Pullin' Chocks

Crazy Horse Memorial

Crazy Horse was born between 1840 and 1845 in the fall of the season on the South Cheyenne river in South Dakota. At birth he was named Cha-O-Ha which translates to "In the Wilderness" or "Among the Trees", meaning he was one with nature. Later in life he changed his name to Crazy Horse which we all recognize. Crazy Horse or literally His Horse is Crazy, became a great war leader of the Oglala Lakota indians. During his vision quests which will be discussed more in a later post, he received a medicine bundle which protected him in battle and received the White Owl as his protector animal which gives extended life.

Crazy Horse became one of the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members; was honored by the U.S. Postal Service in 1982 with a 13¢ Great Americans series postage stamp and by the private memorial scuplture at Thunderhead Mountain near Custer, South Dakota. Although Crazy Horse was killed at the age of only 37 (by a guard while in captivity four months after his victory at Little Big Horn) perhaps these significant memorializations are part of Crazy Horse's extended life as guaranteed by his White Owl animal protector.

Henry Standing Bear ("Mato Naji"), an Oglala Lakota Chief and well-known statesman and elder in the Native American community, recruited and commissioned Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to build the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Ziolkowski started blasting for the monument on June 3, 1948. When he began his work, Korczak was almost 40 years of age and worked until his death in 1982.

After Ziolkowski died, his widow, Ruth Ziolkowski, took charge of the sculpture, overseeing work on the project from the 1980s to 2014. Ruth Ziolkowski died May 21, 2014, at the age of 87. Gari and I happend to be in Rapid City that day and were able to attend the memorial service for Ruth at the Crazy Horse Memorial sculpture site.

Seven of the Ziolkowskis' ten children carry on work at the memorial. Ruth's daughter, Monique Ziolkowski, a sculptor, modified some of her father's plans to ensure that the weight of the outstretched arm is supported. The foundation commissioned reports from two engineering firms in 2009 to help guide completion of the project. Work commenced on the horse after two years of careful planning and measurements.

The comments above are only parts of the truly amazing story of Crazy Horse and the memorial at Thunderhead Mountain. A resounding theme of the entire account can be see around the area and reminds us, "Never Forget Your Dreams"

This year we participated in the Volksmarch at Crazy Horse Memorial. This event occurs twice yearly. It is a charity and fund raising event and provides opportunity for the public to go up into the blasting area and observe the scupture work up close. The walk is 6.2 miles at an elevation of approximately 6500 feet. A good work out for us.

The starting line for the Volksmarch