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As you are driving along I-395, you see the mountain in the distance.
When Crazy Horse was asked, "Where are your lands now?", Crazy Horse replied,
"My lands are where my dead lie buried."
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He is pointing to his land.
From inside the Visitor Center is this view of what the mountain will eventually look like.
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This picture, in the studio, shows how the completed project will look.
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Korczak Ziolkowski - the sculptor who envisioned the design and began the work. He was invited by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear to do the carving. He arrived in the Black Hills on May 3, 1947 to accept the Indian's invitation. He started work on the mountain in 1949. He was almost 40 years old and had only $174 left to his name. Over the decades, he battled financial hardships, racial prejudice, injuries and advancing age. He believed in the free enterprise system, he felt Crazy Horse should be non-profit, educational, and cultural; a humanitarian project built by the interested public, and not the tax payer.
Some of the master sculptor's other pieces on display.
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This mahogany horse was carved in nine days.
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This motorcycle was raffled off to raise money. Crazy Horse monument is NOT funded by the government - only private donations keep the project going.
The motorcycle was taken to the top of the mountain for this photograph.
On August 10th, a couple of weeks ago, the winner was announced.
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These beads came from an Italian manufacturer, were transported over the oceans specifically for trading with Indians.
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Some very unique bead work on display.
In the artist's studio, is this Deadwood stagecoach.
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Every night at 9 pm, the park puts on a Laser Show lasting about twenty minutes, rain or shine. We almost didn't go because of all the thunder and lightening that night. But we only had this one chance, and luckily it didn't rain - we enjoyed the show. Came down in buckets five minutes later though, as we were driving back to camp.
Images were displayed on the side of the mountain. We were over a half a mile, maybe a mile away from the mountain. The images were huge. When you consider Mt. Rushmore would be able to fit inside Crazy Horse's head, this will give you some scale as to how large the images were.
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1 comment:
Too cool. Have you read much about Custer? I read "Son of the Morning Star" not too long ago. Really interesting read with a lot of actual verbiage from Custer and others of the day. Amazing how sadistic all parties became over time but it really does make you see both sides of the fence.
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