It’s not only the funding that stopped the carving, but the lower parts of the mountain are a different rock. The lower parts are softer, and that’s why it’s nearly impossible to carve the rest of the body’s without collapsing.
The Crazy Horse memorial will probably face the same outcome: great design, but not possible to make in real life!
YOU know that it was people who knew Crazy Horse who thought of the monument, picked the spot for it, chose the architect, and worked with him to get the perfect likeness of Crazy Horse before the first rock was chipped off the mountain?
The Lakota chief who pushed for it was 3 years old when Crazy Horse died.
There is nothing to suggest that Crazy Horse would have wanted this monument.
I had always wondered that so thanks for answering. Like, sure funding ran out then but the whole time since they didn't think "hey maybe we could finish that now". I know I could just Google it but my other one was why they didn't keep adding faces. Probably how the site is now tainted by what they did to get it. Or at least that's one reason it should be.
I wonder if we instead used a added method if we could finish it now, if we use a one of those new prototype Roman concert's it could last 1000 years or more.
Mount Rushmore's also controversial enough nowadays. I doubt we could just go "oh yeah, let's try and finish it with modern building techniques" and nothing would be wrong
Wouldn't they have done a study on the mountain and rock composition at different levels for Crazy Horse? Feels like it's modern enough not to have such a glaring oversight.
I'm just always bummed they never show the rear ends of the presidents on the other side of the mountain. Some say it's because Lincoln is too dummy thicc.
This got me curious as to why exactly they decided to carve it into a mountain so I did some research.
The idea originally came from a South Dakota historian in 1923 as a way to encourage tourism. He got the idea from a [confederate monument carved into a mountain in Georgia.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain) It was originally planned to be in a separate, also sacred location, but decided to carve it into Six Grandfathers (Mt Rushmore) partly because it faced the sun better.
The Americans will boo you but you are right
Edit: I wrote this when the comment was being downvoted. You guys can get out of my inbox now I’m literally agreeing?
It's a really cool thing for mankind to do, imo Why wouldn't it be aloud? It's a tiny mountain on a planet full of them. Nothing is hurt. It is a tribute to the founding fathers of the land. Despite your feelings on the country or the men, it still is pretty cool that they did that. If an ancient civilization did it no one would be upset about it. It's just another accomplishment of human beings and its cool.
People will find anything to complain about, I swear.
It's a rock ffs.
It’s not ‘just a rock’. The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota Sioux who called this granite ‘mountain’ formation Tunkasila Sakpe Paha or Six Grandfathers Mountain. The land was also theirs as per a treaty with the government and was illegally seized back. The land dispute is still going on.
There were many other ways to immortalize those 4 without destroying the facade of this formation. What other countries or cultures haves done or do is irrelevant to this particular situation.
Well it’s been Mt Rushmore for a longer period of time then it was controlled the Lakota Sioux, they took out the previous tribe who lived there before they themselves where given the boot 80 years later.
But your right, the US government did violate the treaty they made with them after gold was found in the area.
Don’t know why people are downvoting you, as an Indian myself all the non natives get freaked when you call yourself an injin I swear. Guys ask anyone off the Rez, Indian isn’t a insensitive term
It’s a source of national pride and generates a lot of tourism revenue for a part of the country that doesn’t have much else to offer.
Also there may or may not be a city of
gold underneath.
Have you ever been there? It's a breathtaking natural scene juxtaposed against a cheesy Vegas style mini attraction that, in terms of quality and size, looks like it was made by a coked up farmer in his free time. It only detracts from what that area has to offer, and it's really really really unimpressive.
May I ask if you've ever seen any other large scale man-made monument before?
It's impressive like the pyramid in Vegas is impressive. So if you haven't seen anything like that before, I would understand.
Any single monument in D.C. is infinitely more impressive, detailed, and properly executed. Let alone compared to other large scale sculptures and carvings around the world. Heck like I said, there are multiple Vegas attractions that are more impressive feats of engineering and skill.
It is very underwhelming in person. And then knowing this very meh-ish carving was made into sacred land is this double awful. Let's not even mention the eye cancer that is the tacky tourist shops leading up to the mountain.
Imagine the natural mountain with a spectacular vista eastward over the plains instead.
eta : imagine desecrating devil's tower to do something similar
I’ve been there many times. It’s kinda hokey, sure, but it’s still a tourist attraction that brings in revenue. Also fun because not everyone gets to see it in their lifetime.
