Talk:Mount Rushmore

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How not to write a sentence

This article starts with: "Mount Rushmore National Memorial, near Keystone, South Dakota, is a monumental granite sculpture by Gutzon Borglum (1867–1941), located within the United States Presidential Memorial that represents the first 150 years of the history of the United States of America with 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents (left to right): George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865).[1]" Perhaps someone with some modest skill as a writer should attempt to turn this junk into a proper sentence or three. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.158.61.172 (talk) 18:24, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

Besides, they shouldn't be referred to as "former" presidents. That phrase usually is reserved for living ex-presidents. Sca (talk) 17:18, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Old image

Mount Rushmore c. 1905

I uploaded an image of Mount Rushmore from before it was carved into the modern monument. I'd like to add it to the article, but since it's already overloaded with images, I'm unsure as to the appropriate protocol in this situation. All the photos here currently seem appropriate, but we're still missing the "before" pic that I think is very important. I don't want to remove any other image, nor do I want to just toss it in there causing potentially major layout problems (whether right-side or left). If anyone more adept at this than me can do so, please add the image where appropriate.--Tim Thomason 23:23, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

This is what I came to the article to find, and did not. I've now added it. Thanks! ProhibitOnions ^(T) 02:44, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

area?

The figure sited at the end of the first paragraph is not making sense to me. "The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres" Over a thousand acres? This cannot possibly be right. Perhaps it refers not to the memorial itself, but to national park that contains it? The page cited for that line has many statistical figures, but this ~1,200 acres figure is not on it anywhere. Gopher42 (talk) 20:44, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

The Black Hills National Forest is 1,251,898 acres (almost a thousand times bigger). Numerous sources online (including NPS) cite the 1,278.45 figure. It seems like a lot, but it could easily be covered if they were measuring the distance over the mountain (it is a mountain afterall, quite a lot of square footage!) or more likely the surrounding "National Memorial" that was set aside and contains much more than Mount Rushmore for views of it and whatnot.--Tim Thomason 05:54, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

It is not in a national park - it is a National Memorial and covers 1,278.45 acres. Nothing to do with the size of the sculpture but the size of the park. Rmhermen (talk) 18:08, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Venues?

Hi, The last sentence of this article reads, 'The North by Northwest appearance has itself been parodied in several venues.' To me, 'venues' means places or a building where something happens. There are no references to the venues concerned or what 'venues' means in context. Was a parody film made and shown in a few theatres? If someone could elucidate and correct that would be good Mondegreen de plume (talk) 04:42, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

You might look through the history and see if there once was a list which was eventually deleted. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?}carrots→ 08:31, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

Debate about adding Ronald Reagan to Mt. Rushmore.

Wikipedia is usually thorough and complete in it's treatment of a topic; hence, I was disappointed that the debate as to whether or not to add a carving of Ronald Reagan to the mountain was not included in the article. I remember that being a significant topic of discussion shortly after Reagan's death; it was wrapped up by the Park Service saying that the granite in the mountain would not be able to support another carving. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Petercha (talk • contribs) 20:54, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Additional information

Ivan Houser, father of John Sherrill Houser, was assistant sculptor to Gutzon Borglum in the early years of carving; he began working with Borglum shortly after the inception of the monument and was with Borglum for a total of seven years. When Houser left Gutzon to devote his talents to his own work, Gutzon's son, Lincoln, took over as Assistant- sculptor to his father.

91.110.227.212 (talk) 06:50, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

That information does not belong in the lede. It may be appropriate in the History section. -- Donald Albury 11:05, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

Original intended carvings

Why no mention of which 4 people were originally supposed to be? It's mentioned on the video at the site, why not here? I think Sitting Bull was one of them. --208.38.59.162 (talk) 22:05, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Please follow the guidance of WP:TALK. Do you have a WP:RS? --Walter Siegmund (talk) 22:42, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

File:Dean Franklin - 06.04.03 Mount Rushmore Monument (by-sa)-3 new.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Dean Franklin - 06.04.03 Mount Rushmore Monument (by-sa)-3 new.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on March 3, 2012. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2012-03-03. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :) Thanks! —howcheng {chat} 23:07, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

Picture of the day

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, it features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents (in order from left to right) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Photo: Dean Franklin Archive – More featured pictures...

Construction

The article reads "After securing federal funding, construction on the memorial began in 1927, and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. Upon Gutzon Borglum's death in March 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction. Although the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in late October 1941." This makes no sense. is was apparently completed between 1934 and 1939 (according to the article). it then later states (the article) that Gutzon died in 1941 and then his son took over and the carving was finished in October 1941. I am utterly confused. what are the actual dates? Nobletripe (talk) 10:22, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

It says that the last face was completed in 1939 (although one sources says head). As the original intention was to depict the figures down to the waist, I presume that the work up to 1941 was on the shoulders (and, maybe, the hair). Perhaps a reliable source clarifying that can be found. -- Donald Albury 11:01, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

extra word

when it says "Although the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in late October 1941." leave out the word "in". The word is not necessery.

extra word

when it says "Although the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in late October 1941." leave out the word "in". The word is not necessery. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.93.111.63 (talk) 16:37, 6 April 2012 (UTC)