Cody

__Mount Rushmore__

Imagine seeing a sixty foot head. What do you think it would feel like? Would you feel scared or amazed? Maybe both! Now imagine four sixty foot heads carved into the side of a mountain. If you haven't guessed, I would be talking about Mt. Rushmore.

The history of Mt. Rushmore is very interesting. The Lakota Sioux Indians knew Mt Rushmore as the Six Grandfathers. The Six Grandfathers were part of a path that Lakota leader Black Elk took in a spiritual journey that culminated at Harney Peak. The United States took control of the area. A claim is still disputed based on the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramine. Historian Doane Robinson had an idea for Mt. Rushmore in 1923 to promote tourism in South Dakota. Robinson asked scuptor Gutzon Borglum to go to the Black Hills to ensure that the carving could accomplished. Borglum was involved in sculpting the Confederate Memorial that is a massive bas-relief memorial to the confederate leader on Stone Mountain that is in Georgia, but he was in a disagreement with the officials.

Borglum chose Mt. Rushmore because it faced the southeast and enjoyed maximum exposure to the sun. President Coolidge insisted that along with Washington, (**who didn't represent a political party** ) two Republicans and one Democrat should be portrayed. The two Republicans were Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. The Democrat was Abraham Lincoln. George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln were to represent the first 150 years of American history. On October 15,1996 Mount Rushmore was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mount Rushmore is controversial to Native Americans because the United States seized the area from the Lakota tribe after the Black Hills War 1876 - 1877**.** The Lakota considered the Black Hills sacred. John Fire Lame Deer planted a staff on top of the mountain. He said, "The staff formed a symbolic shroud over the presidents' faces, that will remain dirty until the treaties concerning the Black Hills are fulfilled."

The reason I chose Mt. Rushmore is because it has all of my favorite presidents, and they all had something to do with our country. I would like to go there this summer because I think it would be really awesome. Now that you know all about Mt. Rushmore, I hope you go to find out more. I think you will like it, because there is so much to learn there.