Last night when we went to bed, the sky over Rapid City darkened and a thunder storm rolled in. Interestingly there was very little rain but we enjoyed quite a show for an hour or so.
We woke early this morning and got on the road around 715am. As we were about to turn left on Highway 16 en route to Highway 212, I changed my mind and turned right. We drove out of Rapid City toward Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument on Highway 16 making our way toward Wyoming.
As we approached the turn off to Mount Rushmore, I asked Connie if she wanted to visit again. She shook her head and said as I recall it was a winding road and we’ve already seen it. I carried on and soon discovered that we would pass right by the Crazy Horse Monument and suggested we go and see it.
On the way we passed through the cutest little town called Hill City. It is a quintessential small American town with pretty little brick buildings. There were two ladies patrolling cross walks at each end of town. I don’t think I’ve seen crosswalk patrols since I was in elementary school when the Grade 7 kids used to patrol the cross walk across Highway 97 in Westbank. I have a photo of my older brother Clint and his friend Brad Bennett (yes that Bennett – Premier Bill’s son) working as crossing guards.
We reached the Crazy Horse Monument at 8am and were one of two RVs in the parking lot. I was surprised to see a crane at the monument as I assumed it was complete.
We went inside the visitors centre and a lady invited us to enter a theatre where a short video would be playing shortly. She said it would provide a brief history of the monument.
Connie and I went inside and sat down to watch. I’m ashamed to admit I was pretty ignorant as to the history of this monument carving. We both found the video and history very interesting.
The project was started in May 1947 but had been the dream of Chief Standing Bear for many years before that.
Korczak Ziolkowski an American born sculptor of Polish descent had gained notoriety after winning first prize at the 1939 New York World’s Fair for a marble portrait, “Paderewski, Study of an Immortal.” In the summer of 1939 he was invited to assist Gutzon Borglum with the Mount Rushmore project.
Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Lakota Nation began writing to Korczak in 1939 asking him to create a memorial to American Indians. The two eventually met and discussed potential carving sites. Henry felt Korczak was meant to carve the image of Crazy Horse because he was born on September 5, 1908 the same day as Crazy Horse died in 1877 (31 years prior).
Korczak volunteered to serve in WWII and was wounded after landing on Omaha beach. After the war, he was asked to war memorials in Europe but he declined deciding to accept the invitation of Chief Standing Bear and dedicate the remainder of his life to the Crazy Horse Memorial.
The memorial project was formally kicked off in 1949 when Korczak and Chief Standing Bear ignited the first blast. In 1947 Korczak was joined by Ruth, the woman who would become his wife in 1950, who assisted him with building a log studio and the 741 wooden staircase to the mountain top. They had 10 children 5 girls and 5 boys who were born in the log studio home they built together.
Korczak refused to be paid for his work instead Ruth oversaw the operations of a timber mill and dairy operation on the site. He was offered $10M by the government in the 1950’s and turned it down because he knew governments lacked the stick-to-it-ness for a project like this. From my personal experience, I can confidently say he wasn’t wrong.
Korczak died in October 1982 at the age of 74 and was laid to rest at the base of the mountain where he worked for the last 36 years of his life. He never saw the emergence of Crazy Horse’s head on the mountain top.
Ruth continued Korczak’s work, including the development of an American Indian University and a cultural centre located on the site, until her death in 2014. Ruth is buried near her husband at the base of the mountain. Four of their children and several of their grandchildren continue to work on the memorial.
It is rare for a family legacy (business) to last beyond two generations. I can only imagine how much more difficult it will be for this to last the many years it will take to fully complete Korczak’s vision as seen below in the 1/34 scale sculpture below.
Will this mountain sculpture ever be finished? Only time will tell.
At approximately 9am we left the Crazy Horse Memorial and made our way toward Wyoming. We passed through another little town called Custer, it was much less attractive than Hill City. That said we really enjoyed the scenery along Highway 16. We had considered taking Highway 16 from Buffalo to Cody Wyoming and then entering Yellowstone from the east gate but decided against it due to time constraints.
Highway 16 merged with I90 at Moorcroft and we spent the balance of the day (excluding rest and fuel stops) driving the Interstate to Billings Montana.
We are staying at another Harvest Host tonight – Yellowstone Cellars. The grapes come from eastern Washington but the wines are made here in Billings. We are parked right next to the winery bistro and have a front row to some really good live music.
Prior to dinner we did a wine tasting and purchased a couple of bottles to take with us. The lady serving us asked us where we were from and told us she was very familiar with Kelowna. She opened the Papa Murphy’s Pizza franchises in BC when they first branched into Canada.
As it turns out, she lives right next door to the winery in a pretty cool spot. We walked over and took a few photos.
Another Harvest Guest couple are parked beside us. Mark and Christina are from just outside of Portland Oregon. Christina’s mom was born in Saskatchewan and her dad worked in northern BC.
Tomorrow we have a short drive. We have booked two nights in Livingston Montana. We are planing to use that as our home base and tour Yellowstone and Grand Teton.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
Mal and Connie's Cross Canada Adventure 2.0 