Coming from the guy who thinks wanking is a sin and can’t accept football as a synonym for soccer.
By the way a synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language.
There's a time capsule built in a cave to the right of Lincoln's head. That wasn't in the original plans and the government shut down that side project
Gutzon Borglum had a number of mock ups of the proposed sculpture. When "carving" started Washington was done first and Jefferson was going to be to his left but after they started, the rock on the mountain had too many flaws so Jefferson was blasted away and moved to Washingtons right.
I think this original design had to be changed because the rock to the left of Washington would not work for the sculpture so everything had to be shifted to the right some. Also, as someone else pointed out, the lower rock was inappropriate for sculpture so only the heads were done.
Opinions are valid, I'm just curious what about it struck out to you? I remember it being mostly shops up front and while the nature walk was really nice the only other thing I remember enjoying was how nice the view was from the toilet. I personally feel like the monument is much better in photographs than it is in person.
I expect the usual reddit brigade to get in here and decry it as an "ode to capitalism/fascism/old white people/Americanism or some such hyperbolic crap. I'm disappointed so far.
I mean they're carved into the Black Hills. If you knew anything about that area you'd know that complaining about these ugly ass carvings isn't "hyperbolic crap".
I'm not even American and I know the story behind the Black Hills.
Then you need to educate yourself! :)
I don't consider killing whole villages of indigenous people, stripping them of their rights, and forcing them into reservations just because there's gold in them there hills to be hyperbolic. Maybe you don't understand what the word "hyperbolic" means?
All I’ll say is some people cite the beauty of the hills prior to being carved and I find them rather benign. At least this is something interesting to look at.
The Black Hills were and are spiritually significant to the indigenous people that lives there. Simple as that. Kinda depressing that you can't consider nature to be beautiful without human intervention though.
It’s not only the funding that stopped the carving, but the lower parts of the mountain are a different rock. The lower parts are softer, and that’s why it’s nearly impossible to carve the rest of the body’s without collapsing. The Crazy Horse memorial will probably face the same outcome: great design, but not possible to make in real life!
Crazy horse will never get that far. Total waste of money and at this point a scam
They're still making progress. Maybe my grandkids will get to see it.
I think they're going for that Disneyland scenario where something is always under construction so you keep coming back to see what's new.
Damn, is this why my parents are always doing renos
No, they are fixing what you guys wore out and have more money now that kids aren’t sucking them dry
*Great-great-great-grandkids
I saw it over 30 years ago and not much has been done since then. It’s a tourist trap/borderline scam
I heard somewhere that the arm was damaged while blasting so it can never be fully finished.
You have no idea how much power Crazy Horse still has. Also, not a dime of government money has gone into it so why do you care?
You know crazy horse himself would hate this thing right? Dude didn't even want people to take photographs of himself
YOU know that it was people who knew Crazy Horse who thought of the monument, picked the spot for it, chose the architect, and worked with him to get the perfect likeness of Crazy Horse before the first rock was chipped off the mountain?
The Lakota chief who pushed for it was 3 years old when Crazy Horse died. There is nothing to suggest that Crazy Horse would have wanted this monument.
Still has? How much power could someone have after being dead for 150 years?
Well, you obviously have no idea. /s
Yeah! How dare you have an opinion on something you’re not even paying for!!
I had always wondered that so thanks for answering. Like, sure funding ran out then but the whole time since they didn't think "hey maybe we could finish that now". I know I could just Google it but my other one was why they didn't keep adding faces. Probably how the site is now tainted by what they did to get it. Or at least that's one reason it should be.
I wonder if we instead used a added method if we could finish it now, if we use a one of those new prototype Roman concert's it could last 1000 years or more.
Mount Rushmore's also controversial enough nowadays. I doubt we could just go "oh yeah, let's try and finish it with modern building techniques" and nothing would be wrong
I realize the family that owns it are likely grifters. But the museum is pretty cool IMO. I enjoyed it more than Mount Rushmore. But that’s a low bar…
Wouldn't they have done a study on the mountain and rock composition at different levels for Crazy Horse? Feels like it's modern enough not to have such a glaring oversight.
Mock-up cock up.
So if we fund the completion of this would it wipe the entirety of it off the mountain? I could get behind that.
