Over 3,000 People Hike To Arm of
Crazy Horse Memorial
- PostEagle
- October 14, 2014
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Crazy Horse, SD-The fog lifted Sunday morning to allow 3,060 people to hike to the arm of the Crazy Horse Memorial and meet Crazy Horse face to face. But, the weather didn’t cooperate today, the second day of the second annual fall event. Intermittent heavy rain and fog caused the cancellation of the second day of the event.
Weather which is inclement enough to cause the cancellation of the 6.2 mile hike to the arm is rare. The two day fall volksmarch is the second opportunity each year to walk to the arm of the gigantic mountain carving in progress. They hike to an elevation of 6,500 feet above sea level. The hike averages two to four hours to complete.
This year visitors were able to see the new pointing system that has been installed above the horses head which will be used to measure the carving activity as the work on carving the hand and finger of the memorial. The finger of Crazy Horse points over the Black Hills where he once told a White trader he was pointing to “my lands are where my dead lie buried.”
The mountain carving was begun in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski in honor of the Native Americans of North America. Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote a letter to the sculptor in 1939 asking Korczak to come to the Black Hills to honor the Native Americans with a sculpture similar to Mt. Rushmore. The next Crazy Horse Memorial Volksmarch is scheduled for the first full weekend in June when several thousand more hikers will climb the mountain carving.
About Crazy Horse Memorial
Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation’s mission is to honor, protect, and preserve the culture, traditions, and living heritage of the Indians of North America. The Memorial fulfills its mission by continuing the progress on the world’s largest mountain sculpture, acting as a repository for Native American artifacts, arts and crafts through the INDIAN MUSEUM OF NORTH AMERICA® and the NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL & CULTURAL CENTER®; by establishing and operating the INDIAN UNIVERSITY OF NORTH AMERICA®, and when practical, a medical training center for American Indians.
For more information about Crazy Horse Memorial please visit our website http://crazyhorsememorial.org/ or contact the Memorial at 605-673-4681.