite pillars known as "The Needles." However, this area was too small and unstable for such a massive project. Borglum also changed the subject of the monument. The original idea from South Dakota historian Doane Robinson was to feature heroes of the American West. This included figures like Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea, and Oglala Lakota chiefs Red Cloud and Crazy Horse. Borglum argued the monument should have a national scope instead. He successfully pushed for the four presidents to be the subjects.
History shows that the project faced many challenges regarding leadership and money. Construction officially began in October 1927. The presidential faces were mostly completed between 1934 and 1939. Gutzon Borglum led the project until his death in March 1941. His son, Lincoln Borglum, then took over as the leader of the construction. The project eventually ended on October 31, 1941, due to a lack of funding. Because the work stopped early, the presidents were not originally intended to be shown from head to waist. Only George Washington's sculpture includes any detail below the chin level.
The monument also carries a complex history regarding the land itself. The Black Hills are considered sacred by Plains Indian tribes, including the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Lakota Sioux. The Lakota people called the mountain "Six Grandfathers." This name symbolized ancestral deities represented by the six directions: north, south, east, west, sky, and earth. In the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, the U.S. government granted exclusive use of the Black Hills to the Sioux. However, the U.S. broke this treaty in 1877 to assert control over the area.
This history has led to ongoing legal and social conflicts. The sculpture was built on land taken from the Sioux Nation in the 1870s. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in *United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians* that the taking of the Black Hills was illegal. The court awarded the tribe $102 million in compensation. The Sioux have refused to accept this money, demanding instead the return of their ancestral land. Because of this, some critics refer to the monument as a "Shrine of Hypocrisy."
Today, the memorial is a major destination for people traveling through South Dakota. It attracts more than two million visitors every year. The site is part of a larger landscape of natural beauty in the Black Hills. The mountain's elevation is over 5,700 feet above sea level. Borglum chose this specific mountain because it faces southeast. This orientation allows the sculpture to receive maximum exposure to sunlight. This sunlight helps highlight the massive features carved into the granite.
Where will your curiosity go next?
🖼️ Images & Media (9)
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
🔬 Go deeper
More advanced topics to explore
🪜 Step back
Simpler topics to build understanding
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.