Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse SD

Friday, August 6, 2010

Yesterday was spent doing touristy things. First we headed out to Crazy Horse. It is amazing!!! The entire park is a not-for-profit organization. It all started in 1947 when the sculptor, Korszak Ziolkowski received a letter from Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear. He explained that his fellow chiefs saw a first prize sculpture in the World's Fair that he created, and they wanted 'the white man to know the red man has great heroes also'. hey wanted him to build a monument to their biggest hero, Crazy Horse.

Korszak accepted their offer. He was offered financial help from the US Government twice and twice turned it down in fear that the monument would never come to fruition. It was completely built on his own financial means, admissions to the park,  and donations from the public.

As of yesterday, the face is complete, except for the 44 foot feather to be placed on his head and his long locks of hair that will flow in the wind. The face alone is 528 high and is truly amazing. 

We were lucky enough to be there on a day that they were blasting. They only blast once a week and the timing was perfect. They blew off 790 tons of rock right in front of us. Just under the hole where Crazy Horse's arm will be pointing to 'his lands'.

We took a bus tour up and around the entire monument and were filled in on all the idiosyncrasies of the the family, who, still, to this day, work on it and only move forward on donations. Korczak died in  1982 but his wife, Ruth, still lives on the grounds where the visiting center is, and several of the 10 children that they had still live on the mountain where their dad's dream is coming to life. They all play a hand in the sculpture. The projected date to be complete isn't until another 40 yrs. They say it is somewhere around $5 million a year to continue blasting to completion. Crazyhorsememorial.org is the website if interested in donating. When you are there, you want to write a check, so you can see it complete in your lifetime. It is that impressive. But when you're married to Tommy, you don't! LOL

From there, we drove over to Mt. Rushmore.When we first arrived  there I was not dazzled. I know that sounds terrible. But we were told that all four presidents heads could fit in Crazy Horse's face. So that gives you some kind of perspective.

After touring the grounds and watching several movies, and walking through the museum, my view became more appreciative. It really is an outstanding monument. The longer you look at it, the more you appreciate it.

It is very hard for me to comprehend how they can blast away stone, and poof its an eyeball, etc.. When I think of a sculpture, I picture clay being molded and scraped into shape. This was a mountain! And there was no molding or adding onto.

We took a guided tour with a ranger that explained why Teddy Roosevelt's face is set back so far. It turns out that they blasted one too many times when it came to him and the mountain fell off. As we walked, she explained why each president was chosen for that monument, and what they had contributed to this country. It was very interesting.

The ironic thing was the sculpture of Mt. Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum, hired Korczak Ziolkowski (Crazy Horse's sculptor) to be an assistant on Mt. Rushmore. That was where he got most of his experience in blasting.

Both mountains are incredibly impressive and if you ever get a chance to come visit, you will agree.

Kyle is here with us, and eating us out of our temporary housing unit, but we love it. And Sire is going nuts!

Thanks for reading and have a good weekend