The U.S. Mint has recently announced their “America the Beautiful” series of quarters that features national parks and sites around the United States. Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota is proud to be on 1 of 5 of these designs in the first set to be released around December of 2013.

More information about the program and series can be found here: http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/atb/ .

“Our South Dakota: Big Land / Big Ideas / Big Heart” is on exhibit in the Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society located at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre.

It’s a great exhibit featuring the landscapes of South Dakota from past to present. You’re able to measure yourself up to a full-size replica of George Washington’s nose on Mount Rushmore – the nose is over 15-feet tall! Sit down, and gets hands on with an old-school typewriter and type out a memo to a friend, you could take it home and send it in the snail mail with a stamp!

You’ll also have the opportunity to get in touch with nature. There are fox skins, skunk skins all for you to touch, feel, explore and learn from inside this great exhibit. Oh, I can’t forget to mention the poop samplings that are lying around. Don’t be surprised if it looks like a previous visitor brought along a buffalo, coyote or prairie dog. Not to worry, the samplings are only rubber, but they sure look real!

Climb into a real combine cab and see what it is like to harvest a field. Or, see how South Dakota measures up in size to other states in our nation by grabbing a Velcro state of South Dakota and moving it along the country side to see how the size compares. We look tiny compared to Texas, but massive compared to many eastern states. It’s an interesting hands on exhibit that is great for adults and children of all ages. Get to know South Dakota a little bit better by visiting this exhibit at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre.

Plan your visit to see “Our South Dakota: Big Land / Big Ideas / Big Heart.”

There is a Great Place in South Dakota that is located north of the Pierre and Fort Pierre communities. It creates the fourth largest artificial reservoir in the United States and one of the largest earth-rolled dams in the world. It’s the Oahe Dam. 

Lake Oahe extends 231 miles from Pierre to Bismarck, N.D. Along Lake Oahe are 51 recreation areas which offer camping, picnicking, fishing, hunting, skiing, boating, birding, hiking, biking and other activities. Walleye, smallmouth bass, white bass, northern pike and perch are all common catches for anglers fishing on Lake Oahe. 

Not only does the Oahe Dam provide great recreation along Lake Oahe, but it also supplies irrigation, conservation, and electric power to many Midwestern states. 

The Missouri River today is much different than the muddy, winding waterway that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark once traveled some 200 years ago. Today, four massive dams, completed in the early 1960s, mitigated the river and created more than 900 miles of open water and 3,000 miles of shoreline. In addition, the dams have created a world-class freshwater fishery. 

The Oahe Dam was authorized in 1944 by the Flood Control Act. Work began on the dam in 1948 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. By 1962, the Oahe Dam was functioning and producing hydoelectic power. The dam was dedicated on August 17, 1962, by President John F. Kennedy.

Visitors can view the Oahe Dam and Lake Oahe by following Highway 1804 seven miles north of Pierre. The Oahe Dam Visitor Center provides a complete history of Lake Oahe and the surrounding area. Exhibits feature the history of the construction of the dam and power plant and the natural history of Lake Oahe and the Missouri River. 

The Oahe Dam Visitor Center, located above the dam, is open year-round with summer hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and winter hours 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Visitor Center features interactive displays and information about the Oahe Dam and the Missouri River. Tours of the power plant are available. Visitors can also tour the Oahe Chapel which was built in 1877, and relocated to its current location in 1964, after the dam was built. For more information call 888-386-4617 or go to http://www.sdgreatlakes.org/thelakes/lakeoahe/.

The unique history and spirit of South Dakota is captured and accumulated in this Great Place. Visitors will find a new discovery around every corner. It’s the Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society in the capital city, Pierre.

The museum is a place to learn about American Indian history, explorers, homesteaders, and politicians who established South Dakota. Visitors can get an understanding of the challenges that the people of South Dakota experienced in the 20^th century.

Highlights of the museum include the Sioux Horse Effigy Dancing Stick, the Verendrye Plate and a realistic model cow that visitors can try their hand at hand-milking. There are three permanent galleries displaying artifacts.

The newest exhibit at the museum is titled “Our South Dakota: Big Land, Big Ideas, Big Heart.” It showcases South Dakotain a new perspective. Visitors are able to look atSouth Dakota’s past and present and even size themselves up to George Washington’s nose from Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

The museum is located at the Cultural Heritage Center, the South Dakota State Historical Society headquarters. The museum shares the 63,000 square foot building with a number of offices within the Society. For a size comparison, that equals the length of two football fields.

