Mount Rushmore in popular culture Mount Rushmore in popular culture Because of its fame as a monument, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota has appeared frequently in works of fiction, and has been discussed or depicted in other popular works. Several films and other media depict Mount Rushmore as a secret base of operations for the government or another clandestine group, or as having some comparable significance other than as a monument. In the early 1980s television series, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", a flashback sequence in the episode, "Testimony of a Traitor", shows Rogers meeting with the President of the United States in a
Mount Rushmore of Mount Rushmore", posing for photographs with thousands of tourists. He became one of the most photographed people in the world. The ongoing conservation of the site is overseen by the National Park Service. Physical efforts to conserve the monument have included replacement of the sealant applied originally by Gutzon Borglum, which had proved ineffective at providing water resistance. The components of Borglum's sealant included linseed oil, granite dust, and white lead, but a modern silicone replacement is now used, disguised with granite dust. In 1998, electronic monitoring devices were installed to track movement in the topology of the sculpture