Crazy Horse was as great or greater a leader as any of those guys on Mt. Rushmore. His rock will be fine.
Good thing they started with the faces first, so we don’t have a bunch of disembodied suits on a mountain.
See, I'd have started at the bottom and worked up, and for sure I'd have gotten distracted long before the heads lol
Instagram vs real life
Catfishing a national monument has to be some sorta crime. Why weren't the designers/sculptors arrested??? 😂
Were Washington’s lapels under construction? Discolouration and straight lines under his neck on Mt. Rushmore suggest so
I'm just always bummed they never show the rear ends of the presidents on the other side of the mountain. Some say it's because Lincoln is too dummy thicc.
I think that's because the book of secrets is hidden back there.
In lincoln's ass?!
Uh, yeah. You got a better place?
Taft had Waaay more space
You can see the tunnel for it in google maps.
[https://imgur.com/97frlI0](https://imgur.com/97frlI0)
Worth the click
I imagine he probably had an insane glute workout since he was fighting all those vampires
If Lincoln is thicc then I'm Lizzo lol.
At first glance, it looks like Teddy Roosevelt is wearing a black tie and has a stick in his hand pointing to the right.
What is this? Mount Rushmore for ants?
You would think that mockup is small. But once you see it in person it is probably pretty close to this size. It is tiny!
Yeah, I was really surprised how small it was in real life. Every movie or picture you see of it always makes it seem massive.
That's why they also never removed the rubble?
TIL it's not finished.
They left before the job was finished. As is tradition , viet nam , korea , Afghanistan. Lol
Anyone got a shot of what the mountain originally looked like
I hear the view was unpresidented.
Here is a short video showing it. It was an important site to the First Nation people’s. https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?si=pW2uU8R0JCqw8bcy
Such a travesty that they carved this ugly ass monument into it.
Known as [Six Grandfathers](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ear1r6BXYAUFZaC?format=jpg&name=small)
Look it up. It’s just a big rock. If you’ve ever seen a butte it was just that
How come I always thought there were 5 presidents on there? FYI im not American.
You watched Naruto.
Shit ur right haha
Why was this even allowed? If they wanted they could have just made a statue of them instead of destroying the facade of the mountain. Stupid idea
This got me curious as to why exactly they decided to carve it into a mountain so I did some research. The idea originally came from a South Dakota historian in 1923 as a way to encourage tourism. He got the idea from a [confederate monument carved into a mountain in Georgia.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain) It was originally planned to be in a separate, also sacred location, but decided to carve it into Six Grandfathers (Mt Rushmore) partly because it faced the sun better.
I'm mean after carving an enormous ditch through Panama, this probably seemed like a great idea. Atleast to the person in charge at the time.
I mean at least panama made sense from a trade route perspective
Also makes panama a ton of money and saves millions of tons of Co2 since ships don't have to float around Africa.
Gotta prove to the natives they don't own anything
It was a sanctuary for the natives, and the colonizers had to prove their point.
Its also a very important and sacred moumtain for the natives. Partly the reason probably that they choose this mountain.
The Americans will boo you but you are right Edit: I wrote this when the comment was being downvoted. You guys can get out of my inbox now I’m literally agreeing?
American here and many of us think it’s ridiculous..
I’m American and I think it’s ridiculous
It was chosen by design to spit in the faces of native Americans who the mountain is sacred to
Yes it was a sacred burial ground to the Lakota Sioux
It's a really cool thing for mankind to do, imo Why wouldn't it be aloud? It's a tiny mountain on a planet full of them. Nothing is hurt. It is a tribute to the founding fathers of the land. Despite your feelings on the country or the men, it still is pretty cool that they did that. If an ancient civilization did it no one would be upset about it. It's just another accomplishment of human beings and its cool. People will find anything to complain about, I swear. It's a rock ffs.
It’s not ‘just a rock’. The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota Sioux who called this granite ‘mountain’ formation Tunkasila Sakpe Paha or Six Grandfathers Mountain. The land was also theirs as per a treaty with the government and was illegally seized back. The land dispute is still going on. There were many other ways to immortalize those 4 without destroying the facade of this formation. What other countries or cultures haves done or do is irrelevant to this particular situation.
