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Keystone, South Dakota

Some computer stuff they did with the goal of preservation.

Hey, it's tour time. Ranger Gloria is prepping the crowd for an up-and-coming tour of the Presidential Trail. This trail runs along the front of the memorial and is as close as the public can get to it.

Before I start the tour I must pass on an interesting factoid. The final memorial doesn't match Borglum's vision. Borglum envisioned a grander memorial that included the chests of the 4 presidents.

The problem he ran into was the rock at the base of the mountain transitions from Harney Peak Marble (which erodes 1 inch per 10,000 years) to this black rock (whose name I've forgotten, sorry) which is soft and will not hold a shape when carved. In retrospect, I think that was a good thing. I feel the memorial packs more punch with just the heads. The viewer is forced to focus on their faces, and hence their character.

Here's a picture of the mountain before the stone cutters performed their magic. You can almost see the presidents just begging to be exposed out of the rockface.