Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Carved into the granite face of the Black Hills are the towering likenesses of four of our presidential leaders. Visiting Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a ceremonial experience. Upon approaching the site, we walked the Avenue of Flags, with flags representing all U.S. states and territories. This walk takes us to the overlook where the monumental sculpture emerges from the mountainside.
The faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were sculpted between 1917 and 1941 under the direction of Gutzon Borglum. The project transformed raw stone into a lasting symbol of American ideals representing the nation’s birth, growth, development and preservation. The scale of this project is a part of the message as the mountain itself is enlisted in the act of remembrance.
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Big Hole National Battlefield
On the East Coast, we speak of conflicts with Native peoples. We reference King Philip’s War in town histories and on roadside plaques, but we have not preserved large landscapes in the same way. There are markers. There are monuments. There are footnotes in local museums. But there are few expansive, protected battlefields with visitor […]
Wind Cave National Park
On our cross-country drive to visit South Dakota, we enjoyed many of the historic and natural treasures that make the state such a great destination. One of the most fascinating stops was Wind Cave National Park. Looking across the rolling prairie above ground, it is difficult to imagine the entirely different world that lies hidden […]
Canyonlands National Park
Stretching across southeastern Utah, this vast wilderness is a maze of deep canyons, towering mesas, rugged buttes, and sandstone cliffs that have been sculpted over millions of years by the Colorado River and the Green River. Canyonlands National Park was established on September 12, 1964, to preserve one of the most spectacular and unspoiled canyon […]
