Yesterday, we went to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial.
I hate to say it, but after seeing Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore was a real let-down. Yes, Rushmore is impressive, and represents the best of America.
However, as a matter of scale and ambition, Crazy Horse has it all over Rushmore.
This monument to American Indians has been in the works for 50 years. It was more than 50 years ago that Chief Standing Bear of the Oglala Sioux approached sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to sculpt a memorial to the American Indian in the Black Hills. Ziolkowski took on the project and work began in 1952, the year I was born. What really impressed me is Ziollkowski, and then his family after his death in 1982, refused federal financing. They were concerned the government would not follow through. He believed in private enterprise, and was willing to undertake a project that would outlive him even though federal financing would have speeded up the project completion.
Ziolkowski:
Ziolkowski and Standing Bear:
I visited the site in 1968 and was not much impressed (as a callow teenager, nothing much impressed me). Nothing was visible on the mountain.
This year, however, the face of Chief Crazy Horse is complete, and much of the sculpting of the mountain is complete. It may take another 50 years to complete, but when this is done, it will be magnificent.
By way of comparison, the entire statue will be over 9 stories tall. The Mt. Rushmore heads stand 90' tall. The 4 heads at Mt. Rushmore would fit inside the head and shoulder area of Crazy Horse.
I don't mean to minimize Rushmore, but after seeing the Crazy Horse memorial, Mt. Rushmore was something of a let-down.
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