The State Archives is also located inside the Cultural Heritage Center. It contains more than 12,000 cubic feet of records. This equates to more than 37,600,000 records, including books, maps, and photographs. With a few exceptions, all of these records are open to the public for research. There is also a gift shop, South Dakota Heritage Store, on site featuring Made in South Dakota products.

The Cultural Heritage Center is open during the winter months, Monday through Saturday 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., and on Sundays and holidays from1-4:30 p.m. The museum has extended hours during the summer season, Memorial Day through Labor Day, of Monday through Saturday9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., and on Sundays and holidays from 1-4:30 p.m. The museum is closed on New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

Admission fees are $4.00 for adults, sixty and over $3.00, and children 17 and under are free.

The mission of this South Dakota museum is to “collect, preserve, and interpret the social, political, and cultural history of the State of South Dakota and Dakota Territory. The museum makes its collections available through exhibitions, loans to other museums, and publications.” The museum is a part of the South Dakota State Historical Society which is a component of the South Dakota Department of Tourism.

The Verendrye Museum in Fort Pierre is a Great Place in South Dakota that highlights and documents the history of the Fort Pierre area from the earliest explorations of Europeans.

It was in 1742, that brothers Francois and Louis-Joseph Verendrye embarked on their expedition to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. They reached the location of the present-day Fort Pierre and Pierre area 61 years before Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

In March 1743, they buried a lead plate in the area to establish French sovereignty on the upper Missouri, hoping to establish French control of the entire Mississippi drainage system.

It wasn’t until 1913 that children playing along the hillside found the lead plate. State historian Doane Robinson was contacted and saved the plate. Inscription on the front of the plate translates, “In the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Louis XV, the most illustrious Lord, the Lord Marquis of Beauharnios being Viceroy, 1741, Pierre Gaultier De Le Verendrye placed this.” The back reads, “Placed by Chevalier Verendrye, Louis La Londette, and A. Miotte. 30 March 1743.”

The site is now commemorated with a granite marker that stands 4-feet tall and is engraved with the following: “Here on March 30, 1743, the Verendryes buried a lead tablet to claim this region for France. This tablet found on Feb. 16, 1913, is the first written record of the visit of white men to South Dakota.”

Today, the lead plate buried by the Verendrye brothers is displayed at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre, which is open daily, call 605-773-3458 for more information. For a travel itinerary in the Pierre/Fort Pierre area click this link.

The Verendrye Museum is open Memorial Day through Labor Day, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. During the off season, a portion of the museum’s displays are at the Fort Pierre Log Cabin Information Center on the corner of Main and Highway 83 in Fort Pierre. Special arrangements can also be made by calling 605-222-6071.

For more information you can also visit the National Park Service’s page on this topic.

By the 1980s, the park service was faced with steadily increasing visitation and deteriorating facilities that hampered its ability to tell theMount Rushmorestory. With a growing federal deficit and sorely needed improvements at other park service units, federal funding for major improvements at Mount Rushmorewas highly unlikely.

Consequently, in 1989, the Mount Rushmore Society embarked on one of the most ambitious private-sector initiatives in the history ofAmerica’s national parks. South Dakota Governor George Mickelson issued a $2 million dollar challenge that would be matched by state funds. More than 54 South Dakota communities exceeded that challenge by providing $3.5 million to the Preservation Fund. The nationwide campaign raised $25 million, which spurred $56 million in improvements such as the Amphitheater,Lincoln Borglum Museum,Visitor Center,Information Centerand concession buildings.

The campaign also developed new techniques to preserve and monitor the carving as well as protect the Memorial’s historic artifacts, generated unparalleled media attention forMount Rushmore and resulted in new opportunities for visitors toAmerica’s Shrine of Democracy.

In 1992, initial ground breaking for redevelopment took place, and construction continued on the redevelopment for six years. In 1998, the redevelopment design and construction of the current facilities at Mount Rushmore were completed with no federal tax dollars being used to fund the project. The Preservation Fund goal of $56 million was reached by combining $25 million in private and corporate contributions, $14 million from AmFac Concession investments and $17 million from parking facility investments.
-some of this content was written by Mount Rushmore Society Board Member T.D. Griffith who was the Society’s Director of Communications during the Preservation Campaign in the late 1980s which raised millions for the park’s renovations.

