Tonight’s Crazy Horse Memorial Celebration to be a Blast

Crazy Horse Memorial, the largest sculpture in the world, located in Custer County, South Dakota, will celebrate its creator's birthday with a blast.

Twice per year, on the dates of June 26th, and today's date, September 6th, Crazy Horse Memorial puts on a spectacular nighttime blast of explosives, as crews continue to carve away at the mountain encasing the remainder of the sculpture.  Accompanying the blasts will be a remarkable laser light show.

Why those dates?  September 6th is the birthday of the designer and original sculptor of the monument, Korczak Ziolkowsky, born in 1908.  His wife, Ruth, who took over the project after Korcak's death 30 years ago, celebrates her birthday on June 26th.

During my visit to Crazy Horse Memorial this last Tuesday, September 4th, crews were already on the mountain placing explosives for tonight's event.  Locations targeted for tonight's blasts or focused primarily on what will become Crazy Horse's left hand.

I must express a slight concern regarding this memorial.  Granted, it is a monumental, pun intended, undertaking.  The memorial stands 563 feet high.  In comparison, all of Mount Rushmore, that's all four presidential faces, could fit easily in the space occupied by just Crazy Horse's face alone.  Keep in mind the sculpture includes his face, torso, and horse.  In any case, though, Crazy Horse was begun in 1948, and at present, only his face is completed.  As a matter of fact, Korczak never lived to see even the face completed.  He dedicated his life to blasting away at the mountain to get down to the area intended for sculpting.  Upon my visit last Tuesday, the memorial as a whole didn't look much different than it did when I viewed it in 1996.

Despite its slow pace to completion, visitors to the unfinished monument number 1.5 million per year.  Most tourist sites post favorable reviews from those who have visited. Personally, it is my hope you would visit the monument first chance you get. Granted, none of us will live to see its completion.  No ETA has been given as to when Crazy Horse will see its ultimate unveiling, however, some people involved with the project put it at another two-centuries.

For more info on Crazy Horse Memorial as well as footage of previous nighttime blasts, visit www.crazyhorse.org