The Secrets of Mt. Rushmore

Most Americans are unaware of the full history of Mount Rushmore, particularly that of its creator, Gutzon Borglum.

Mount Rushmore features the carved faces of four U.S. presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Borglum, fascinated by ancient Egyptian monuments—especially the Great Sphinx—was determined to create something on a similarly grand scale in the United States. He chose the Black Hills of South Dakota for his project, a decision that carried both historical significance and controversy.

The construction of Mount Rushmore was a dangerous engineering feat. Borglum claimed that his creation was the largest monument since the pyramids, but the facts tell a different story. Each presidential sculpture stands 60 feet tall, and together they span 180 feet across. By contrast, the Great Pyramid of Giza rises 481 feet high and has a base width of 756 feet.

In recent years, Mount Rushmore has remained a site of controversy. When President Trump held a campaign rally there, it angered Native American communities, who view the Black Hills as their ancestral homeland. Protests erupted in response, highlighting longstanding grievances over the U.S. government's treatment of Indigenous lands. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 had established the Great Sioux Reservation, granting 26 million acres of land—including the Black Hills—for the “absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of Native Americans.” Initially, the U.S. Army enforced the treaty, but when rumors of gold in the Black Hills spread, white settlers began encroaching on the land, violating the agreement. Some historians argue that the Sioux did not originally inhabit the Black Hills, while others assert that they arrived in the early 1700s, long before white settlers. The Sioux continue to stand by their claim, regarding the Black Hills as sacred land.

John Taliaferro’s 2002 book, Great White Fathers: The Story of the Obsessive Quest to Create Mount Rushmore, delves into this history and sheds light on Borglum’s background. Born in 1867 in Idaho to Danish Mormon polygamists, Borglum later became involved in the creation of Stone Mountain, a Confederate monument in Georgia. During this time, D.W. Griffith’s film The Birth of a Nation spurred a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, which became a major funding source for the Mount Rushmore project. While Borglum never explicitly stated his membership in the Klan, Taliaferro writes, “Gutzon never came out and said that he was a member of the Klan, but he was sure at the table with them a lot.” Throughout his work on Stone Mountain from 1915 to 1923, Borglum actively associated with Klan members, attended their rallies, and served on their committees, seeing the organization as a political force in America. His close ties with the Grand Dragon of Indiana further illustrate his connection to the Klan—an often-overlooked aspect of Mount Rushmore’s history.

Revealing hidden histories like these is the mission of the Eye On History column.

I would also like to remind my readers that the 46th Anniversary Celebration of the Eye On History Column will be held on Saturday, February 8, 2025, and Saturday, February 15, 2025, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Merriweather Library, 1324 Jefferson Avenue. During the event, past articles from this column will be read. Admission is free, and the public is invited to attend. The first 20 attendees to sign in will receive a free copy of my 13th book, My Journey of 46 Years Teaching African American History in the Home, School, and Community.

I hope to see you there! For more information, call (716) 847-6010.