The Black Hills region in South Dakota, Paha Sapa in Lakota, was claimed as the symbolic heart of the Lakota domain. It was described as wintering ground for the people and their buffalo; resource of timber, water and small game; potent with the elemental energies of Rock and Thunder, and the sacred associations of the vision quest - the center of the world. In August 1857 a Lakota council gathered near sacred Bear Butte on the Belle Fourche River. Resolutions were developed there that put the European Americans on trial. If the Lakota domain were respected by keeping soldiers and settlers off the hunting grounds, then peace might be maintained. Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874 and the Lakota world and that of Crazy Horse was doomed.
The South Dakota Black Hills tourism site describes "things to do" there:
See large herds of buffalo, wild mustangs and burros. The world's largest collection of reptiles. Choose from six theme and amusement parks. Witness the unearthing of prehistoric mammoths and visit dinosaur exhibits. See Old West shootouts, take in a cowboy supper and music show. Famous indoor and outdoor theaters. Authentic cowboy, pioneer and Native American heritage. Explore a cave, underground gold mine, or view our incredible wonders from a helicopter or a tramway.
In other words - think Disneyworld or Dollywood. Don't think Pine Ridge Reservation or Rosebud Reservation - you don't want to go there.
We camped a few nights at Custer City and spent some time with family at Spearfish. We travelled through most everything in between.
The Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills is located on privately held land, and has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completed. If finished, it could become the largest sculpture in the world. It is amazing - and the web site(s) are definitely click worthy - take a look.
The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. The entire project is supported and owned by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation which operates at least seven unique galleries and collections on the campus, including The Indian Museum of North America. Ziolkowski died in 1982, and his wife and 7 of their 10 children carry on the work. According to Wikipedia: Their daughter Monique Ziolkowski, a sculptor, has modified some of her father's plans to make the sculpture work better. The foundation commissioned reports from two engineering firms in 2009 to help guide completion of the project. The face of Crazy Horse was unveiled in 1998 and is said to be approximately 50% larger than any of the faces on Mount Rushmore.
It is worthy of note that on two occasions, Ziolkowski and The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation turned down $10,000,000 federal grants for the project.
Bear Lodge (Lakota: "Matho Thipila") (European American: "Devil's Tower") is an igneous intrusion soaring 1267 feet straight up above the surrounding terrain along the Belle Fourche River Valley. Many of our fellow visitors that day were rock climbers with their ropes and gear. We hiked all the way around the base and we could see the climbers like ants on the tower - some a thousand feet above the ground - straight down.
We spent a day at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary and made these photos. We loaded up in a short bus for a guided tour of the approximately 12,000 acre facility. Our tour guide bus driver was a real cute woman in her 70s. She had been an extra in a made for TV 1996 Turner Pictures movie about Crazy Horse (made of course without his approval) that was filmed on the Sanctuary. She showed us the film set that they built as the Fort Robinson buildings where Crazy Horse was killed. They did not much resemble the real ones that we had seen a few days earlier. She also showed us a sacred Sun Dance site that is still used by the people every year.
Heads
Tails
European American petroglyphs at Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary photographed during the short bus tour. The Cox Family Ranch was purchase by the founder, Dayton Hyde, and added to the Sanctuary. I am hazy on the tour guide's story regarding this petroglyph. There are famous XO Ranches from Texas to Idaho but I can't tie this brand to the Cox Family Ranch although it seems reasonable.
We visited sacred sites including Bear Lodge and Thunderhead Mountain, and we visited desecrated touristy sites even Mount Rushmore, Last but not least we had "The Best I Ever Had: Indian Tacos" at Cheyenne Crossing at the top of Spearfish Canyon.
And then we headed out across Wyoming to Hardin, Montana and the valley of the Little Bighorn River.
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If you would like to see my collection of Carolina Lowcountry memories—"Magnolia Elegy: Place In the Edisto Fork," you can view the book trailer here, and see the book page here on the publisher's website. The book is also available from Amazon, B&N, and your independent local bookseller.
