Crazy Horse Monument History
Crazy Horse Memorial has a very detailed history due to the lack of federal funding. Sculptor Korczak Ziolowski vowed not to accept federal money to fund the project and use only private donations. Because of this the monument began in 1946 and is still in progress today.
In 1939, Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski won the first place prize at the World's Fair in New York, gaining recognition as a sculptor. It was in this same year that he also assisted with the carving at Mt. Rushmore Memorial. In 1940, Korczak visited the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to meet Chief Henry Standing Bear, who shared the life story of Crazy Horse. Korczak actually left the area from 1943 to 1945 to volunteer his service in WWII, but quickly felt his calling back to the Black Hills and accepted the invitation to design and sculpt the Crazy Horse Memorial. Thunderhead Mountain was designated as the sight for the memorial in 1946, the same year Korczak created a 1/300th size model of the sculpture.
Work began in 1948 with the first blast on Thunderhead Mountain. Korczak promised to never receive government tax money for project and for the first couple years he worked alone using a gas powered jackhammer. Visitors were first welcome at the monument in 1950 for a total fee of 50 cents. Korczak passed away on October 20th, 1982 and his wife, Ruth, and 10 sons and daughters all joined to bury him in the tomb he built for himself the latter half of his life. They gave their dedication on this day to carry out his dream and finish his plans. An Indian representative commented "two races of people have lost a great man." The following year Mrs. Ziolkowski took over supervision of the project. In 1991 Crazy Horse's eyes opened and by 1998 his face had been completed.
The monument is eventually to become the image of Crazy Horse sitting on his horse, while pointing his left hand over his land. He says "My lands are where my dead lie buried." Korczak designed the memorial to be a humanitarian project so that it would tell a story of Native Americans. The foundation has three goals which include the mountain carving, the Indian Museum of North America, and the Indian University and Medical Training Center of North America. Korczak designed the monument to be a memorial of the spirit of Crazy Horse and his dedication to defending his people.
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