Day 7 Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, Black Hills

"Here in the West, we're livin' the best, Bonanza!"--Hope you know the tune! Even though we were not in Nevada today, I am positive that I was on the old Ponderosa!--rolling golden, grass-covered hills, spotted with Ponderosa Pines! Beautiful!
After a great breakfast in one of the small towns around here, we went in search of diesel fuel--Woulda', Coulda', Shoulda'!--enough said! Even though we had to back track, we found it in one of the several quaint small towns all in these Black Hills--Hill City, Keystone, Custer--just lovely. Most are built in the old western style architecture, log cabins, tin roofs. Pots or whiskey barrels or window boxes full of colorful petunias everywhere. Very charming.
On to the Crazy Horse Memorial. What a sight that is, and when finished will be the largest sculpture in the World. The sculpting is handled by a non-profit foundation. The Lakota Indian chiefs, wanting a memorial for their people invited the sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski to meet with them to discuss the memorial. He accepted the Indian's invitation, and arrived in the Hills in 1947at the age of 40, with only $174.00 left to his name. He met and married his wife there and had 10 children, 7 of whom still work on the project. He died in 1982, but his wife and children have carried on his dream. Because he knew that the project would take more than a lifetime to complete, he wrote 3 detailed books before his death leaving plans on how to proceed using the detailed models he had sculpted. Why choose Crazy Horse for this sculpture--which, unlike Rushmore will be "in the round"? Crazy Horse was a great warrior that fought for the indignities suffered by his people. The Treaty of 1868 had promised the Indians the sacred Black Hills will "forever be the sacred land of the Sioux Indians". That treaty was obviously broken. He was stabbed in the back by a bayonet while under a flag of truce, and died at the age of about 35. He is pointing in answer to the question "Where are your lands now?" and his reply was, "My lands are where my dead lie buried". Moving sight and very industrious project. Maybe it will be finished in 2 more generations! Future plans are to establish a University and Medical Training facilities at the site along with the already present museums. A few dimensions to give you an idea of the statue's size--the opening under his arm is about the size of a 10 story building, his head-9 stories high. The horse he sits on will be 22 stories high! Made for a nice stop.
The rest of the day was spent mostly driving the scenic byways around the Black Hills. Much of this drive had been mapped out by Peter NorNorbeck, a South Dakota politician. He loved the area so much that he laid out the trail himself, either on horseback or on foot, wanting to make sure he showed the best spots! We saw a wide variety of sights! We drove though several tunnels that I was sure we wouldn't make it through. Thank goodness they weren't too long and I could see the end or the old claustrophobia might have kicked in! The Needles Highway was awesome!--tall granite, rugged spires reaching for the clouds! I think I most enjoyed our loop through Custer State Park. We made twists and turns, up and down through beautiful Pines, Aspens, and Spruce trees traveling around 20 mph. most of the way. In the southern part of the park the hills become beautiful meadows full of golden grass and ponderosa pines. We saw more antelope, wild burros--that weren't really so wild and would come up to the truck begging for food, and my favorite-- buffalo--ok-technically Bison! We passed through the area that had been destroyed in 1988 by the Galena Creek Fires. Unbelievable how Mother Nature has recovered! Our last interesting site was the Pig tail turns! In order to best display views, and accomodate tunnels made to display Rushmore, and sudden elevation drops on Iron Mountain, Norbeck hired Cecil Clyde Gideon, a self taught master builder, architect, craftsman, lawman and highway designer to design and construct Pigtail bridges for safe travel and preservation of the mountain. The bridges were made of local wood and actually resemble a pig's tail, fashioned in a cork screw shape. Beautiful, but no where to pull over for a picture. I did photograph another wooden bridge I'll post.
Must close from the McCamper now. Time to pack up tonight to continue out of the Black Hills and travel into Wyoming! Next post should be from Sheridan, Wyoming! so, with that, goodnight from the McCamper, where the women are glad we are at camp early tonight, the men are grilling steaks, and the above average children are still at home, earning money so someday they can also see the Black Hills of Dakota!