The Secret Room Inside Mount Rushmore and Other Little Known Facts

[Music]. it's one of the most recognizable. and most visited landmarks in america. but mount rushmore has a secret. the sculpture which famously depicts. four former u.s presidents as 60-foot. granite faces. was constructed between 1927 and 1941. under the direction of architect gutson. borglum everybody knows that. but few people know about the secret. project borglum was working on. as part of the monument let's find out. [Music]. why.

freedom hope justice south dakota's. beloved national memorial mount rushmore. is a testament to these deeply cherished. american values. justice tell that to the indians they. stole the land from. uh let's keep it nice you got it kimo. sabe by the 1920s south dakota now a u.s. state. had become a popular road trip. destination for americans they drove in. to see the newly designed black hills. national forest. and wild cave national park governor.

peter norvik had also built the needles. highway a scenic route winding through. the granite formations of the black. hills. but dawn robinson a historian at the. south dakota state historical society. believed the state needed a little. something more to entice tourists. in 1924 he learned about an attempt to. carve the likenesses of confederate. leaders into the side of stone mountain. in georgia. so robinson launched a campaign to. create south dakota's. own monument robinson envisioned sort of. an ode to the old west. with historic figures like lewis and.

clark and lakota leader red cloud. he reached out to stone mountain. sculptor gutson borglum to transform the. granite mountain into what it is today. borglum became famous for sculptures. honoring us history he was also famous. for his flamboyant. and bombastic personality in georgia he. became involved with the stone mountain. project but soon began to clash with. stone mountain memorial association. and in february 1925 the association. fired borglum. citing mismanagement of funds and his.

offensive egotism and his delusions of. grandeur. borglum made national news when he. destroyed the stone mountain models. and fled the state that sounds perfect. for a government project. borglum was talked into working on mount. rushmore because it was a chance. at immortality and he liked the sound of. that so over the next 16 years. borglum wrestled with the federal. government over funding and control of. mount rushmore which. he technically never completed borglum. wanted to carve the presidents down to. their wastes. and chisel a description of the memorial.

next to them but when it became clear. that there wasn't enough space for. an inscription or a lot of this stuff he. came up. with a new idea he envisioned a grand. hall measuring 80 feet tall and 100 feet. long. accessible via an 800 foot granite. staircase. that would include busts of famous. americans as well as bronze and glass. cabinets containing historical documents. like the constitution. the bill of rights declaration of. independence and a massive bronze eagle. with a 38-foot wingspan would be mounted.

above the entrance. with the inscription reading the hall of. records now borglum believed that future. generations. might find mount rushmore as much a. mystery as stonehenge or the pyramids of. egypt so he wanted to come up with a way. to preserve its history. and make sure the story behind the. carving would never be forgotten. so the vault was built to be just behind. abraham lincoln's hairline. and would contain all the information. anyone would ever need to know about the. mountain well. wait so they would have to blow a hole. in lincoln's head to do this. yeah and nobody saw a problem with that.

you know i never really thought of that. sick semper tyrannis work on the hall of. records began in july 1938 but was. halted a year later. congress wanted construction to focus on. the president's first. before moving on to the hall everyone's. got a side project. i know hey you want to read my. screenplay. no despite what congress said borglum. he went ahead with the project anyway. the onset of world war ii in 1941 slowed.

down the vault project. they only got as far as a 70-foot cavern. blasted into the mountain. and borglum was still refining the. presidents when his health began to. deteriorate. he died on march 6 1941 leaving his son. lincoln to continue the work. but the project kept running into. problems for example. jefferson's head couldn't be completed. due to the quality of the stone. in fact jefferson was originally. supposed to be on washington's right. side but the stone was too weak so. they kind of improvised as they went. along now eventually funding ran out and.

the project was declared. final and complete on october 31st. 1941 finished yep finished. the statues are incomplete the. inscription was never started. and the rock that was blasted out of the. mountain is still lying in a huge pile. at the site well they said it was good. enough it sounds like a government-run. project. so for over 50 years the hall of records. was just. a hole in lincoln's head right but for. decades borglum's descendants. petitioned the government to complete. the room in honor of his work and.

finally in 1998. officials agreed to a scaled-back. version of the idea. today sculpted into a series of. porcelain enamel panels is the story and. history of mount rushmore along with an. explanation of why washington. jefferson roosevelt and lincoln were. chosen there are also panels sculpted. with the text of the u.s constitution. the bill of rights the declaration of. independence and the gettysburg address. park officials even included a biography. of borglum they're all kept inside a. titanium vault behind a giant. 1200 pound granite slab now the hall of.

records. is not open to the public strict. security measures have been put in place. following a breach by greenpeace who. hung a banner. reading stop global warming over the. monument in 2009. what does mount rushmore have to do with. global warming uh. i honestly have no idea even high. ranking officials in the government are. banned from seeing this hidden. and largely unknown chamber but its true. intent was to serve as a historical. record for future civilization. so we can imagine that borglum would be.

pleased to know that his project was. finally completed. and may one day do exactly what he. intended. thanks for hanging out with us today my. name is aj that's cyclefish this has. been the y-files. until next time be safe be kind and know. that you. are appreciated. [Music].

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