Crazy Horse Memorial
Almost 70 years ago Lakota (Sioux) Chief Henry Standing Bear asked Korczak Ziolkowski to create a monument of Crazy Horse in the sacred Black Hills. Today, you can see Standing Bear’s dream has grown into enormous reality.
Crazy Horse Memorial, mankind’s largest art project in progress (641 feet long and 563 feet high, carved in the round, with 219-foot high horse’s head) is on U.S. Highway 16/385 between Hill City and Custer. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is just 17 miles from Crazy Horse.
Korczak, a noted New England sculptor, first came to the Black Hills in 1939 to help Gutzon Borglum on Mount Rushmore. Standing Bear read news reports of Korczak’s artistic achievements and invited him to create a mountainous tribute to the North American Indians.
After serving in the European theater during World War II, Korczak returned to the Black Hills to tackle Standing Bear’s challenge. He started with chisels and hammers, doing back breaking work by hand. The first blast on the mountain was on June 3, 1948, dedicating a Memorial that South Dakota Gov. George T. Mickelson said “will serve to remind us of the debt we owe to these first Americans.”
Korczak’s wife, Ruth, from Connecticut, was by Korczak’s side every step of the way. She was 18 years younger than Korczak, but embraced his dream. She took care of 10 children, five girls and five boys, the visitors, a dairy, a sawmill and Korczak.
Following his death at age 74 in 1982, Ruth took on Korczak’s monumental task of making the dream come true. She is supported by an enthusiastic staff, business-savvy board of directors of the nonprofit foundation, and a growing international group of members of the Grass Roots Club.
Seven of their children are helping continue and expand on Korczak’s work. The other three children live within five miles of the Memorial. All 10 of the children grew up working on the mountain and helping with the visitor complex. Ruth still lives in the home Korczak built in 1947-48 and works 7 days a week keeping all aspects of the Memorial going. At age 82 she says, “If you love your job, it doesn’t seem like work, you are happy and grateful to begin each new day.”
Workers finished Crazy Horse’s face in 1998, giving lasting human form in granite to a once-lofty wish. He looks out across his hand pointing to the sacred Black Hills saying, “My lands are where my dead lie buried.”
In 2009 the crew is focusing on blocking out the 219-foot high horse’s head and has increased the removal of rock with larger blasts than ever before. As the mountain evolves, so does the complex that hosts more than a million visitors a year. Our guests see not only the awe-inspiring mountain, but much more. Korczak’s vision extended beyond the mountain carving, he planned a university and a medical training center.
The Indian Museum of North America is one of the finest Indian Museums in the mid-west, and is still growing. In 1978, Korczak began a scholarship program with just $250 to start the educational portion of the dream. In 30 years the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation scholarship fund has grown tremendously and in 2008 awarded the $1 millionth dollar in scholarships to Native American students.
When visiting Crazy Horse Memorial you will have the opportunity to see:
For more information on Crazy Horse Memorial, see: www.crazyhorsememorial.org.