Construction of Mount Rushmore Construction of Mount Rushmore The construction of Mount Rushmore National Memorial took 14 years, from 1927 to 1941. Doane Robinson of the South Dakota Historical Society wanted a monument to be built in South Dakota in order to help the economy of the state by attracting tourism. In 1923, he proposed that this monument should be built from the granite cliffs in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Senator Peter Norbeck of South Dakota approved the proposal, and federal funding helped the project. Robinson asked architect and sculptor Gutzon Borglum to sculpt and design the monument. Borglum decided to use
Mount Rushmore the American Indian leader as a response to Mount Rushmore. Upon completion, it will be larger than Mount Rushmore and has the support of Lakota chiefs. The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation has rejected offers of federal funds, but it is the subject of controversy, even among Indian tribes. Because of its fame as a monument, Mount Rushmore has been depicted in multiple places in popular culture. It is often depicted as a cover for a secret location; shown with faces removed or modified (as in "Superman II"), or added; or parodied. Trey Parker and Matt Stone used the location as