Mt. Rushmore

Happy Friday, everyone!  I can't believe it has been a week since I was in the Black Hills of South Dakota, visiting Mt. Rushmore, with my mother-in-law.  Since I am moving back east, I wanted to make sure I saw this incredible monument before I left.  We traveled up through the town of Custer, S.D., so we didn't see Mt. Rushmore until we were right in front of it.  It sort of surprised me when I did see those faces, looming above me. 

We were shocked again when we came up the steps from the parking lot, and saw this mountain goat.  If the shock of seeing this gorgeous wild animal only a few feet away wasn't enough, then watching him graze right beside the "Keep Off Grass" sign was!  It had a whole lotta nerve. 

The carving was begun in 1927, and the faces were completed in 1939.  Each president's torso was also initially to be depicted, but lack of funding forced the project to end.  Still, the massive faces of some of this country's greatest leaders is quite impressive to view.

George Washington, 1st president

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president

Abraham Lincoln, 16th president

"The purpose of the memorial is to communicate the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the United States with colossal statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt."

                                                                    - Sculptor Gutzon Borglum