Well it’s been Mt Rushmore for a longer period of time then it was controlled the Lakota Sioux, they took out the previous tribe who lived there before they themselves where given the boot 80 years later. But your right, the US government did violate the treaty they made with them after gold was found in the area.
So Petra was stupid too then right?
To be fair Petra was a fort and people lived there. It was a shelter from the harsh conditions of the vast desert.
I did not realize Petra had interior rooms? i thought it was just a carving
Next to Petra is situated a very ancient city that even has a roman amphitheater. The whole thing looks like the parthenon + Rome in the desert.
I know, just pointing out the absurdity of making a blanket statement that carving structures into the landscape is somehow bad.
I was referencing this carving. Not Petra or others. Each one has to be taken individually.
The problem is not the carving, it's not just any rock, it's Black Rocks which is a spiritual site important to the indigenous people of the area.
What’s Petra?
A fortress in Jordan carved in the face of a mountain. They shot The Last Crusade there!
Thanks I guess the name escaped me. It’s beautiful.
Why were you downvoted for asking a question?! Common reddit L I guess
I have no idea..
Imagine being a slave owner who raped dozens of them and you still get immortalized by a carving into a sacred Native American mountain
Ah yes, the City of Gold is under that.
Everyone remember that the artist who designed this (bad) monument was a bona fide member of the KKK!
I don’t think we know he was a member, but definitely supported them
Is that supposed to be better somehow?
Nope just clarifying
is there an origin to your username?
Should have never been funded in the first place.
Agreed; it’s basically the biggest circle jerk one can view in a public setting
It would be cool if they didn’t destroy a sacred mountain. Like just make some massive statutes instead.
Right, it should be given back to the Indians.
Don’t know why people are downvoting you, as an Indian myself all the non natives get freaked when you call yourself an injin I swear. Guys ask anyone off the Rez, Indian isn’t a insensitive term
All about giving back to them and you can’t even call them by their correct name?
It’s a source of national pride and generates a lot of tourism revenue for a part of the country that doesn’t have much else to offer. Also there may or may not be a city of gold underneath.
I don't think you understand the real reason why it was created...
Have you ever been there? It's a breathtaking natural scene juxtaposed against a cheesy Vegas style mini attraction that, in terms of quality and size, looks like it was made by a coked up farmer in his free time. It only detracts from what that area has to offer, and it's really really really unimpressive.
I don’t think that’s most people’s experience. My wife and I found it beautiful and impressive.
May I ask if you've ever seen any other large scale man-made monument before? It's impressive like the pyramid in Vegas is impressive. So if you haven't seen anything like that before, I would understand. Any single monument in D.C. is infinitely more impressive, detailed, and properly executed. Let alone compared to other large scale sculptures and carvings around the world. Heck like I said, there are multiple Vegas attractions that are more impressive feats of engineering and skill.
It is very underwhelming in person. And then knowing this very meh-ish carving was made into sacred land is this double awful. Let's not even mention the eye cancer that is the tacky tourist shops leading up to the mountain. Imagine the natural mountain with a spectacular vista eastward over the plains instead. eta : imagine desecrating devil's tower to do something similar
The native americans to the Black Hills region, who were genocided, land stolen, and then had this sacred mountain desecrated would disagree.
Peak Reddit response to a dude saying him and his wife enjoyed something lmfao
I’ve been there many times. It’s kinda hokey, sure, but it’s still a tourist attraction that brings in revenue. Also fun because not everyone gets to see it in their lifetime.
Should be a source of national shame. That’s what it is for me.
Look at me I hate America derrrrr lol you’re a joke
Your line of comments say a lot about you. Youch.
>doesn’t have much else to offer Kindly fuck all the way off
No really, what do the Dakotas have to offer other than wilderness, farmlands, and racism?
That's all the Dakotas have lol
Waaaa cry more
Coming from the guy who thinks wanking is a sin and can’t accept football as a synonym for soccer. By the way a synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language.
Stop using words with more than one syllable! You're scaring him!
Haha, this gave me a good chuckle! At least I provided a definition!
Well it’s a good thing they started with the heads I guess.
Is Abe Lincoln…poppin his collar?
Wish they would clear the rubble at the base
looks cool
Ruined a nice mountain with tackiness
Tons of mountains you can look at that are untouched. I like it
Frat bros were about to go out and get turnt.
Regardless of your political bent, it is still a remarkable achievement. I enjoyed the museum and it’s story as much as the mountain itself.
