Mount Rushmore National Memorial a popular tourist destination; over two million people visit it each year, and it's only around 3.5 hours from Buffalo!
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mt. Rushmore
& National Memorial
Mt. Rushmore is a famous monument in the United States, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It depicts four U.S. presidents carved into the side of Mount Rushmore: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln (with his head turned to face West). The sculptor was Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum. The Presidents Washington , Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln were chosen to depict the nation's birth, grown, development and preservation.
Mt. Rushmore has a long and adventurous history. It was first discovered by European explorers in the 1600s. The land was claimed by the United States in 1803. A few years later, in 1807, a man named John Colter discovered the area and named it "Rushmore" because of the many rushes (a type of plant) that grew there.
In the late 1800s, a group of businessmen decided to carve a monument into the side of the mountain. They chose four famous American presidents to be featured on it. Gutzon Borglum was chosen to sculpt it. He was a famous artist and had already created a sculpture of Lincoln's head at Gettysburg. Work on the sculpture took 14 years to complete, beginning in 1927 and continuing until 1941. The carving was done with large jackhammers, with the Chief Carver being Luigi Del Bianco, an Italian immigrant.
If you're looking for an outdoor adventure or a small-town Americana experience, Ten Sleep, Wyoming should be on your list!