Today's next stop was Crazy Horse Mountain, just 17 miles from Mount Rushmore.
Locals refer to it as the "fifth face". It is a gigantic work-in-progress sculpture of a famous Lakota chief named Crazy Horse. To date, only the face is finished.
The carving began in 1948 by a man named Korczak Ziolkowski (pronounced CORE-shack jewel-CUFF-ski). He was a penniless, self-taught sculptor from Boston. Lakota Chief Standing Bear, after seeing the success of Mount Rushmore, invited Korczak to the Black Hills to undertake an enormous carving project. Standing Bear told him, "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, also." Korczak knew that the monument would never be finished during his lifetime. And he knew money would be a constant challenge. He began it anyway. His widow and seven of their ten children continue to work in his footsteps.
The project is currently managed by a private memorial foundation. I emphasize "private". Every dollar of the cost is paid for with private donations and admission fees. The directors are absolutely adamant about that. They have twice turned down federal funding. It's not clear why. Perhaps it is to ensure absolute freedom to do as they please. Or maybe they oppose making taxpayers shoulder any of the financial burden. Or maybe they just want to thumb their noses at the white man's government. Possibly all three.
The welcome center houses a lot of Indian art, some for sale and some for posterity. As you might expect for a tourist trap, it varies greatly in both quality and price.
But the real attraction is the sculpture itself.
The carving depicts Crazy Horse pointing to his ancestral land.
A white man asked Crazy Horse, "Where are your lands now?"
Crazy Horse replied, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."
His face is fairly obvious. And the horse has been sketched on the stone. But can you see his finger above the horse's neck?
The entire statue is being carved in the round, 563 feet high and 641 feet long.
Do you see the dot that represents the horse's eye? That's sixteen feet across.
The head is 87.5 feet high. His arm is nearly as long as a football field.
When it is completed, it will be the largest sculpture in the world.
Locals refer to it as the "fifth face". It is a gigantic work-in-progress sculpture of a famous Lakota chief named Crazy Horse. To date, only the face is finished.
The carving began in 1948 by a man named Korczak Ziolkowski (pronounced CORE-shack jewel-CUFF-ski). He was a penniless, self-taught sculptor from Boston. Lakota Chief Standing Bear, after seeing the success of Mount Rushmore, invited Korczak to the Black Hills to undertake an enormous carving project. Standing Bear told him, "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, also." Korczak knew that the monument would never be finished during his lifetime. And he knew money would be a constant challenge. He began it anyway. His widow and seven of their ten children continue to work in his footsteps.
The project is currently managed by a private memorial foundation. I emphasize "private". Every dollar of the cost is paid for with private donations and admission fees. The directors are absolutely adamant about that. They have twice turned down federal funding. It's not clear why. Perhaps it is to ensure absolute freedom to do as they please. Or maybe they oppose making taxpayers shoulder any of the financial burden. Or maybe they just want to thumb their noses at the white man's government. Possibly all three.
The welcome center houses a lot of Indian art, some for sale and some for posterity. As you might expect for a tourist trap, it varies greatly in both quality and price.
But the real attraction is the sculpture itself.
The carving depicts Crazy Horse pointing to his ancestral land.
A white man asked Crazy Horse, "Where are your lands now?"
Crazy Horse replied, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."
His face is fairly obvious. And the horse has been sketched on the stone. But can you see his finger above the horse's neck?
The entire statue is being carved in the round, 563 feet high and 641 feet long.
Do you see the dot that represents the horse's eye? That's sixteen feet across.
The head is 87.5 feet high. His arm is nearly as long as a football field.
When it is completed, it will be the largest sculpture in the world.
Here's a representation of what Crazy Horse will look like once he's finished.
