What makes mount rushmore important

Carving Mount Rushmore was a project of colossal proportion, ambition and achievement. It involved the efforts of nearly men and women. The work was exciting, but dangerous. Ninety percent of the mountain was carved using dynamite. Only the last inches of rock were removed by drillers using jackhammers. Hand tools smoothed the stone and added small details, like wrinkles and moles.

The workers had to endure conditions that varied from blazing hot to bitterly cold and windy. Each day they climbed stairs to the top of the mountain to punch-in on the time clock. For thousands of years, several tribes of Sioux roamed the land from present-day Minnesota, across the Dakotas to Wyoming.

Generally nomadic, they followed the migration of huge buffalo herds. In the 18th and 19th centuries, cooperation with trappers was followed by conflict with settlers. However, the discovery of gold in the area resulted in Native Americans getting forced off the land. Even the traditional name of the mountain, Six Grandfathers, faded into history after an expedition including New York attorney Charles Rushmore renamed it in A legal battle for the land continues to this day.

Borglum planned to create a large room within the mountain that would hold documents and artifacts central to American history.

The proposed Hall of Records was to be drilled into the north wall of the small canyon behind the faces. A lack of funding only allowed a small portion of the tunnel to be built, and for decades, the site was ignored. The repository box contains 16 porcelain enamel panels.

Inscribed on the panels is the story of how Mount Rushmore came to be carved, who carved it, the reasons for selecting the four presidents depicted on the mountain and a short history of the United States. Learn more about Mount Rushmore and plan your trip at nps. Photo by Gerald Pace www. Phones are answered from a. Monday through Friday. Explore This Park. Info Alerts Maps Calendar Reserve. Alerts In Effect Dismiss.

September 17, - Abraham Lincoln's section is dedicated. July 2, - The Theodore Roosevelt section is dedicated. March 6, - Gutzon Borglum dies.

His son, Lincoln Borglum, completes work on Mount Rushmore. October 31, - Drilling on the monument is complete. It only takes six and a half years of actual work on the monument, but the Great Depression slowed down its completion due to lack of federal funds.