Changing The Face Of A Mountain

          My favorite newsletter arrived yesterday, the "Crazy Horse Memorial Progress."

          It's a well-done publication detailing the progress on the world's largest sculpture, an entire mountain being carved as a monument to Native Americans.

          The carving of Thunderhead Mountain in South Dakota, a short distance from Mount Rushmore, was started 65 years ago by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, an accomplished artist who honed his large-scale carving skills on the mountain that now wears the faces of four presidents.

          It was my intention, in the mid-70s, to interview Korczak and write a magazine article about his immense project to carve – in the round – the legendary Lakota (Sioux) leader, Crazy Horse, astride his horse.

          I was moved by the sculptor's determination in building rickety stairs up the mountain, then disassembling a bulldozer and carrying it, piece-by-piece, up the stairs for reassembly in order to continue his work.

          But I received a job promotion.  I stopped roaming the world in search of exotic stories and missed my opportunity.  Korczak's death in 1982 ended all hopes of an interview.

          Then, in the late 90s, Nola and I visited the carving – continued by Korczak's widow, Ruth, and her children.

          Ruth became a dear friend.  We shared a deep interest and respect for Native Americans (I had named my spread "Indiantree Farm" in remembrance of the Delawares who bent my majestic oak "marker tree").

          Changes in the last 15 years have been amazing.  Crazy Horse's face, more than 87 feet tall, is finished and his horse's head, 219 feet tall, will soon emerge.  The memorial now is home to the Indian Museum of North America and the Indian University of North America.  A host of attractions and activities fill the memorial's annual schedule.  Visit www.crazyhorsememorial.org for a closeup look and update.

          Korczak and Ruth's grandchildren and great-grandchildren likely will have charge of the project when it finally is finished.

          But the story isn't so much the finishing of the carving, it's the legacy of a sculptor and his family's journey to change the face of a mountain and keep alive the memory of those who lived here first.

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