Creating Giants in the Black Hills

A Shrine in the Black Hills had been rightly defended and created by Gutzon Borglum. His vision for Mount Rushmore was no less than “the formal rendering of the philosophy of our government into granite on a mountain peak”. His monument to America comprised the massive busts of four leaders: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Borglum created and upheld the unity and integrity of the nation at a cost of $ 1 million (83 per cent was federal money) in 14 years (1927- 1941).

The carving of George Washington‘s head is as tall as a six-story building:
Forehead to chin – 60 ft
Width of eye – 11 feet
Length of nose – 20 ft
Width of mouth – 16 ft