Next on our list is the work-in-progress that is Crazy Horse Memorial, the world's largest sculpture. To say that the mountain memorial is colassal is a vast understatement. It's beyond such description, with just the head of Crazy Horse measuring nine stories tall. The horse's head, on which work has just begun, will measure 22 stories in height. All in all, the carving will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long. But words and photos cannot describe the carving, you must see it for yourself.

Close-up view of Crazy Horse's face (top) & view of carving (bottom)

The story of how the memorial began is almost as incredible as the sculpture itself. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski grew up in Boston in a series of foster homes and was completely self-taught, never having taken an art class. In 1939, Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote to Ziolkowski, inviting him to the Black Hills to carve a mountain memorial to Crazy Horse: "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too."

Seven years later, Ziolkowski moved to the wilderness of the Black Hills, where he lived in a tent at the base of mountain. He married and had 10 children, who he schooled in the art of mountain carving. His wife, Ruth, and seven children continue to work at, expand and carry on his dream after his death in 1982.

While eating at the memorial's restaurant (at which a few grandchildren and her daughter Jadwiga work), Ruth laughed when asked if she had any inclination to help with the artistic side of the business. "I don't have an ounce of artist in me," she said, smiling. "One in the family was enough."

As she gazed out through the restaurant window at her family's creation, a mile away and still undeniably impressive, pride and love was apparent on her face. "We're so lucky because there's always something new to see."

1/34 scale model of the finished Crazy Horse mountain carving

With the constant growth and expansion of the visitors center, which includes the Indian Museum of North America, an 18,000 sq. ft. Education and Conference Center and Korczak's sculptors studio, Ruth is right. From the moment the first blast took place in 1948, work hasn't stopped at Crazy Horse Memorial, a touching and comprehensive tribute to Native Americans. Another part of the project still in the planning stages is the Indian University of North America and Medical Training Center.

Since Korczak was such a strong believer in the free enterprise system, he turned down offers of federal or state funding. The memorial is a nonprofit, educational and cultural financed through admission fees and donations. So in visiting Crazy Horse, not only will you have an amazing and educational experience, you'll be supporting future work on the project! <click to continue the trip>