The history behind the Crazy Horse Memorial in Blackhills, South Dakota, is almost as interesting as the history of Crazy Horse himself. As a legendary Native American, his family commissioned a huge sculpture that is still in the process of being made. As of today, it is the largest statue under construction in the world.
Crazy Horse himself
Drawings of Crazy Horse.
Crazy Horse is Oglala Lakota's legendary war leader, born around 1840. He was the son of a doctor and was raised by the women of his family. By the time he reached his teens, he had already proven himself to be a skilled fighter. During the period of contention between Native Americans and colonists, Crazy Horse successfully fought against the American** and its soldiers against the encroachment on their territory. When he rode into battle, he had an eagle feather in his hair, a stone behind his ear, and a lightning bolt symbol on his face. Crazy Horse has always been remembered as someone who put the needs of the people above their own.
In 1877, Crazy Horse met with members of the U.S. Federation under the banner of a truce at Fort Robinson to discuss negotiations. However, these negotiations broke down after the translator mistranslated what Crazy Horse wanted to say. The soldiers then detained him and escorted him to prison. When he realized what was happening, he struggled to pull out his knife. This prompted another soldier to charge Crazy Horse with a bayonet, inflicting fatal damage on him. Shortly after his injury, Crazy Horse died.
Henry Stander Bell launched the initiative of the memorial
Portrait of sculptor Kolzak Tsiolkovsky, creator of the Crazy Horse Mountain Memorial in South Dakota, 1975.
In the late 1930s, Crazy Horse's cousin and Oglala Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear recruited Polish-American sculptor Kolzak Tsiolkovski to build the Crazy Horse Monument in Montenegro, South Dakota. When Tsiolkovsky was contacted by Henry Stander Bell, the latter accepted the commission and spent three weeks with Henry Stander Bell to learn about the history and culture of Oglala.
An important factor of the project is that it does not receive any ** funding, but private funding. In order to obtain permission for the Barren Mountains of Black Mountain, Henry Stander Bear gave all of his 900 acres of fertile land to the Federation**. His offer was accepted, and although they tried to provide $10 million for the project several times, the project never received ** funding.
This will be a work in progress.
The Crazy Horse commemorative model stands in front of the original.
After Tsiolkovsky's death in 1982, his wife, Ruth, took over the project as CEO and made some considerable changes to the way things were executed. Her husband wanted to finish the horse first, but Ruth focused his attention on Crazy Horse's face. Her idea is that by completing the facial, interest around the memorial will increase, which will raise tourism and money for the project. The memorial has continued as a family affair, as some of her children and grandchildren took over to continue working on the project after Ruth's death in 2014.
The completion of the Crazy Horse Memorial was open – when construction first began in 1948, it was estimated that the project would be completed in 30 years. This is clearly not being realized, with the hands, arms, shoulders, hairline, and top of the horse's head estimated to be completed by 2037.