On your way to the awesome "Shrine Of Democracy", enjoy a visit to Keystone, the town at the bottom of the famous mountain, Mt. Rushmore. Keystone is an attraction in it's own right, historical and progressive. It's citizens are hardy and versatile, having survived fires and floods, and near economic oblivion.

For over a century, several millions of dollars in gold, feldspar, and other rare minerals have been taken from the earth and creeks around Keystone. Like so many other Black Hill towns, Keystone began as a mining camp in 1876. The town was platted in 1891 with mines flourishing. When the railroad reached Keystone in 1891, mines developed further. The carving at Mount Rushmore began in 1927, offering higher wages than in the mines, and miners chose to work on the monument which today makes Keystone it's home.

Quartz mining and timbering are still viable industries in Keystone, but tourism has become the predominant and stable industry of Keystone. In the shadow of Mount Rushmore, only two miles away, Keystone's main street is lined with businesses on both sides of the street, wall to wall, and Keystone still grows.

For information on attractions, lodging, restaurants and more, contact www.keystonechamber.com.

High on a mountain in western South Dakota stands a colossal feat of art, engineering, and dynamite; an undertaking that took 14 years, moved over 400,000 tons of granite, and cost nearly a million dollars. Mount Rushmore stands today as a symbol of the permanency of our country's union. A union that was meant to extend political, economic, and religious freedoms to all; a government by, of, and for the people. It is fitly called " The Shrine Of Democracy." Mount Rushmore was chosen because the stone was solid enough to carve and endure, and it faced in a direction that allowed as much sunlight as possible to illuminate the figures. All granite suitable for carving a colossal head has been used in the present design, thus adding to it is not possible.

Chosen for the arduous task of creating such a masterpiece, was the brilliant and flamboyant sculptor, Gutson Borglum. Borglum was a persuasive man, a master of detail, and a man with a dream. A dream that had a theme important enough to justify turning a mountain into a memorial. It was to be his most ambitious undertaking.

Under Borglum's exacting standards, the men who were really miners, and had begun work as drillers and blasters, became skilled stone carvers. Borglum's safety precautions were scrupulous and not one worker was killed or seriously injured. His ardor for his task precluded his own health care, and physicians said the strenuous high-altitude work of the carving weakened his heart and contributed to his death, which occurred before the monument was finished. His son, Lincoln, who had assisted him every step of the way, finished the monument to the way we see it today. Borglum's wife once wrote: "the artist cannot escape his destiny---it forces him to leave his home, to hurl himself against a gigantic rock, to cling like a human fly to a perpendicular peak, to struggle with a hostile human nature, in order to carve against the sky, a record of the great experiment in democracy."

Today, as you visit the awesome carving, you can be further awed by a visit to the museum at the visitor's center, and the Sculptor's Studio. One of the most memorable experiences is the lighting ceremony conducted by the National Park Service every evening from mid-May through September. It can take 4 to 5 days for a leisurely visit to all the sites in the area. Well worth your time!

This magnificent wonder, a part of The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota that Rapid City residents enjoy as home, is perhaps best described in the words of Gutson Borglum: "Hence, let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can, the words of our leaders and their faces, to show posterity what manner of men they were. Then breathe a prayer that these records will endure until the wind and the rain alone shall wear them away."

Truly, one sees the powerful destiny and legacy of our great nation in a personal way, with a visit to Mount Rushmore. For more information, visit: www.nps.gov/moru.