Crazy Horse Memorial
The Visit
In September 2023 we visited the Crazy Horse Memorial just outside of Custer South Dakota while we were visiting relatives in Rapid City. Understandably, the town itself is not “Custer” and is actually named “Crazy Horse” to show that it is not in Custer. We stopped by Mount Rushmore first and while the work was impressive, the rest of it was not. The Crazy Horse Memorial is still under construction; however, the visitor center and museum were far superior to anything found at Mt Rushmore. If you’re pressed for time, I recommend just taking pictures of Mt Rushmore from the road on the way by as you go to the Crazy Horse Memorial. You won’t miss much by skipping that stop other than some closer pictures.
The History
Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who had helped with Mt Rushmore, was contacted by Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Chief Henry Standing Bear on November 7, 1939, and asked to create a sculpture honoring Native Americans. On May 30, 1940 Korczak visited the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to meet Chief Henry Standing Bear where he learned about Crazy Horse. He later made a clay model (with right arm outstretched), which was to become the final sculpture. The tribal elders insisted that the Crazy Horse be carved in their sacred Black Hills. Standing Bear and Korczak located the 600-foot-high Thunderhead Mountain and Korczak used his own money to buy privately-owned land nearby to start the project. Work began and the memorial was dedicated on June 3, 1948, with the first blast on the Mountain. Special guests attending included five survivors of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Korczak promises Crazy Horse will be a nonprofit educational and cultural humanitarian project financed by the interested public and not with government tax money. He pledges never to take a salary at Crazy Horse. All the work is done through private donations, and they have never taken any money from the government.
Admission
Admission is very reasonable by the carload of people, although we got in for free with our tribal enrollment cards. There is a lot of parking available at the visitor center, so parking is easy. The sculpture itself can be seen from the parking lot and at the visitor center, but there are more close-up tours available if you are not in a rush and your group is small enough. Since the project is funded by donations it may be many more years before it is finished so it is not as impressive as it will be in the future. The head and a finger as far as they made it with the money they have. There is a lightshow too, but we couldn’t stay long enough to see it.
The Visitor Center / Museum
The visitor center is also a museum with impressive great displays of tribal artifacts ranging from Alaska and the Pacific Coast to South Dakota and beyond. A lot of time and respect went into getting all of them accurate so that in itself makes the visit worthwhile as they have better displays than many of the “Museums” do. There is a teepee set up there too so you can get an idea of what living was like back then. The sculpture of what the memorial will look like is also on display and it will be very cool to see when it is eventually finished. Besides the funding, this is one of those projects you cannot rush as one error in removing rock would be extremely bad with possible irrecoverable consequences so taking the time to get it right the first time is very important.
The gift shop has a wide range of items available for every budget from small to large. The prices were reasonable without the typical “Gouging” you see at other tourist stops. We got some shirts and Christmas tree ornaments that we will put on our tree every year to remind us of our travels. There were a lot of genuine Indian made items for sale made by artists throughout the country, which is something you don’t see often outside of Alaska. There is also a café to eat at if you get hungry. The menu looked good, but we had already eaten in nearby Keystone before we got there.
Even though the sculpture is only starting to take shape it is well worth the trip to see everything else they have there. The history they have on display is lightyears better than Mt Rushmore and many other places so be prepared to spend a while there looking everything over. There are a lot of small items and displays to see so it is easy to miss something if you are not taking your time to look around. This is the best place that we have found for anyone who is interested in Indian history and wants to learn more about it or see many of the items and artifacts associated with it. A lot of displays are about the Indian tribes of the area, but they included many others as well.
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