Here is a view of Mount Rushmore from beyond the Avenue of Flags taken by The Wild Images Team during one of our treks through the Black Hills of South Dakota. Gutzon Borglum chose these four particular presidents, in order from left to right, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, as he felt they each represented the four most important moments in the history of the United States at the time when the sculpture was completed on Halloween Day eighty years ago, October 31, 1941. It is a curious thought of which presidents would be included if additional faces were carved or if a new monument were to be constructed today. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan all immediately come to mind. Undoubtedly the four presidents that are currently depicted on Mount Rushmore will always remain at or near the top of the list of the greatest presidents to serve the United States. George Washington, known as the Father of our Nation, was appointed by the Continental Congress to be the Commanding General of the Continental Army which found victory in the American Revolutionary War and later presided over the Constitutional Congress that drafted the Constitution of the United States and established its federal government. Thomas Jefferson was the principle author of the Declaration of Independence, served as the very first Secretary of State during the George Washington administration, and organized the Louisiana Purchase that doubled the size of the nation. Abraham Lincoln led the country during its greatest moral and constitutional crisis, the Civil War, delivered the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, and instituted the Emancipation Proclamation, effectively ending the practice of slavery. Theodore Roosevelt established the Square Deal, which included policies for conservation of natural resources including the establishment of the National Parks system, control of corporations such as bad trusts, and consumer protections. The original intent of Mount Rushmore was to carve the presidents from head to waist, but a lack of funding forced construction to stop after their 60 foot tall faces were carved. Even just with the faces being carved out, it required 410,000 tons of granite rock to be blasted off of the mountain. Most of that rock forms the massive rock scree pile that can be seen at the center of the above image just below the carvings, where only a few pines have managed to find stable enough ground to grow on top. In front of the monument itself stands the Avenue of Flags, representing the 56 governed interests of the United States. Out of the 56, most of them, of course, represent the 50 states. But also included is one district, namely the District of Columbia, two commonwealths, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and three territories, the Territory of Guam, the Territory of American Samoa, and the Territory of the Virgin Islands. The Avenue of Flags is organized in alphabetical order with those that begin with A nearest in the above image, finishing with those that begin with W furthest away. Nearby in the Black Hills is the ongoing Crazy Horse Monument, which involves the carving out of an entire granite mountain, detailed in this previous blog post. Work on the Crazy Horse Monument began in 1949, and has continues since, with it expected to be at least another 150 years before completion. Also in the area of the Black Hills is Custer State Park, with its wild burros detailed in this blog post and its granite roadways covered in this blog post. The Wild Images Team has captured many other images from South Dakota such as the bright flash of a colorful lightning strike over the badlands, the moment that a pronghorn displays its phenomenal physique, and the time that a massive bison bull came meandering past, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from South Dakota have documented the centuries long carving of the massive Crazy Horse Monument, the very majestic Mount Rushmore and the Avenue of Flags, the expansive view as wild burros walk through the rolling prairies, the ever wary prairie dog stands at attention in the prairie, the amazing location of the granite roadways through Custer State Park, when The Wild Images Team encountered a remote end of trail sign in the middle of nowhere, this close up image of textures in a colorful badlands mound, the interesting time when a flock of turkeys photobombed our image, and The Wild Images Team sunset shadows over Badlands National Park. In neighboring North Dakota, The Wild Images Team has captured images such as the contrast created by the horizontal color bands cross through yellow badlands and the entire herd as a group of wild horses cluster together on a hilltop, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts of North Dakota have documented the herd of bison grazing in the grasslands and the ever changing colorful badland mound that caps a rolling ridge. In neighboring Wyoming, The Wild Images Team has captured images such as the contrast found in the colorful grasslands and background Grand Teton National Park peaks, the varying landscape of Grand Teton National Park rocky peaks and clouds, the large antlers on display as an elk takes a look back in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, the vertical abruptness as Devils Tower rises above the red rocks and green pines, and the many hues found as the colorful badlands cover over this very remote region, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Wyoming have documented as the rugged snowy peaks rise above wildflowers, and as The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome poses for a picture at the Meeteetse “Where Chiefs Meet” welcome sign. In neighboring Montana, The Wild Images Team has captured images such as a group of white mountain goats as they graze the highlands, an expansive view of rocky ridges extending to the horizon, the colorfully massive wall of Hidden Lake, high altitude view of tundra and glacial lakes, a very remote reflective alpine lake covered with rocks, and an ominously approaching heavy downpour over the green foothills, all of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Montana have documented the very deep blue waters of McDonald Creek and the panoramic view of The Wild Images Team at Hidden Lake.
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