KEYSTONE, S.D.—When Paul Rains and his family were still a 20-minute drive away from Mount Rushmore, the sight of the famous monument gripped him.
“We were seeing the statues way off in the distance, and it was just magnificent,” he told The Epoch Times on July 2. “It’s just such an iconic figure of American freedom … it just represents so much about this country and what we love.”
Rains traveled with his wife and their five children from their home near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They were among a steady stream of visitors to Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 2—just before President Donald Trump’s July 3 speech at the site, followed by the nation’s 250th birthday celebration on July 4 in Washington. …