Announcer next, an American History tv exclusive. Ou cities tourr to rapid city, south dakota. For eight years now, we have traveled to u. S. Cities, bringing the literary scene and Historic Sites to our viewers. You can watch more of our visits tour. Span. Org cities the cspan cities tour is on the road, exploring the american story. With support from our cable partners, this weekend we travel to rapid city, south dakota, featuring lifesize statues of each of our nations mr. President s. We experience this history of this city of 5000. We will take you into the Black Hills National Forest with a trip to Mount Rushmore national memorial, the states most visited tourist site. In 20 minutes, it is onto one of the most Sacred Places in the world for many native americans. And later, we will visit the Journey Museum to hear about the devastating flood that changed the look of rapid city. We begin with the history of Mount Rushmore. The heart of south dakotas black hills. There it is, the 60 foot had of george washington. Head of george washington. Three others will follow in an unveiling ceremony. When i look at the president s, the first thing i think about is individual achievements from each of those people. Andly, what they do for me, what this whole memorial does for me is it reminds me about what they stood for. Standing for freedom, for democracy, for the publics. Republics. I get to share that with people every day. I meet people from all over the world who may not know who those president s are, but they understand what freedom means. Stateiginal idea was by a historian. He had conceived of carving statues in the round of a giant granite spires in custer state park. He would have people like lewis and clark, sacagawea, fremont. When he hired his artist, borglum said you are not thinking big enough. Selecting the four president s, that was the artist, Gutzon Borglum. When you look at him, you can figure out why they were selected. George washington, our first president , the person who gave up the power. Thomas jefferson. That of people will say must be because of the declaration of independence, but that is not white the artist borglum why artist borglum chose him. He chose him because of the louisiana purchase, doubling the size of the country. Lincoln, you configure that can figure that out. The challenging one, Theodore Roosevelt. Selected by the artist, but he wasnt the most popular guy at the time. Borglum selected Theodore Roosevelt because of the panama canal. He expanded, went into international. He also was the president standing for the common man. Both of those things resonated with the artist. Two of the four were slave owners. Does that engender discussion . You talk about that in your protection of these president s. Your interpretation of these president s. There is discussion about that. There is not as much discussion as you might expect. It is certainly something we step forward and are talking about. All of our interpretive programs anytime you hear about a park ranger presenting programs they did their own research and do their own presentation. We dont focus on one thing in particular, it is the passion of the interpreter. Some, their focus was slavery and what this meant to this country. President s who wrestled with slavery. Can you describe where we are located, where Mount Rushmore is in the context of the black hills . Mount rushmore is in the state of south dakota. South dakota has the black hills. We are on the western side of the state. If you are looking at rapid city, we are about 2000 feet higher than rapid. Some referred to this as the turtle on the prairie. Tribes that had considered this a secret site, considered the black hills a sacred site, they referenced they could see it in the difference. It looked black because of the ponderosa pines. You can see it a long way across south dakota. Over the years, there has been discussion by native americans and others about the location of the black hills sigrid to the native americans sacred to the native americans. Here you have something that represents to some people the United States policy towards native americans has not they do not look at it the same way. How do you tell people about that issue and not much more . There was controversy from the start. Carving the black hills. That controversy came from tribal people and people today we would call ecologists. The tribes were looking at a place where they would come in and honor and have honor ceremonies, spend some time. At that time period we are talking 1925 that wasnt looked at the same way we look at today. Today we still have tribal people who are concerned about the black hills being carved. We try to honor that. Some of that group our interpretive through our interpretive programming. Every summer, we hire cultural interpreters. These are people who are looking. They talk about the lakota story. We are trying to share the importance of the black hills for all of these people, as well as what that sculpture means. It is a balance. The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, had started in stone mountain, georgia. There was a conflict there. He left to work for the state of south dakota. The first challenge was finding arve, something appropriate. Bignd his son found this outcropping. Your next challenge is, how do you turn that into a sculpture . The first thing borglum had to do was make small sizes and make them bigger and bigger until he gets to a 1 12 model. We have that model. Every inch of that model is a foot on the sculpture. As you are sculpting, that might be nice and easy with clay, but when you are looking at the mountains, you are talking granite. Tough stuff. 