Empire: World History

Podbit · Empire: World History

373. The Dark Truth About Mount Rushmore

Explore episode Jul 1, 2026
History
Doane Robinson's Tourist Trap: How Mount Rushmore Was Conceived

373. The Dark Truth About Mount Rushmore · Jul 1, 2026 History

South Dakota's first state historian, Doane Robinson, conceived of Mount Rushmore in 1923 not as a monument to democracy but as a tourist attraction to rescue his state's tanking economy. South Dakota was experiencing its own Great Depression a decade before the rest of America. Robinson initially wanted to carve Red Cloud — the Lakota chief who had actually defeated the US in war — into nearby granite spires called the Needles.

3m 7s

Where this was said

The Wounded Knee Massacre: The End of the Indian Wars

At 19:53 · chapter starts 17:30

Fifteen years after Little Bighorn, the US military was jumpy about the Ghost Dance — a spiritual movement spreading across the Great Plains that the American military feared was galvanising the Lakota. The 7th Cavalry, Custer's own regiment, was posted around Pine Ridge Reservation. In brutal December cold, a group of Lakota led by Spotted Elk were trying to reach the safety of Pine Ridge under Red Cloud's protection. They were mostly women, children, and unarmed men. Surrounded by the cavalry, as soldiers attempted to disarm the few who had weapons, a gun accidentally discharged and the massacre began. As many as 350 Lakota were killed. In the aftermath, the US Army awarded 20 soldiers Medals of Honor for their actions — awards that stood until the Biden administration revoked them, only for the Trump administration to re-award them. Davis characterises Wounded Knee as the transition from military conflict to cultural and historical conflict, marking the beginning of forced assimilation.

History
The Wounded Knee Massacre: End of the Indian Wars

373. The Dark Truth About Mount Rushmore · Jul 1, 2026 History

On December 29, 1890, the 7th Cavalry — Custer's old regiment — surrounded a group of Lakota mostly composed of women, children, and unarmed men. When a gun accidentally discharged, the massacre began: as many as 350 Lakota were killed. The US Army awarded 20 soldiers Medals of Honor for the slaughter — medals revoked under Biden and then re-awarded under Trump.

2m 3s

Similar podbits

History
The Electricity Parallel: 6% vs 3x

The Self-Improving Company | Kavak's AI Playbook · Aug 10, 2026 History

Factories that replaced coal engines with electric ones in the early 1900s got only 6% efficiency gains. Those that redesigned their entire factory around electricity got a 3x productivity improvement. Swapping AI tools into your existing structure will give you 6%. Rebuilding around AI will give you 10x.

2m 10s
History
The Missile Markup: How Iran Money Funded the Contras

Selects: Iran-Contra Affair: Shady in the 80s, Part 2 · Aug 8, 2026 History

The Pentagon sold missiles to the CIA for $3,700 each. The CIA sold them to Richard Secord at cost. Secord sold them to Iranian middleman Ghorbanifar for $10,000 each. Ghorbanifar charged Iran even more. The profit — including $3 million in interest in one Swiss account — was diverted directly to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.

2m 42s
History
The Plane That Blew It All Open

Selects: Iran-Contra Affair: Shady in the 80s, Part 2 · Aug 8, 2026 History

On October 5, 1986, a CIA Contra supply plane flew a weapons drop at 2,500 feet in broad daylight. A Sandinista soldier shot it down. The only survivor, Eugene Hasenfuss, had borrowed a parachute from his skydiving brother. He was captured, paraded in front of cameras, and told the Sandinistas everything he knew.

3m 13s