This is the fifth part in a series of Mount Rushmorehistory posts. The four previous posts can be found by following the “Mount Rushmore History” tag. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society allowed us to share these great pieces of history about Mount Rushmore National Memorial, visit their website for more information. They can also be found on facebook by searching for “Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society.”

The summer months are a very popular time to visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The men in granite welcome thousands of visitors every day. The Memorial has received national attention lately by places like Yahoo! Travel, citing it as one of America’s Most Beautiful Landmarks. And despite the lack of fireworks because of a fire hazard, Today Travel had Mount Rushmore listed at one of the “Top 10 Places to Celebrate the Fourth of July.”

There are two additional faces that you might not know about that have helped shape Mount Rushmore into the place it is today. Learn more about Nick Clifford and Ben Black Elk in this post. The information was shared with us by the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society.

Nick Clifford
About 400 people worked to carve Mount Rushmore from 1927 to 1941. The workers included pointers who transferred the measurements on the models to the mountain, drillers, powder men who handled the dynamite, stone carvers who put the finishing touches on the faces, blacksmiths and winch men who raised the men up and down on the bosun seats, among others.

Nick Clifford was one of those workers. As a young 17 year-old, he was hired by Lincoln Borglum who was looking for some good baseball players. The Mount Rushmore Team, as they were called, went on to the state tournament two years in a row. At the mountain, Nick held various jobs from helping build the Sculptor’s Studio (which is still standing today) to winch man and driller.

He is still a fixture at Mount Rushmore. Today, Nick signs his book, Mount Rushmore Q&A, and spends many hours talking with visitors during the summer season about his experiences while carving a mountain.

Ben Black Elk
Born in 1899, Benjamin Black Elk was an Oglala Lakota who understood the importance of passing on the traditions and culture of the Lakota people to future generations. He was involved in American Indian pageants and demonstrations in the Black Hills during the 1930s and 1940s.

Through this, he realized how important heritage tourism was. Around 1948, he volunteered at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, greeting visitors and serving as an Oglala Lakota ambassador to national and international guests. Over the next two decades, he was able to advance the traditions of his culture by visiting with hundreds of families

This is the fourth part in a series of Mount Rushmore history posts. The first post and second post and third post can be found by following the links. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society allowed us to share these great pieces of history about Mount Rushmore National Memorial, visit their website for more information. They can also be found on facebook by searching for “Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society.” Information from the National Park Service was also used for this post.
For ideas and trip planning tools for your South Dakota vacation, visit www.travelsd.com, follow us on twitter @travelsd or “like” us on facebook by searching for South Dakota Tourism.

Mount Rushmore is the world-renowned mountain carving that gives South Dakota its nickname. Typically, most people, even internationally, recognize the carving. Usually they know it’s in the American West, sometimes they need reminders that it’s in South Dakota. A frequently asked question is why are those presidents’ faces on Mount Rushmore? Not everyone knows…this post will spell out who’s on Mount Rushmore National Memorial and why.

Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln represent the birth, growth, development, and preservation of America.

George Washington (1st president) represents the birth of the United States. He was the “father of our country.” He led the early colonists to win independence from Great Britain and laid the foundation work for what is the American democracy.

Thomas Jefferson (3rd president) represents the growth of the United States since he expanded our country to double its size with the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson also wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Theodore Roosevelt (26th president) represents the development of the United States, as he was instrumental in building the Panama Canal which opened up trade routes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, linking the east and the west. Roosevelt also ended the monopolization of large corporate companies to help the working man.

Abraham Lincoln (16th president) represents the preservation of the United States in maintaining the country’s unity during the Civil War, one of America’s greatest trials. He believed it was his duty to preserve the union; he also believed in abolishing slavery.

Funny fact is that initially carvers started with Thomas Jefferson on Washington’s right. After 18 months (that seems like a long time!) the figure was completely dynamited off the mountain. They then began carving Jefferson on the left side of Washington! George Washington’s profile on Mount Rushmore National Memorial can be seen frmo a scenic turnout on South Dakota Highway 244.

