May 26, Day 7 of our bus tour, was a very full, busy day. We stayed two nights at the State Game Lodge in the Park, and make day excursions to Crazy Horse Memorial, dedicated to all Native Americans, and to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, where the heads of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt dominate this mountain in the Black Hills.
State Game Lodge, Custer State Park
This lodge is made up of the original building (which was added to) which now contains the registration desk, lounge, gift shop and a large dining room. There are still a few of the old guests rooms on the second floor - some of which had Presidents stay in them. However, we stayed in the new lodge "Creekside", down the hill from the old lodge. Creekside is certainly among the best lodging we had on the trip. Very rustic, using a "moose" and "buffalo" theme in the decorations, including the carpets, paintings, with a big lounge area with fireplace off the lobby. Our rooms were huge, very attractive, and had a private outdoor terrace where we could watch the buffalo roam.
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Old Lodge New Creekside Lodge |
This memorial to the American Indian, Crazy Horse, is the world largest mountain carving, started in 1948 and not expected to be completed in our lifetime. For more information on the life of Crazy Horse, his battles, and unfortunate death by stabbing by an American soldier, read the wikipedia write-up.
The site of the mountain in which the Crazy Horse Memorial is being carved also includes the Indian Museum of North America and a large visitor complex which includes an extensive, outstanding gift shop of quality items, as well as native crafts people demonstrating their skills. We saw an excellent video on how the idea to build the memorial originated with Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear, who approached the renowned American sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, to come to the area and carve the sculpture out of the mountain. It is located within easy driving distance of Mount Rushmore. Chief Standing Bear stated that "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heros, also."
Korczak arrived in the Black Hills in May 1947 to accept the invitation and started work there in 1948 at the age of 40. The memorial is be built and paid for by public donations and no government money is involved. Korczak died in 1882 and since then his wife, Ruth, their children, and the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, have directed the ongoing work.
When finished, the memorial will be 563 feet in height, and within that the horse's head will be 219 feet high. It is mainly done by dynamite blasting.
Carving of the Memorial
This picture is a photograph of the actual mountain, with overlays in white of
how the carving is supposed to go.
Indian Museum of North American
Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski
Scale Model of the Proposed Sculpture
Korczak knew that the project was larger than any one person's lifetime and left detailed plans to be used with his scale models to continue the project.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota
At the Mount Rushmore site, the pictures say everything! However, I add that the visitors centre was great - large cafeteria, ice cream parlour, gift centre, and theatres. Good hikes as well.
The sculptor was Gutzon Borglum whose vision was "the formal rendering of the philosophy of our government into granite on a mountain peak." His monument grouped four presidents who brought the nation from colonial times into the 1900's:
George Washington who served 1789 - 1797
Thomas Jefferson who served 1801 - 1809
Abraham Lincoln who served 1861 - 1865; and
Theodore Roosevelt who served 1901 - 1909.
Theodore Roosevelt was also a very close friend of the sculptor, and he was also the president who created the national parks system.
L - R Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt & Lincoln
Can you see the outline of spectacles on Roosevelt?
A very educational and fun day!
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