90 of that sculpture is carved with dynamite. I dont always think of dynamite asan artists as an artists brush, but it certainly was in this case. In 1927, that is the very beginning. People were coming up and visiting this sculpture, watching the whole carving process the entire time. There wasnt the formal opening day. They had multiple dedications, and borglum was big on celebration. That is how he knew he would get everyones attention. That is how more funding would come in. He was constantly approaching congress, approaching the president to get more money. Always trying to get more money. There were times his workers werent getting paid. Borglum was putting his personal money into it. He was making a personal trip to washington dc in march 1941 to ask for money. He stops in chicago on the way and dies as a result of that operation. His son takes over the work. Lincoln started here when he was 12 years old, so he was brought up in this. He knew all the different jobs lasting, drilling, pointing. Taking over the sculpture must have been both sad and wonderful. And lincoln declared that sculpture was completed october 31, 1941. People ask all the time about adding someone up on the sculpture. Many president s have been mentioned, many other people have been mentioned it wont happen. The sculpture is complete. Borglums studio, his son lincoln puts away models. Theodore roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were the last of the faces. Borglums tools are laid away, tools of an unfinished masterpiece. Though unfinished, Mount Rushmore stands as an internal shrine of democracy for the four great americans who helped carve this injury nation. Enduring nation. Our visit to rapid city, south dakota continues as we take you into the black hills to learn about the lakota warrior, crazy horse. Hills, i black believe, at one time or another, there is a piece of the rest of the world here somewhere. It is kind of a mysterious place. There is a lot of energy here. This place was built safe, mystical, worthwhile and important. [applause] this ride is one many of our guests can take to the bottom of the mountain. The crazy Horse Mountain memorial carving was started in the late 1940s. Today, the work is carried on by his daughters. The land was owned by the foundation. We have been able to get it in little pieces at a time and purchase it or it purchase it. 1948 was the first blast on the mountain. Werend mother or here here. Those people described what crazy horse looked like. He based it off of the description of those five survivors. We are in the middle of the black hills. All of the black hills are lakotared sacred to the people. This is where they came to pray. This is personal and. Personal land. Private things happen here. Ina 1939got letter inviting him to start the carving, he went to the pine ridge reservation. He realized he did not know much about the native culture. He was very inquisitive and look at things differently, more deeply than most people do. He thought, these are such poor conditions. These people should be honored. Decided todede he take the job of carving the mountain. Dad did not want to do it near Mount Rushmore. He had worked with Gutzon Borglum on Mount Rushmore in 1939. When artists get together, it doesnt always work out. Dad also won first prize in the new york worlds fair. Henry got all those things together and wrote to dad. That is how it started. He was inviting dad to the black hills so that the white man would know the red man has heroes also. Crazy horse was brought among them. Born around the fastmoving water. He was away from this man cant. Main camp. As his they brought the baby out. The father refused the baby. [speaking foreign language] thank you very much for my son. You very much. Crazy horse was a very mysterious individual. He kept to himself a lot. He put the people before himself. He cared more about his surroundings and the group he was to take care of more than his own comfort. Take us to today. What is going on today when you came to work . What will you be working on . I live here, so im always at work. As far as the mountain is concerned, right now we are drilling some holes at angles on forearm of crazy horse in order to thread our wire for our wire saw, so we can continue to make those angled cuts down crazy horses arm. We are also using a saw on his finger, where the knuckle area is. In the next seven to 12 years, we will have his hand carved. It will be done to the right down to the right shoulder. Some of the native americans i spoke with dust one of the one of the issues they have is it is taking the native geology of the land and changing it from something that was not there before. What are your thoughts on that . Creation created human beings to do things. Da wantedd to carve the mountain in montana, not in the black hills. It was the indian people who said you have to carve it in the black hills. He was invited by the native American People to carve in the black hills. But what is important is you are telling a story about a race of people. We are telling the history of the native American People. We are telling the future of the native American People. We have lots of artists and performers that come here and share their lives with our guests, our visitors. If you have knowledge, you have everything you need. Stood for the people. He walked all of creation. He looked out for the little children, the women folks. They were always first with crazy horse. He looked out for the whole people. Course,st challenge, of it is not the money. The biggest challenge is understanding the mountain and knowing where the seam lines are and making sure we keep that faith. The other challenge is to get people to understand it is something ongoing and growing all the time. We have people that disagree with this mountain carving. It is america, so you can disagree. We try to explain what else is here, like the university, like the museum. Then they become a little enlightened and it is not the desecration of a mountain, like some people will tell us. The museums and universities make the most difference to the native americans. This land that we stand on doesnt belong to any man. It