Perched behind the famous Mount Rushmore is a secret cavern that was just recently brought to light… Now, many people are questioning if the government was being truthful with their statement.
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore is one of America’s most famous and iconic monuments. It features the 60-foot faces of Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. Now, it’s famous for another reason, too…
South Dakota
Based in South Dakota, the monument has had a huge part in the tourist culture. Not only does it bring the accomplishments of these presidents to light for anyone visiting, but it also fuels South Dakota’s community through tourism. Many believe that the location of Mount Rushmore is more calculated than it seems…
Secret Base Theories
Since it’s been open to the public, many people believe that there is a secret government base of sorts underneath the monument. South Dakota would have been the perfect scape goat as an unlikely place to plot.
The Original Plan
The original designer of Mount Rushmore wanted to sculpt a famous scene from American History into the mountainside, but eventually, everyone decided that these presidents’ faces would be best.
Doane Robinson
It was up to Doane Robinson to bring this vision to fruition. Robinson sought out Gutzon Borglum to help make this real.
Getting Approval
They had to go to Congress with this massive idea… The two men weren’t sure how members of Congress would receive the idea and knew that they would have to make some sacrifices…
Approved!
After secret deliberations that have remained unknown to this day, Robinson and Borglum got their approval from Congress to begin construction. In 1927, they were ready to get going.
Bigger and Better
Borglum was not one to keep things simple. When he pitched the idea of Mount Rushmore, he also pitched the idea of a chamber behind one of the faces. Congress was very interested in that…
Things Got Tricky
Congress approved the secret chamber behind Abraham Lincoln’s face. Things got tricky when Congress began to cut the monuments budget, which meant that they had to change the design. Then, Congress decided that the workers would finish the heads before they got paid…
Stick to the Plan
Congress wanted a Hall of Records in order to preserve America’s history in a safe place. They wanted to keep hold artifacts and ancient documents. That was the original purpose of the secret chamber…
Running Into Issues
This was definitely a huge task and it wasn’t pulled off seamlessly. The team found out that the granite they were working on was much more fragile than they first thought. They had to move Thomas Jefferson’s head to the left of George Washington, which made constructing the chamber even harder…
No Deaths
As they were nearing completion, everyone was happy to report that there were no deaths on this project. They weren’t being rushed, but Borglum was getting anxious about getting the secret chamber finished…
Borglum Passes Away
Tragically, Borglum passed away before he could see the project come to fruition in March of 1941. Borglum’s son was 21 when they started the project in 1927, and he decided to finish his fathers work. He was also one of the few who knew about the secret chamber, thankfully…
Seven Months Later
Seven months after Borglum passed away, the project was completed. The 14 years of hard work was evident, and everyone was impressed with how realistic it came out.
Carving the Expressions
Robinson and Borglum brought on Italian artist Luigi del Bianco. He offered his artistic hand to curate the presidents’ expressions and to make them more realistic. It was in exquisite detail and everyone was impressed… Definitely a good distraction…
An Empty
Unfortunately, Lincoln Borglum did not have it in him to finish his fathers desired secret chamber. After the monument itself was finished, they just left the chamber empty…
The Price
They had over 400 workers on their payroll while they had even more tools to work on it. It cost the group almost $1 million to build. In today’s money, it would have been about $18.5 million.
The Chamber…
Even though the Hall of Records wasn’t complete, the chamber still remains. The chamber itself is long, narrow, and dark…
What He Wanted
Borglum wanted to create a grand staircase that wound its way into the mountain even further. At the end of the grand staircase would be the gilded Hall of Fame. He even wanted to adorn the archway with a bronze eagle. How did the secret get out?
An Official Statement
Congress was upset to learn that their Hall of Fame was not completed, but also for Borglum’s passing. Fifty years later, they finally decided to place a plaque on the monument to honor him. Obviously, this brought the light to the secret chamber…
No Public Entry
This chamber is not open for the public. Only high-ranked government officials have access to it… They even covered the entrance with a 1.2k pound slab of granite. It’s also constantly monitored so no intruders could get inside…
Conspiracy
Why seal off the chamber? Well, to hide something inside of it, of course! Many people are suspicious of what they could be hiding in there…
Government Secrets
Of course, one of the most popular conspiracies is that there are secret government documents sealed away in the chamber. Only the highest government official knows how to get in and access those documents… Allegedly. Now, onto the more… Bizarre conspiracy.
Hidden Treasure
Naturally, others think there’s some sort of secret treasure hidden in the chamber. No one can really say what it is, but it’s absolutely something that the American citizens are being purposefully kept in the dark… Maybe Blackbeard’s Treasure?
Alien Life?
Of course, the answer is always aliens. Some believe in the possibility of the chamber having proof of alien life inside. Whether it’s DNA or the actual alien body, some Americans seem to think that the government is hiding something alien in there… Then, Americans got an answer.
Making a Statement
Even though this chamber was supposed to be kept secret, Americans ended up finding out about it. In fact, some people caused such an uproar that the government decided to speak out on what’s there…
Is It True?
The government wanted to shut down any more rumors that would surface. They ended up releasing a statement telling everyone what was inside… Shockingly, it wasn’t aliens!
Fireworks?
Turns out, they actually just hold fireworks inside of the chamber. Every year, they set off fireworks at Mount Rushmore in celebration for Independence Day.
Tons and Tons of Boxes
The reason they keep it so secret is because the fireworks could be deadly and they don’t want them getting into the wrong hands. If someone went to go in there and then light all of the fireworks off, it would be bad news. Problem solved? Who knows…