Mark, Sandy and Kent at Mount Rushmore in the Bright Sun

Scale Model in the Artist’s Workshop

Map of the Tour Stops and the Stories to Hear on the Voice Wand

Mount Rushmore

Bust of the Sculptor of Mount Rushmore

Exhibit at the Journey Museum

TeePee or Tipi at the Journey Museum

Beaded Dress Display at the Journey Museum

Bird Exhibit at the Journey Museum

After breakfast at the lodge, we boarded a motorcoach for a field trip to explore the United States’ Shrine of Democracy: Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It is a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore. The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, named it the Shrine of Democracy, and oversaw the execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features four, 60’ tall heads of four U.S. Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, respectively chosen to represent the nation’s foundation, expansion, development and preservation. Furthermore, Washington led the United States to win independence from Great Britain, Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence, Roosevelt the “trust buster” ensured the rights of working people and was instrumental in building the Panama Canal, and Lincoln led the country through the Civil War. Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually to the memorial park which covers 1,278 acres. The elevation is approximately 5,725 feet above sea level.

Borglum chose Mount Rushmore because of its southeast exposure for maximum sun exposure. South Dakota Senator, Peter Norbeck, sponsored the project and secured federal funding for it. Construction began in 1927 and the faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. After Gutzon Borglum died in March of 1941, his son Lincoln took over as leader of the construction project. Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941, and only Washington’s sculpture includes any detail below chin level.

Gutzon Borglum and some 400 workers sculpted the colossal 60-foot-high carvings to represent the first 150 years of American history. The chief carver of the mountain was Luigi Del Bianco, an artisan and stonemason who immigrated to the U.S. from Friuli in Italy. Luigi was chosen for his understanding of sculptural language and his ability to imbue emotion in the carved portraits. The carving involved the use of dynamite, followed by the process of “honeycombing,” where workers drill holes close together allowing small pieces to be removed by hand. In total more than 410 tons of rock were blasted off the mountainside. The image of Jefferson was originally intended to appear to the right of Washington, but after the work began the rock was found to be unstable, so the work on Jefferson was dynamited and a new figure was sculpted to Washington’s left. In total, the project cost $989,992.32, the equivalent of about $21 million today. Nick Clifford, the last remaining carver died in 2019 at the age of 98.

While at Mount Rushmore, Sandy and Mark chose to walk on the Presidential Trail with interpretive signage along the way illuminating more about the monument, its construction and the artist whose vision produced America’s most iconic symbol. The trail took us to two of the artist studios where a one-inch to one-foot scale model is kept. Kent chose to stay on the main observation platform where he could listen to all of the trail marker information from the comfort of a bench.

The entire memorial is beautifully maintained, immaculately cared for and easily navigable. The facility includes a gift shop, a restaurant, observation deck, amphitheater, museum hall and more. All of these spaces spread the visitors out making it not seem too crowded.

After our visit to Mount Rushmore, we headed to Rapid City, chosen as the “Most Patriotic City” by USA Today readers. There we had time on our own to visit the 20-square-block section of the historic downtown with life-sized bronze statues of all of the past presidents along its streets and sidewalks. This was started in 2000 to honor the legacy of the American presidency. We had been here several days ago so we spent our time having lunch at an Irish Pub and exploring a large antique mall.

After lunch we set out for a field trip to the Journey Museum where we learned more about the Black Hills and surrounding area. The Journey Museum brings into focus the story of billions of years of eruption, exploration, evolution, conflict and change. A tectonic shift deep inside the earth 2.5 billion years ago violently thrust up the land now known as the Black Hills into being. One of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, they have been worn down by the ravages of time from a height that was greater than 15,000 feet, thereby exposing the fine granite suitable for carving images into rock. Once on the edge of a great inland sea, this part of what is now the Great Plains was home to ancient dinosaurs. Prehistoric people came here when ice still held sway over most of North America and it would be another 10,000 years before the arrival of current Native Americans. The museum explores the geology, paleontology, archaeology as well as stories of the pioneers, Native American culture and the history of the Black Hills.

Dinner this evening was served at the lodge and included turkey, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables and gravy as well as a green salad. For dessert we had an apple crisp.

We were scheduled for a ride back to the Mount Rushmore amphitheater to see an inspirational 45-minute program focused on the presidents, patriotism and the nation’s history. Unfortunately, due to fog, rain and possible thunderstorms we had to cancel. They said that we would try again the following day.