Crazy Horse Memorial

A view from the visitors center with a scale model of the sculpture - the artist's vision


Little ol' me up on the arm

While in South Dakota for 9 days, I was lucky enough to hit the Crazy Horse Memorial twice, and luckily they had two blastings during those two days. The first trip with the ISWNE group took us right up to the top of Crazy Horse's arm, next to the 90' tall face. It was spectacular. The group of weekly newspaper editors were treated to being up in the 263 foot-long arm, which normally cost $125 per person to do.


Up the granite nose of the 90-foot tall face


After spending some time on the arm, we were taken back to the gift shop, restaurant, artist's studio, etc. Where you can see what sculptor Korczak's vison was of Thunder Mountain. Crazy Horse's story is an amazing one, one of the few war chiefs of the time that never lost to the cavalry in battle. He was one of the chiefs that took part in the Battle of Little Bighorn, where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry were killed. Crazy Horse finally submitted to coming into a reservation, because his people were dying of hunger. Sadly he was stabbed through the back by a cavalry bayonet while being taken to be questioned, after the army told Crazy Horse if he came in nothing would happen to him or his people.

After seeing Mount Rushmore opened in 1941, Chief Standing Bear requested that Korczak come to the Paha Sapa, the Sacred Black Hills to carve a mountain for the North American Indian. "To show the white man that the red man have heroes too."

It's an amazing story, and getting to meet Ruth, the 81 year old wife of the sculptor, who had passed away in 1982, was fantastic. The family still continues to work on the mountain and are building the largest sculpture in the world, all without a dollar from the state or federal governments.
The blasting is really cool, here are the pictures below of some of the blastings...


Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!