belongs to the creator. We are still here. We can come together. We can build bridges, no matter what color. Love one another. That way our future generations on mother earth will have something positive to look forward to in their life. Our visit to rapid city continues as we explore the discovery of gold in the black hills, and the impact it had on control of these sacred native american lands. The black hills of south dakota, a very sacred area as a whole. I believeblack hills, at one time or another, there is a piece of the rest of the world here somewhere. We are in the epicenter of sometimes testy relations between native and nonnative inhabitants. Stretching about 110 miles long and 70 miles wide, the black hills of south dakota rise up from the plains to the west of rapid city. To native americans and many nonnatives as well, a center of culture since at least the 19 century. Coming up, a look at the history of the black hills. Thinking where rapid city is at, we are positioned at the gateway to the black hills. It is kind of how we always built ourselves, even back to the earliest founders. It is called the black hills just because of the rich greenness from the pine trees and elevations that surround that. While the black hills are very important to the native American Community members, they are referred to as the heart. The black hills itself is just a sacred area because it is the supplier for food and shelter and everything that the people know was provided by the creator. Im donovan. Name translates to High Backbone. My tribal affiliation is through the Cheyenne River reservation, 100 miles east of where i stand right now, at the a very spiritual place where not only lakota, but people of Many AmericanIndian Tribes and nationalities visit. People come here and well ave a and will give tobacco offering and prayers. They will leave those with tobacco and cloth for a loved one or someone they are praying for. Prayersshows all of the that are left here, and are well received. Of 1800, time period 1870s, is a time when lakota, cheyenne dominated this whole area. When looking at the custer expedition, the big take away is that is a game changer. Walking you up to the custer gameition that was a changer in terms of what happened in these spaces. Taking you back a few years to the fort laramie treaty signed in 1968, all of what we know as western south dakota today was fortini treatied land our native American Community members. Expeditione custer cuts through the black hills seeking a path for immigrants to the montana area. In their way through the black hills, the discovery gold. What is going on in the United States is we have come out of the civil war. There are significant unemployment issues. 20 type unemployment numbers. That information of a gold find in the black hills gave people the energy to say, i dont care if it is legal or not if i head to the black hills, im not making it in this city with my family, so i am willing to take to takek to find gold care of my family. That led to the gold rush in the black hills. It is the turning point in the event. Gom there, then the spaces through a bunch of different treaties, land allotment acts, things of that nature. Gold not beenthat discovered, it might be a different story. Butis only conjecture, that is what happened. Right now we are at a campsite of lakota. Ironically, where the remnants of custers seventh cavalry ended up. This was their patrol area. Years d up in later 1876 was little bighorn. By 1890 was the wounded knee massacre. Job, a patrol area to clear down there, which probably was 140 miles from wounded knee. The black hills have always been a big issue. The u. S. Court of claims was formed in the 1940s to take claims to lands. That is when the lakota filed for loss of the black hills. There is a whole history of that caseh an unsettled that continues to this day. The tribes did not accept money. They wanted land. All that continues to this day. We continue our look at rapid city with a visit to your butte bear butte, a place considered sacred by many native americans in the region. Im donovan. My lakota name translates to High Backbone from the hump, the crazy horse families. Reservation is about 100 miles east of where i stand right now, at the sacred bear butte, a very spiritual place where not only lakota, but people of Many AmericanIndian Tribes and nationalities visit. People come here and they will give tobacco offering and prayers. They will leave those, often maybeobacco and cloth for a loved one or some of the are praying it. It shows all of the prayers that areleft here, and that well received in this very area. I have given some lakota names to some people here. Some of these places when i look over, i can almost imagine us having our little ceremony and get together. A great occasion, somebody getting a name that they are proud to carry with them. And it almost develops a connection with them, and they start coming here more often. Then that place is special to them. You are connected with the universe. You are connected with the four directions and the creator. Coming up, our look at rapid city continues as we hear about the first manned flight into the earths stratosphere. Captains5, two army standoff from the south dakota plains. We are lucky in rapid city. We have a history that goes beyond the culture of the area. Within the Learning Center, we are talking about the stratosphere flight. Theending man up above stratosphere. Essentially, rapid city area is the home of the first spaceflight. What the National Geographic and u. S. Army air corps did was decided to Work Together to make this happen. They wanted to find a natural shape to rest the balloon and gondola in. They were looking for a full area to spread out the balloon, but also the natural bowl shape protects the gondola the first 1000 feet. They scoured all of north america. They had a couple different decisions they could have made