DAY 7 - LEAVING MONTANA

The above picture is COMPLETELY a stolen idea from my friend Marta. She had a similar version of this picture on her desktop. She called it "Outta Gas". I fell in love with the image, and insisted she take me to it as soon as possible, so I could take a similar shot. She of course happily obliged me (Kodak Kathy). I call my version "Outta Gas Too". And this image seemed appropriate for the day we had to depart Montana. We are all tired, old Bessie the Envoy too, and it was time to head back home. We'd climbed pretty much every hill we could, and we all are outta gas, money and time. So, we all reluctantly said our farewell to Marta, and headed east for the first time in 8 days. (We did turnaround twice to retrieve forgotten items...each time laughing a little bit more-the Molly bread, by the way, lasted all of two hours).

Our goal for today was to stop and see Crazy Horse and Custer National Park, and then on to Mitchell, SD for the night, followed by Iowa Saturday night and then home to Michigan by Sunday.



Crazy Horse is still under construction so viewing was very limited, especially when you arrive after 7 pm there. I wish we had been able to have more time to explore Crazy Horse Memorial by arriving earlier. Having missed the last bus up the mountain, foot exploring is prohibited because of the ongoing blasting and instability of the area. This left us with only one angle on the mountain.

But it is impressive. At 9 stories tall Crazy Horse’s head is bigger than the four Mount Rushmore busts combined. Workers are now blasting out the area for the horse, but given the current artistic vision and idealism around the project, the work is slow. My nephews asked if we would ever see it completed, and I had to say that I doubted we would see it in either of our life times.

Which is sad if you think about it. While I understand the artists’ vision of no compromises, that it be done properly, I am disappointed that there isn’t a larger vision of volunteerism, national endowments, etc. that couldn’t help move this project along quicker. And while the artist believed it shouldn't be just about sculpture, but about the meaning and lessons of the American Indian, it reminds me of the debate about which came first the chicken or the egg. For some people the visit is about the sculpture/the art, and the lesson is second. Whatever it takes to get us there to teach us. You have to wonder if a completed project wouldn't draw more visitors, more opportunities to teach the lessons, and more finances to fund the overall long range plan of the memorial conceived by the artist Korczak Ziolkowsi and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear.

Below is a picture (from the Crazy Horse Memorial website) depicting the long-range plan of the project.



The plan calls for a 563-foot-high mountain carving-in-the-round to dominate the park. A poem written by Korczak will
be carved in three feet tall letters along side the sculpture, and the Indian Museum of North America will be housed in a multi-storied, 350-foot diameter Hogan, separated from the mountain by a reflecting pool. (The current museum/visitor center is outstanding, and offers a very thorough and detailed history of the Lakota Sioux Indians, the events of the Wounded Knee Massacre and the cultures and traditions of the North American Indian tribes.)

There are plans for a University and Medical Training Center, dormitories, and avenues lined with sculptural portraits of famous Native Americans. And, ultimately, visitors WILL be able to drive, or walk, around a spring-fed lake to the other side of the sculpture.