The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota Sioux people, and the U.S. government seized the land in violation of treaties.

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.

Ziolkowski will go on to carve a monument to Crazy Horse on another mountain in the Black Hills. Mount Rushmore is the site of a climactic chase in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, North by Northwest.