Time for a little patriotism, kids... Today the beans climb 5700 feet up into the Black Hills of South Dakota to pay tribute to American spirit. Mount Rushmore was actually named in 1885 for New York lawyer Charles E. Rushmore. In 1923 South Dakota historian Doane Robinson suggested carving some giant statues in South Dakota's Black Hills.

President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the memorial in 1927, commencing 14 years of work; only 6 1/2 years were spent on actual carving. The Washington head was formally dedicated in 1930, followed by Jefferson in 1936, Lincoln in 1937 and Roosevelt in 1939. Creation of the Shrine of Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million, though it's now deemed priceless.

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers began drilling into the 5,725-foot mountain in 1927. Borglum envisioned four U.S. presidents beside an inscription of a brief history of the country. In a separate wall behind the carved figures, the Hall of Records would preserve national documents and artifacts. Sadly, Gutzon passed away shortly before the site was completed, and the Hall of Records was never to be. Here, BATW Ambassador Katie and the beans give Gutzon an 21 bean salute.

There has been a lot of controversy in recent years - is there anyone else who deserves to be added to the monument? Reagan? Kennedy? Nixon? Michael Jordan? They may never decide. In the meantime, the beans were kind of hoping that *THEY* could join George, Teddy, Thomas, and Abe up on the granite face, but when we suggested it, the stern scowl from the U.S. Park Ranger told them the answer was no. Phooey.

Just down the road from Mount Rushmore is the still-in-development Crazy Horse monument. Since they wanted $19 bucks to go take a closer look at a half-finished carving, we opted out and instead took this free shot from a distance. The beans had to save their money for Goofy Golf, after all...

The project begun in 1947, when sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski arrived in the Black Hills to accept the invitation of Lakota chiefs to carve Crazy Horse. The nine-story-high face of Crazy Horse was completed June 3, 1998. Work is now underway on the 22-story-high horse's head. At 563 feet high and 641 feet long when complete, the Crazy Horse mountain carving will be the world's largest sculpture, and will be the focal point of an educational and cultural memorial to and for the North American Indian. There is no scheduled completion date for Crazy Horse, but since it was been 54 years in the making so far, I wouldn't worry about booking a reservation for the grand unveiling party anytime in the near future. The beans will be way-past their expiration date by that time.