Mount Rushmore National Memorial was started in 1927 and completed in 1941. The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, was born in Idaho of Danish Mormon parents, but studied in Paris. Previously, he sculpted a remodeled torch for the Statue of Liberty, saints and apostles for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in NYC, a seated Lincoln in Newark NJ, and an oversized bust of Lincoln for the US Capitol Building in Washington. --- Left: our first view from the Grand Terrace, other than driving up the hill. ---Right: with the sun shining on the sculpture. The faces are sixty feet tall.
Borglum chose these four Presidents for Mt. Rushmore - Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lincoln for their outstanding contributions to our country - the founding, the growth, the preservation and the development of the US.
---Left: the happy travellers.
---Right: the sculpture lit up at night - we returned the next night to attend the evening patriotic ceremony and lighting of the sculpture. Notice the beautiful state flags - all 50 states and six US territories are represented.
