The creation of Mount Rushmore is a story of struggle — and to some, desecration. The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota Sioux, the original occupants of the area when white settlers arrived.

Today the first question out of many visitors’ mouths is not why, or even how, Mount Rushmore was ... to understand the Black Hills before the arrival of the white men. We need to talk about ...

In 1927, when President Coolidge announced that he wanted a summer away from bugs, crowds, a scheduled White House renovation ... president to dedicate the Mount Rushmore site.