Crazy Horse Monument 2006

We had visited the Crazy Horse Monument on our vacation trip in 1988 and we were surprised at the changes since then.

Here is a picture I had taken in 1988.  The hole you see will eventually become an opening below Crazy Horse's arm which extends to the right.  Paint markings on the rock outline the eventual shape of the horse's head to the right.

In 1988 we saw some blasting work on the mountain.

The detailed and nearly complete face was completed in 1999 and can be seen in this photo from 2006.

A scale model stands in the expansive visitor center with the actual sculpture about 1 mile in the background.  The dimensions are staggering.

This view from the entry road gives one a sense of the magnitude of the project, the relative little progress and the massive work ahead.  When complete the sculpture will be "in the round" or visible from 360 degrees around.  A Native cultural center, college, medical facility and other services will eventually be built in a campus-like setting surrounding the sculpture in the middle.

Here is a little closer look at the status in 2006.

Korczac Ziolkowski began this enterprise at the urging of Native American tribes in the late 1940s.  It is entirely funded from private donations and no government aid will be accepted.  Korzac passed away a few years ago, but the work continues by his wife and children.

Above is one of his many sculptures on the grounds.  Fighting Stallions seem to hang in mid-air as they are supported only by the tail of one of the subjects.