We got to the Crazy Horse monument at dusk. The light made it all the more surreal but hard for photos.
I keep thinking of this song I love....lyrics "Crazy Horse was a mystic...he knew the secret of the trance...."
Here's some backstory....Crazy Horse was a war leader of the Oglala Lakota....he is known to have had visions and it is said that when he was younger he and his father would go to Sylvan Lake, South Dakota and they would sit to do a "vision quest". It would appear that these earlier visions provided protective songs, prayers and war paint which would later help and guide him...in his leadership.
Although the memorial is unfinished, its scope and magnificence are more than evident. Crazy Horse will be on his horse...his face is on the left and the large rock that juts out to the right will be his horse. His face alone is 9 stories high and that portion of the memorial is complete.
The monument was started in 1948 (commissioned in 1939). There is no set completion date as it is supported solely by donations and is quite the undertaking. The whole endeavor is handled by a non-profit with no federal government involvement. I think if you ever wanted to do something in honor of the American indian....going to crazyhorsememorial.org and making a donation would be most appreciated.
There is a plaque at the site with a quote from Indian Chief Henry Standing Bear, who spearheaded the project, he says "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes, too"
They have all kinds of artifacts there - books, gifts etc. They do a laser light show each night (9pm) on the mountain which you watch from the visitor center.
Having the monument here, where the chiefs wanted it, overlooking the incredible Black Hills is so moving....especially because the Indians believed these grounds to be so sacred.
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