This is the third part in a series of Mount Rushmore history posts. The first post and second post can be found by following the links. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society allowed us to share these great pieces of history about Mount Rushmore National Memorial, visit their website for more information. They can also be found on facebook by searching for “Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society.” Information from the National Park Service was also used for this post.

For ideas and trip planning tools for your South Dakota vacation, visit www.travelsd.com, follow us on twitter @travelsd or “like” us on facebook by searching for South Dakota Tourism.

We’re continuing the Mount Rushmore history this month; last month we posted information here about two important people to the monument. This month, we’ll share a bit more information about how Gutzon Borglum’s (the sculptor) family was also involved at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial - Photo by SD Tourism

Lincoln Borglum
Gutzon Borglum’s son, Lincoln, first traveled to the Black Hills when he was 12 years old. He actually hiked around with his dad in search of the perfect mountain and was with him when Gutzon laid eyes on “Rushmore.” As a young man, he worked alongside his dad: first as pointer, transferring complicated measurements on the mountain and then as a project supervisor. When his father died in 1941, he finished the carving as we know it today by putting the final touches on the four faces. At the age of 29, Lincoln became the first National Park Service superintendent at Mount Rushmore and served in that role until 1944.

Mary Ellis Borglum Vhay
While her brother, Lincoln, contributed mightily to Mount Rushmore during the carving years, Mary Ellis’s efforts made an impact later on. In 1986, she renewed the interest in completing the Hall of Records which Gutzon Borglum had originally planned to build behind the carving. It was to be an elaborate 80 x 100-foot room with bronze and glass cabinets displaying the complete records of the U.S., including the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and why and how Mount Rushmore was carved. Only a 75-foot deep cave was a result of Borglum’s dream. Due to his daughter’s efforts, the Hall was finally finished in 1998, but on a smaller scale. Today, 16 porcelain enamel panels etched with the text of U.S. documents, biographies of each of the four presidents and the explanation of how and why Mount Rushmore was carved are buried within a teakwood box within the Hall of Records’ chamber.

The next post on the history of Mount Rushmore will focus on the faces of the four presidents that are carved into the mountain side. You’ll learn how the four faces represent birth, growth, preservation and development of America.

This is the second part in a series of Mount Rushmore history posts. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society allowed us to share these great pieces of history about Mount Rushmore National Memorial, visit their website for more information. They can also be found on facebook by searching for “Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society.”

For ideas and trip planning tools for your South Dakota vacation, visit www.travelsd.com, follow us on twitter @travelsd or “like” us on facebook by searching for South Dakota Tourism.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial – Photo by SD Tourism

Doane Robinson
Usually Mount Rushmore is attributed to the genius of Gutzon Borglum, but without the influence of a humble state historian named Duane Robinson, the idea might never have gotten its start. In 1923, while secretary and superintendent of the State Historical Society of South Dakota, Doane had the idea to carve western figures on the “Needles” (granite spires) in Custer State Park to draw tourism dollars to the state. He envisioned grand people like Buffalo Bill Cody, Lewis & Clark and Sacagawea in stone. Encouraged by other politicians, Doane shared his dream with sculptor Gutzon Borglum who molded the historian’s vision into what we see today.
(Source: Gutzon Borglum: His Life and Work)

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum
The month of October is a significant one in telling the story of sculptor Gutzon Borglum. The carving of Mount Rushmore began on October 4, 1927 and ended on October 31, 1941 not long after his death. Born in 1867 to Danish immigrants, he ventured to California at the age of 16 and began pursuing art in the form of painting. Although he is mainly known for carving Mount Rushmore, his art legacy also included oil painting, line drawings, gargoyles and other national monuments. After studying in Europe, Borglum fell in love with Mary Montgomery Borglum who went with him on his quest in planning a momentous sculpture at Stone Mountain, Georgia which was to be a tribute to the confederate army. After an argument with the association that contracted him for the project and promptly throwing the models off the mountain, Gutzon Borglum fled Georgia and turned his eyes to where his dream of carving a mountain was sure to be realized – Mount Rushmore.

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society allowed us to share these great pieces of history about Mount Rushmore National Memorial, visit their website for more information. They can also be found on facebook by searching for “Mount Rushmore National Memorial Society.”

For ideas and trip planning tools for your South Dakota vacation, visit www.travelsd.com, follow us on twitter @travelsd or “like” us on facebook by searching for South Dakota Tourism.