Day 8 - Never give up dreaming

Mount Rushmore encountered a lot of resistance, certainly from the Native American side. The Black Hills were assigned to them, but were later taken back and in addition the heads of the presidents were carved into their holy mountains. In 1939, the Lakota chief Henry Big Bear wrote a letter to sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who worked with Gushzon Borglum on Mount Rushmore. He asked him to come to the Black Hills to sculpt a memorial monument of Lakota leader Crazy Horse. The letter began with 'My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes too'. Korczak accepted the invitation. He had a different vision of the image to be seen: not so much a real resemblance to Crazy Horse, but a memorial to Crazy Horse and his people's spirit. Korczak also decided that Crazy Horse would point in the distance with his left hand. This to answer the repeated question that the whites asked Crazy Horse: 'Where are your countries now?' Crazy Horse’s answer to it: 'My lands are where my dead lie burried'.

There is not much known about Crazy Horse himself. He was probably born in the vicinity of the Black Hills around 1840. He was a famous warrior and strategist. He was of vital importance in many known conflicts such as the Battle of Little Big Horn and was killed in early September 1877 at Fort Robinson's prison. Korczak died in 1982 with still a lot of work to be done. He started in 1948. The first years of this epic-size work were done alone by the sculptor with very simple tools. He chopped manually holes in the Thunderhead Mountain in which he shoved dynamite. He had to climb up and down  a wooden ladder with over 700 steps. His generator was on the ground, all the rest of the tools he brought up and down. If his generator went down, he had to go down and up again. I have already mentioned a work of epic proportion and that’s what it is. Once finished, it will be the largest sculpture in the world. The dimensions are mindblowing : the face alone measures 26.67 m. That finally got finished in 1998.  

His wife Ruth, who took over after his death, decided to open the monument to the public. That way an entrance fee could be asked to fund the project further. Money had always been a headache. Korczak started with only 147 USD in his wallet. He refused subsidies and just wanted to make the monument with gifts, sponsorship and private capital. Due to the popularity of the site, money is no longer a problem. The budget seems endless. The only enemy seems to be the time. Due to the magnificence of the monument, it will undoubtedly last another 75 to 100 years before it is finished. One is now working on the arm and index finger, but it is a long-lasting work. You must imagine that the mountain is very high on iron. That means many lightning strikes. Every time there is a risk of danger, work is suspended. The total sculpture will be 171.6 m high and 195 m wide. It will introduce Crazy Horse on a horse. The scale model can be viewed on the site itself. Ruth died in 2014. The children were already involved in the work, each according to his or her own talents. This is a real family project, over generations. They are now completing their father's dream.

Our next stop is  Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, an active palaeontological site. During the Pleistocene, about 26,000 years ago, the environment changed here due to the collapse of a cave. Hot spring water filled the hole which in turn attracted wildlife. Unfortunately, the water was too deep and, among others, mammoths fell into the water and could not get out anymore. Their remains were perfectly preserved due to the presence of clay. In 1974, during  groundwork for a developing project, a mammoth tooth was found first and later a complete skull and tusk. The groundwork was shut down. Paleontologists came to the site and the site got a special statute. So far, 61 mammoths have been found here. The findings are always kept at the place where they were found, after being examined and prepared. This means that the museum is no more than a partially dugged out hole, but with a wealth of information.

Through the beautiful, extensive Plains of South Dakota, we drive to the capital of Cheyenne.