Our Visit to Mt. Rushmore

This past week, Scott and I took a road trip to South Dakota to see the Mt. Rushmore monument. It was a memorable trip to a historical site and an experience we'll always treasure.

On the first day of our journey through Wyoming, we stopped at Independence Rock, a landmark for the pioneers traveling west on the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails. Many of these emigrants carved their names on the huge granite rock in the foreground and to the left behind the marker. 

Mt. Rushmore features the faces of four presidents of the United States who were prominent in the founding and preservation of our nation: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

The monument was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum. The project officially started in 1927 and ended in 1941, just prior to our entering World War II.  Projected to cost about $500,000, the final cost was just under $1 million.     

Scott made sure he packed his binoculars to see the details of the sculpture.

We enjoyed visiting the museum and learning the details of how Mt. Rushmore came to be.   

Of all the things we learned in the museum, I was most surprised to learn that Gutzon Borglum was born in Idaho, the son of "Mormon" Danish immigrants. 

Sadly, Gutzon passed away shortly before completion of the project from complications from surgery, at age 74. It was left to his son, Lincoln, to finish the Mt. Rushmore memorial.   

Because we were visiting Mt. Rushmore during the off-season, many restaurants, shops, and stores were closed in the small town of Keystone, where we stayed.  We were happy that there was one restaurant open.  We'll give Boss' Pizza & Chicken a 5-star review! 

After lunch, we toured the town of Keystone (it's one street long!) and we returned that night to enjoy the lighted view of the monument. 

Miraculously, of the hundreds of laborers who blasted and carved away the mountain into what has become a national treasure, no one lost their life or was seriously injured during the project. 

We stayed two nights at the Roosevelt Inn (right).  It wasn't until our second day that we noticed right next door the Magnuson Grand!  (We wondered if they would have let us stay there free?-- probably not, since we spell our name with two "s")

We experienced a tender mercy on this trip. This was the view of the mountain the day we arrived and the day we left Mt. Rushmore-- completely obscured by fog and clouds.  

This clear photo was taken of the monument in the same spot as the above photo.  It was a blessing to be at Mt. Rushmore on the day that we were....not a day earlier nor a day later!  

On the journey home, we stayed a night in Casper, Wyoming, and visited an air and war museum, located near the airport. 

This photo is of a Russian MiG fighter.

As we drove home through Wyoming, we couldn't believe how wide open the state is.  We've always heard that it is one of the least populated states, and we saw for ourselves that this is indeed true.  

"Don't say 'I can't' on this work. 

The 'I can'ts' are unknown in the world's work and unremembered in history." 

--Sculptor Gutzon Borglum