Crazy Horse

The next stop for Lee and I after the 1880 town was the south Black Hills, South Dakota.  Mount Rushmore is nearby, but we didn't go there this year since we saw it last year.  Instead we visited the monument (uncompleted) to Crazy Horse.  The first time I saw it was 30 years ago, and not much had been completed.  There was a small parking lot, not much more.  Now there is a large museum about the history of the monument, and about the Native Americans who commissioned it and their tribes.  There is also an educational facility for Native Americans, and the goal is to grow the facilities and to complete the monument.

The original sculptor has since died, but his wife and children continue.  His wife is proving to be a good business person.  She said the face of Crazy Horse must be finished, and then the flow of dollars would come in.  She was right.  The money has been pouring in, and more has been in accomplished in the last 10 years than in the previous 50 years.  I was impressed with all that I saw, even though I had expected to be disappointed.

The photo below shows the small scale model of what the final should look like:

It is said that the the 4 heads on Mount Rushmore would all fit in the head of Crazy Horse, it is that large.

More on the Black Hills to come!