Simon Jones was visiting Denver, Colorado. On the spur of a moment, he would decide to make a trip to the legendary black hills of South Dakota, a state in the north-west corner of the country. Next morning, after crossing the state line of Colorado and then driving through the entire state of Wyoming, he entered into South Dakota in the early afternoon, heading towards the small town of Hill City. As he traversed the state, first glimpse of the geological formation of the black hills, more like an abstract art of a modernist on a canvas, slowly appeared at distance. Soon the daylight dimmed into dusk, the mountains in the horizon started to become silhouettes of dark waves forming at a distant ocean. Hill City, a picturesque small town, is next to the Custer State Park. Next morning, driving through the park, Simon arrived at Sylvan Lake, a majestic mountain lake that allowed him to appreciate the hidden beauty of his own country. From there, he headed up to the top of the Little Devil’s Tower to enjoy a panoramic view of the surrounding nature’s magnificence.
Then, on the way down, it hit him why he wanted to come to these black hills of South Dakota in the first place. Definitely, it was to pay a visit to a national monument that honors the past four presidents of the country: Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln. An astonishing feat of sculpturing, their busts had been carved out of granite at the top of the black hill of Mount Rushmore by the artist Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln Borglum. Simon arrived at the site and looked up. The collective gazing of all four Presidents would conjure an impression in Simon’s head as if they have still been looking over this country’s ongoing building process, from past to present leading to future. Simon had arrived at Mount Rushmore right after this country’s most divisive presidential election. The process resulted in one of the political leader’s ascendency with his rhetoric against the minorities and the religious beliefs, different than leader’s own, leading up to his Presidency. Subsequently, displaying his power, he issued an executive order of closing of the country’s border to the citizens of a different religious order from a few selected countries. His spokesperson famously fabricated historical fact about Germany’s past Nazi leader Hitler “...he was not using the gas on his own people…” while labeling the Nazi concentration death-camps collectively as “Holocaust Centers”.
Simon looked up a second time to realize that all those great Presidents from the past have been reminding constantly this country’s founding principle from the Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Simon felt assured remembering those historic words, while believing that humanity will survive this dark period.
Then, on the way down, it hit him why he wanted to come to these black hills of South Dakota in the first place. Definitely, it was to pay a visit to a national monument that honors the past four presidents of the country: Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln. An astonishing feat of sculpturing, their busts had been carved out of granite at the top of the black hill of Mount Rushmore by the artist Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln Borglum. Simon arrived at the site and looked up. The collective gazing of all four Presidents would conjure an impression in Simon’s head as if they have still been looking over this country’s ongoing building process, from past to present leading to future. Simon had arrived at Mount Rushmore right after this country’s most divisive presidential election. The process resulted in one of the political leader’s ascendency with his rhetoric against the minorities and the religious beliefs, different than leader’s own, leading up to his Presidency. Subsequently, displaying his power, he issued an executive order of closing of the country’s border to the citizens of a different religious order from a few selected countries. His spokesperson famously fabricated historical fact about Germany’s past Nazi leader Hitler “...he was not using the gas on his own people…” while labeling the Nazi concentration death-camps collectively as “Holocaust Centers”.
Simon looked up a second time to realize that all those great Presidents from the past have been reminding constantly this country’s founding principle from the Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Simon felt assured remembering those historic words, while believing that humanity will survive this dark period.
