American Defenders of Land, Sea & Sky
A Nation in the Making   The American Revolution (1775-1783)

We elected our first President.

Mount Rushmore
National Memorial
Near Rapid City, South Dakota

  George Washington won fame and respect when he ended the American Revolution at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. Six years later, the office of President was created by the Founding Fathers and, in 1789, George Washington was elected our first President. The "Father of His Country" has been remembered many ways over the years, but a memorial created in the Black Hills of South Dakota is probably the most unusual!

  The 60-foot high bust of George Washington was the first of four Presidents carved into the solid granite face of Mount Rushmore by sculptor Gutzon Borglum. Beginning in 1927, workers continued until the public dedication on July 4, 1930. Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt eventually took their place beside Washington in Borglum's Shrine of Democracy. After the sculptor's death in March, 1941, the memorial was completed by his son, Lincoln.


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