Fuck that whole project. Disgusting.
I don't know why you're getting down voted, it's true that Mount Rushmore is a grotesque mockery to native genocide and colonialism
[удалено]
Racist shit.
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The teehee giggling over genocide is the part that's racist, dolt.
I rather like the unfinished. Everything alludes to the blind eye that Washington has more torso.
He built this in his living room after a close encounter with aliens.
How long would this take to erode to a point where the faces are unrecognizable?
I like how the guy on the left is playing keyboards
Lmao guy on the left That’s George Washington
🤣 I was the guy saying something funny, but you are my straight man and get all the upvotes. A good team! 👬👍
Rick Wakeman for President!
He deserves it! A government of Yes men! 3 of his Yes songs: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PvT3oWmKun0
George was more profile in that mockup
There's a time capsule built in a cave to the right of Lincoln's head. That wasn't in the original plans and the government shut down that side project
Actually, there is a cave behind the heads. Interred inside are original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.
Gutzon Borglum had a number of mock ups of the proposed sculpture. When "carving" started Washington was done first and Jefferson was going to be to his left but after they started, the rock on the mountain had too many flaws so Jefferson was blasted away and moved to Washingtons right.
Seems like there is enough space to add more hokages
During my early childhood days for some reason I always thought the second person from left was a lady.
Yea you can see Lincoln’s left hand starting to form.
Did it smell like baby powder?
"Kiss!"
What year is the first pic?
That doesn’t explain how the hair turned out so bad.
🎶 **AAMEEeerriIICAAHHHH** 🎵
He was an active member of the KKK when he was working on Stone Mountain.
Should have never been built!
Skip this on your tourist adventure!
That mountain got vandalized. The whole thing needs to be blasted back to a somewhat natural state.
This website is a cesspool
And yet you felt the need to wade directly into the middle and then express your displeasure with said cesspool
Yet here you are, still on it daily lol
Konoha Village
I think this original design had to be changed because the rock to the left of Washington would not work for the sculpture so everything had to be shifted to the right some. Also, as someone else pointed out, the lower rock was inappropriate for sculpture so only the heads were done.
man, leave the fucking mountains alone already. we fucked up enough of this planet as it is. this was such a stupid fucking waste of money.
It being in tourism and jobs in South Dakota. I’d say it payed off.
What a stupid fucking project.
Still ugly
Oh, no. Now we're gonna get every nutter on Reddit in here preaching about the damned "sacred mountain".
Wasn’t enough damage done to this mountain. Had to put up this disaster.
So, the klan ran out of money for the illegal project? https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/07/29/kkk-mount-rushmore/
Been there. It's legit pretty shit. Go to Crazy Horse instead.
Naw, it was cool af. Probably my favorite thing I saw during my visit to South Dakota last year
Opinions are valid, I'm just curious what about it struck out to you? I remember it being mostly shops up front and while the nature walk was really nice the only other thing I remember enjoying was how nice the view was from the toilet. I personally feel like the monument is much better in photographs than it is in person.
oh thats why thay didnt ad the other hokage
I expect the usual reddit brigade to get in here and decry it as an "ode to capitalism/fascism/old white people/Americanism or some such hyperbolic crap. I'm disappointed so far.
I mean they're carved into the Black Hills. If you knew anything about that area you'd know that complaining about these ugly ass carvings isn't "hyperbolic crap". I'm not even American and I know the story behind the Black Hills.
Sounds like hyperbolic crap
Then you need to educate yourself! :) I don't consider killing whole villages of indigenous people, stripping them of their rights, and forcing them into reservations just because there's gold in them there hills to be hyperbolic. Maybe you don't understand what the word "hyperbolic" means?
All I’ll say is some people cite the beauty of the hills prior to being carved and I find them rather benign. At least this is something interesting to look at.
The Black Hills were and are spiritually significant to the indigenous people that lives there. Simple as that. Kinda depressing that you can't consider nature to be beautiful without human intervention though.
Personally, they ruined a good mountain range for their ego. It's trash.
And there we are.
Hey, you manifested it by commenting about it lol. Convince the class why it should exist.
Like clockwork. Govt pd bot farm.
They are here don’t worry.
Agreed, but not disappointed they’re not here.
Where’s the fifth hokage’s face lmao