On October 4, 1927, sculpting began on the face of Mount
Rushmore in the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota.

It would take another 12 years for the granite images of four
of America’s most revered presidents—George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt 
to be completed.

The monument was the brainchild of a South Dakota historian
named Doane Robinson, who was looking for a way to attract
more tourists to his state. He hired a sculptor named Gutzon
Borglum to carve the faces into the mountain.

The Lakota Sioux people, who consider the Black Hills to be
sacred ground, strongly opposed the project. 
    
    
    
    
    
   

Jonah LeRoy "Doane" Robinson
(October 19, 1856 – November 27, 1946)

John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum
(March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941)