Mount Rushmore and The Badlands

Of course, one of the biggest attractions is Mount Rushmore. Gov. Norbeck is best remembered as “Mount Rushmore’s great political patron”, for promoting the construction and securing federal funding. We started out Sunday morning, 6/16, our 47^th wedding anniversary going to see the presidents. We had read that it is not unusual for people to be a little let down when they first see it...not the case for us. Both Mark and I were so impressed! What an undertaking…find a mountain, design a sculpture and keep reimagining it as you start working it, hire people to work only in the summer that have to walk up 700 steps before they can even start working, use dynamite in exactly the right places. Let’s face it, you make a mistake you can’t put the rock back on the mountain. It was just incredibly interesting to hear the process and then to see it in person.

After spending the morning at Mt. Rushmore, we headed to the Badlands about an hour and a half away. On the way there I asked Mark if he knew why they called the Badlands the Badlands. His reply was, “you’ll understand when you see it” (he's seen it before while out west hunting). That’s the absolute truth because the terrain is difficult to traverse. It was originally named by the Lakota people as “mako sica,” meaning “land bad".

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum selected the four presidents

to be memorialized on Mount Rushmore and starts carving in 1927.

Gutzon died March 6, 1941, his son took over and it was

completed October 31, 1941. 

Borglum's reasoning for choosing these four presidents:

Washington- Represents the first president and foundation of democracy

Jefferson- symbolizes growth of the country, particularly through the Louisiana Purchase.

Lincoln- Embodies the preservation and unification of the nation during the civil war.

Roosevelt- Represents the development of the country, highlighted by the construction of the 

Panama Canal.

It is estimated that nearly 3 million people visit

Mt. Rushmore each year.

The original cost of the carving was just under $1 million.

The visitor center was excellent, with many displays

and information of how it was constructed.

Around 400 laborers worked on the memorial.

There were few injuries and no deaths. This plaque

described one worker's sentiments about working there.

He worked 3-4 days and said he couldn't do it anymore.

He woke in the middle of the night and thought he was

falling off the mountain. They ended up giving him a different position.

We attended the ranger talk, which was fantastic.

This is the actual 1/12th scale model that was used 

to create the sculpture. If they ran into problems on the

mountain they would adjust the model first, then readjust

the measurements on the mountain. You can see the

actual sculpture through the window in the left top corner.

The badlands formations are the end-product of two

processes: deposition and erosion. Deposition is the process

of rocks gradually building up. Erosion is the process 

of rocks gradually wearing away.

It felt like you were walking on mud mixed with rocks.

We saw several big horn sheep roaming around.

Boondocking at the "Wall" in South Dakota near

Badlands National Park. We decided not to boondock,

but there were many campers along the "wall".

Here we are at Wall Drug Store. This

has to be the largest drug store I have ever seen.

It's a drug store, gift shop and eatery ...but mostly

a tourist trap 😊