South Dakota

South Dakota book cover — south dakota The Mount Rushmore State BY JOHN HAMILTON Abdo Daughters An imprint of Abdo Publishing abdopublishing com

South Dakota — page 1 — (cid:3)(cid:43)(cid:3)(cid:43)(cid:3)(cid:43)(cid:3)SOUTH DAKOTA (cid:43)(cid:3)(cid:43)(cid:3)(cid:43) THE MOUNT RUSHMORE STATE What makes South Dakota unique There are treeless wide-open spaces with rolling prairies fertile farmland and sprawling cattle ranches There are forested mountains with rocky spires that reach toward the blue Western sky There are small farm towns large Indian reservations and bustling cities There are lakes and mighty rivers along with the bone-dry Badlands with their steep ravines and rainbow-colored cliffs Gold mines Old West shoot-outs a palace made of corn herds of bison zoos dinosaurs rodeos the list goes on and on Most notable of all is Mount Rushmore National Memorial a must-see sculpture carved into the side of a Black Hills mountain More than 3 million people come each year to gaze up at the 60-foot 18-m high granite faces of Presidents George Washington Thomas Jefferson Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln That is why South Dakota is nicknamed The Mount Rushmore State A hiker looks across Badlands National Park Paths wind through the rugged fossil-ﬁlled rock formations 4 SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota — page 2 — Mount Rushmore National Monument was created by sculptor Gutzon Borglum About 90 percent of the carving was done using dynamite Jackhammers and hand chisels were used for the ﬁne details More than 400 carvers many suspended by ropes worked for 14 years until the monument was completed on October 31 1941

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