Crazy Horse slowly emerges

The Lakota elders had a dream. The late sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski had a vision. His wife, Ruth, and seven of his 10 children now have a mission in South Dakota's Black Hills.

The area is best known as the home to Mount Rushmore. But nearby is Ziolkowski's Crazy Horse Memorial, another massive cliff carving.

The monument depicts native leader Crazy Horse, a Lakota who was killed in 1877.

The Crazy Horse Memorial is far from finished, but the face alone is impressive. Standing 87 ½ feet tall, it is almost a third larger than the faces of the four presidents on Mount Rushmore and will show Crazy Horse astride his stallion.

Unlike Rushmore, which was finished in 14 years (just six of those actually spent on carving), Crazy Horse remains a work in progress after more than six decades of work.

To the casual observer, it does not appear that much has been done in the 12 years since the face was completed in 1998 — 50 years after the project was dedicated on June 2, 1948. But in reality, tons of granite have been blasted away in little over a decade.

Work is slow as all funds come from donations and other fundraising efforts. Korczak Ziolkowski, a Boston native of Polish descent, did not want government money or the strings that might have been attached to it.

Many wonder how he was able to come up with a likeness of the Lakota warrior, who led the battle against Custer's troops at Little Big Horn, since there are no known likenesses of him. The face is a representation — a tribute to the spirit of Crazy Horse.

Korczak, who died in 1982 at the age of 74 and is buried in a tomb at the base of the memorial, left detailed plans with the admonition to his wife, Ruth: "You must work on the mountain — but go slowly so you do it right."

Ruth, who now is the Crazy Horse Memorial president, and seven of their 10 children, have taken on the challenge.

The sculpture is decades from being completed, but there's a small museum/visitor center and visitors can go to its base.