Crazy Horse

When Korczak arrived here at the mountain there was another person, a prospector, who was living in this house. They shared the area with very different interests. Today this is what is left of the house his old 1930 something car is mouldering behind the house. It is now home to about 100 groundhogs, you can see one on the right side of the house.

These are pictures of what the finished memorial will look like, one is a scale model and the other super imposes the image on what is completed.

Just a few tidbits of info: His head is 871/2 feet high. The arm will extend 263 feet, hand 33 feet. The eyes are 9 feet high and 13 feet across. The hole under the arm isn't finished, right now the arm is about 40 ft thick and will eventually be 8ft. The white markings on the bottom right are the outline of the horses 45-ft ear and 16-ft-wide eye. Workers are now blocking out the 22-story high horse's head. The memorial will be done "in the round" and the hole gives access to work on both sides. At night a laser light show is done. We did go but the fog rolled in toward the end. The show is as amazing as the memorial is, even unfinished it is spectacular.

Crazy Horse

View from the highway. Many Indian Tribal flags are hung throughout the complex. Kitty in the gift shop-not for sale ;-)

As many of you know my sister's name was Walletta which means laughing waters! Had to have a picture of that. This last one is neat with the tepee as part of the picture.

We spent most of the day at Crazy Horse. What an incredible place. All Natives get in for free because the monument is dedicated to all tribes. The work has been on-going for 62 years. It is all done through donations. No government money has been used. The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski (from Boston), was asked to show that Indians had heroes also. He and his wife and 7 of his 10 children have worked for all these years. He died before the completion of the nine-story high face. His wife, Ruth, still lives there on the property and the original home that Korczak built for them is part of the museum display. There is no completion date, work is done year round but lightning, blizzards and other weather will stop work. This had such an impact on me. When we walked into the center I was just in awe, I stood and just stared all around me. Words can't begin to describe my emotions

Custer, South Dakota

Had an uneventful drive to Custer today. Acres of pasture land with either cows or horses, farm land, lots of bumpy mountains, oil/gas wells and another scary narrow winding road with really sharp corners. Did see a bunch of little brown fuzzy critters, I think they were antelopes but might have been deer. We are staying at the Flinstones Campground :-) Really nice grass sites, we not only have a tree but we have a bush and picnic table. Still no fires, danger too high. No TV reception (aaah) but we will be out and about. We are staying here for 3 nights. Had rain right when we arrived but then it cleared. It will probably be chilly since we are back in the mountains.

Indian Campground, Buffalo, WY

Just a few pics of the latest campground. Again a nice place with trees and grass. Picnic tables are always nice. We always get stuck by the other campers with dogs. Today it is two little ankle biters that do nothing but yip, right up to now 10 pm. Only staying the one night. Will be off again in the morning.

On the road

Controlled burn at a farm we went by. View of a mountain lake from a scenic viewpoint. Just some mountains.

This was the "high" point of the day. It was mostly 7% grades to get to the top. Slow going with a stop or two to cool off the car and brakes. One of the mountain crests on the way.

We travelled to Buffalo, WY today. Not a long drive but some really steep windy inclines and descents. Again the views were spectacular. Still don't like the canyons through the cliffs but can appreciate the beauty. Signs through the pass gave the period of the rocks we were passing such as Jurassic or Cambrian. It was sort of neat to see how old the rocks/cliffs were as we went up and then came back down. The youngest were 500 years at the top.

Cody, WY

This museum contained four different sections. We did the Native one first and then the Buffalo Bill Cody one. The little house was his and had been moved several times before landing here. The map was on the floor of the natural history section. There was also a fine arts section which we didn't get into. We just ran out of time and energy. The art section has a lot of western art including Remington which I would have like to see.

OMG after umpteen tries I finally got the pictures to load. Not the fastest server we've had.

RODEO at last :-)

Making the bull look "pretty". Getting ready to ride or I should say attempting to ride. Only have to stay on for a mandatory 8 seconds but it is a really long 8 seconds.

The little guy in the white hat and red shirt was 5 years old. He rode a steer.

I have finally seen a rodeo. It wasn't a professional one but where most of the professional riders got their start. I really enjoyed the show. They had some very young kids, one was just three, doing the barrel run. So cute!