NEWS
LIFESTYLE
FUNNY
WHOLESOME
INSPIRING
ANIMALS
RELATIONSHIPS
PARENTING
WORK
SCIENCE AND NATURE
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy
SCOOP UPWORTHY is part of
GOOD Worldwide Inc. publishing
family.
© GOOD Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Here is what Mt Rushmore might have looked like if the project had not run out of funds

People are familiar with this historical carving on the mountain but they might not know what the plans behind the original design were like.

Here is what Mt Rushmore might have looked like if the project had not run out of funds
Cover Image Source: South Dakota Mt. Rushmore. (Photo By Mike Roemer/Getty Images)

Visitors from across America and around the world are consistently awe-struck by the colossal artistry of Mount Rushmore. This magnificent sculpture features the visages of four U.S. presidents—Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln—in South Dakota's Black Hills. The construction began in 1927 and ended in 1941, but many people are unaware of how this landmark remains unfinished.

Image Source:  Gutzon Borglum, America's famous sculptor, seen in his studio at Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota, is working on the first model of the gigantic memorial being carved on Rushmore Mountain. (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)
Image Source: Gutzon Borglum, America's famous sculptor, seen in his studio at Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota, is working on the first model of the gigantic memorial being carved on Rushmore Mountain. (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)

According to UNILAD, the original expansive design by Gutzon Borglum for the side of Mount Rushmore was never completed. Borglum's initial plans included a massive inscription known as the Entablature on the mountain's eastern side, shaped like the Louisiana Purchase. There were plans to put "a brief history of the United States" on the Entablature. However, the idea was ditched in 1934.

Image Source: Mt. Rushmore, SD: The Head of Washington, Jefferson and the beginning of Lincoln as seen from the cable. (Photo by Bettman / Getty Images)
Image Source: Mt. Rushmore, SD: The Head of Washington, Jefferson and the beginning of Lincoln as seen from the cable. (Photo by Bettman / Getty Images)

Along with that, Borglum had made a scale model for the entire sculpture that featured the torso of Washington and Lincoln in neat detail in 1925, as captured by Rise Studio. The plans were scrapped as well. All these elaborate plans surrounding the sculpture fell through after the United States Congress threatened to cut off all funding for the project unless the funds were used specifically to finish the sculpture itself, per UNILAD.

Image Source: Sculptor Gutzon Borglum's scale model for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, featuring US Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, Rise Studio, circa 1925. (Photo by Vintage Images/Getty Images)
Image Source: Sculptor Gutzon Borglum's scale model for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, featuring US Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, Rise Studio, circa 1925. (Photo by Vintage Images/Getty Images)

They hired a new sculptor, Henry Agustus Lukeman, after removing Borglum from the project, per Smithsonian Magazine. "Every able man in America refused it, and thank God, every Christian," Borglum later said of Lukeman, per the outlet. "They got a Jew." A third sculptor, Walker Kirtland Hancock, put the finishing touches to the memorial in 1972. However, Borglum was responsible for carving a major part of the project, which he started at the age of 60 and devoted the final 14 years of his life to it. Borglum's son, Lincoln, oversaw the finishing of the Mount Rushmore sculptures.

Image Source: (Original Caption) Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941), American sculptor at work, in his studio, on the model for Mt. Rushmore. Photograph, ca. 1930s. (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)
Image Source: (Original Caption) Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941), American sculptor at work, in his studio, on the model for Mt. Rushmore. Photograph, ca. 1930s. (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)

The iconic American landmark records an approximate footfall of over two million visitors each year who take a walk from the entrance of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota to the Avenue of Flags so they can peer up at the 60-foot tall faces of the former US presidents that have been immortalized in the mountain. As magnificent as it might look, the process of putting the visages in the rock came with a fair share of difficulties, per the outlet.

Image Source: Mount Rushmore, South Dakota: The head of Washington and Jefferson from the top of Lincoln's head. Undated photograph. Ca. 1940s. (Photo by Bettman / Getty Images)
Image Source: Mount Rushmore, South Dakota: The head of Washington and Jefferson from the top of Lincoln's head. Undated photograph. Ca. 1940s. (Photo by Bettman / Getty Images)

The Lakota Sioux, the area's original inhabitants, consider the Black Hills sacred. For some, the four presidents carved in the hill are not without negative symbolism, per Public Broadcasting Service. The landmark was built on the land that the white settlers took from the natives and it celebrated the Europeans who killed so many Native Americans as well. In the Treaty of 1868, the U.S. government promised the Sioux territory that included the Black Hills in perpetuity. The federal government later forced the Sioux to relinquish the Black Hills portion of their reservation, per the outlet.

Image Source: The national memorial was designed by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and carved between 1927 and 1941. South Dakota, USA. | Located in: Mount Rushmore National Memorial. (Photo by D.B. Bartruff/Corbis via Getty Images)
Image Source: The national memorial was designed by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and carved between 1927 and 1941. South Dakota, USA. | Located in: Mount Rushmore National Memorial. (Photo by D.B. Bartruff/Corbis via Getty Images)

 

Editor's note: This article was originally published on May 7, 2024. It has since been updated.

More Stories on Scoop