The monument on Mount Rushmore stands as a record of the first 150 years of U.S. history. The faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln remind visitors that these presidents each had a role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory. Mount Rushmore traces the importance of the site throughout American history, beginning with its place as a sacred site for the Lakota Sioux to its current role as the major tourist attraction of South Dakota.