Joseph

When you think of a statue, you probably think of the Lincoln Memorial, or some other small monument of a person. But the statue I'm thinking of is 465 feet alone, and that's just the faces! The statue in mind is none other than SD's (South Dakota's) Mt. Rushmore. The original faces set to go upon Mt. Rushmore were General George A. Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody, Lewis & Clark, and the legendary Sioux warriors. But before we learn how the faces of then became the faces of now, let's take a trip back in time to learn a bit about the man whi dreamed it all up: Doane R. of the SD (South Dakota) State Historical Society.

Mt. Rushmore was created in the mind of Doane one day while he was thinking up ways to "put SD (South Dakota) on the map." When he settled on the idea of a Mt. carved with the faces of the original five legends, he told his friends, workmates, and family. They laughed.To them, the idea of carving five huge bodies into a mountain was outrageous. But Doane didn't give up. He somehow managed to get U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck enlisted to help.

With Norbeck's encouragement, Doane sent a letter to sculptor Gutzon Borglum proposing the project. Little did he know, he couldn't have set anything up at a better time: Borglum was fed up with his current project, and wanted a new one. So Mt. Rushmore saved him from bordom. The trio then went on a search for a good mountain to begin carving. They went to many mountains in search for the perfect one. Then Borglum saw Mt. Rushmore and said, " Here is the place! American history shall march along that skyline!" Then it was settled. The statue would be carved in Mt.Rushmore!

Unfortunately, even with the senator and the famous sculptor Glutzen Borglum, the trio still needed money- and lots of it! Carving five full bodies into a mountain couldn't be done by one sculptor alone. No! Hundreds of people would be needed to pull off an amazing feat such as the one in question! And what about the tools needed to do the actual carving? The idea and location may be set, but the finish line for the task ahead of them was still miles away.