Posted on 05/29/2005 9:55:58 AM PDT by SmithL
CUSTER, S.D. - Nearly six decades have passed since work began on the Crazy Horse Memorial, a granite mountain being carved into a colossal sculpture of the Sioux warrior, arm outstretched toward his ancestral homeland, astride a stallion more than two football fields long.
When it's finished - and no one is predicting when that will be - the sculpture will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long. It will be taller than the Washington Monument, and so large that the four presidential heads on Mount Rushmore, 17 miles away, would fit inside the nine-story-high warrior's head.
But with $17 million spent so far, raised largely from visitors and others familiar with the project, only a portion of the monument is finished. Now, for the first time, a national fundraising drive is being quietly started in hopes of accelerating the pace.
The monument was suggested in 1939 by Sioux Chief Henry Standing Bear, who asked Boston-born sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to do the work. Ziolkowski, an acclaimed sculptor from Boston, had worked briefly at Mount Rushmore but didn't get along with chief sculptor Gutzon Borglum.
After considering the project for years, Ziolkowski began sculpting the mountain on June 3, 1948. He doggedly pursued it for the rest of his life, rejecting federal money and other government help.
"Korczak always believed that if it were done by government, it would never be finished the way it should be," explained development director Fred Tully.
Ziolkowski died in 1982, but his widow, Ruth, and seven of their 10 children have continued the labor of love.
So far, the family has dynamited, chiseled and scraped more than 8 million tons of rock from the mountain.
Crazy Horse's face was finished in time for the 50th anniversary of the project in 1998, shifting the focus to the 22-story-tall horse's head. An additional 4 million tons of granite must be removed to complete the project.
Ruth Ziolkowski, 78, still is actively involved and has no intention of retiring.
Visitors frequently ask when the sculpture will be done. Her stock answer: "We don't honestly know."
Some view the sculpture with facetious humor: "Be back in 100 years to see it completed," a Canadian tourist wrote in the Crazy Horse guest book recently.
Others are more optimistic. "Big change since our 1974 visit. Keep it up," wrote a couple from Dover, Del.
Ironically, the memorial is just a few miles from the city of Custer, named for Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. Crazy Horse and his Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors defeated Custer and his 7th Cavalry in the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn.
The $26.5 million fundraising campaign, aimed at foundations, corporations and individuals, will not be formally announced until next year, Tully said. He hopes to raise a large part of the money before then.
"If we start at zero before the official announcement, people will hold back and won't give because they're not sure if we're going to make it," he says. "If we can start with half or more than half of the money, people will want to get in on it."
While the sculpture is the focal point, educating visitors about American Indians and their culture is the memorial's true mission, Ruth Ziolkowski says.
The 1,000-acre complex includes an American Indian museum and cultural center, and Korczak Ziolkowski also envisioned a university and medical training center at the site. Those projects are still planned.
One new feature this year: a laser light show cataloguing American Indian contributions to society. The evening show turns the flank of the mountain into a 500-foot screen of colorful animations and still images.
ON THE NET
Memorial: http://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/
So far, the family has dynamited, chiseled and scraped more than 8 million tons of rock from the mountain.
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WOW! That is a lot of rock!
Was an environmental impact statement required?
So far, the family has dynamited, chiseled and scraped more than 8 million tons of rock from the mountain.
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WOW! That is a lot of rock! Nice to see that they do not want federal money (ie taxpayers money). If only other people in the US (and in the UK) would do things for themselves rather than expect or make the Government do it for them.
I thought Crazy Horse was a "Gentlemen's Club"?
You're thinking of "The Pink Pony".
IMHO, the privately funded Indian complex is far more interesting than the government funded facilities supporting the close by Mount Rushmore, where Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and T. Roosevelt stare out over the land. Both sites are beautiful, but the government sponsored shops and displays are rather bland by comparison.
I agree. Even in it's partially completed state, I found it truly impressive. It is a fascinating project, that a number of people have dedicated their lives to. It's well worth visiting.
I wish there was a graphic of the finsished outline superimposed over the existing rock. Anyonre ever see one?
Forget that!
Put Reagan on Rushmore!
.........Forget that!
Put Reagan on Rushmore!..........
Yes! (and then add Rush Limbaugh)
Thanks for posting that! I saw it last in 1980. All you could see was the "hole" and where his nose was going to be.
Crazy Horse, Paris, France. Forget the names, remember romance.
"Hope this works for you."
Thanks. I saw a similar picture over on the crazyhorse website. The reason I was wondering about all of this, is because it appears there isn't enough granite in certain places to carve it exaxtly like the model.
Thanks. It doesn't look like there is enough rock behind the figure's head for all of the flowing hair to be carved. I don't know. Maybe.
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