Crazy for Crazy Horse
Day 5
I have fallen in love with South Dakota. It started
off much like where the other states left off -- farms, green, flat -- ‘Merika.
And then the earth started to show off its curves. Rolling slow by my window
the rise and fall of wide hills. Farms gave way to ranches. The cattle seemed
to be just a little bit more wild and robust. The straight highway began to
bend and twist bringing with each corner some new vista of lavish greens. Vast
but not lonely. Comfortable in its own skin. Wild and tamed at the same time.
We drove for hours in a content quiet letting the peace of our surroundings
become our own.
And then we reached the Super 8. To quote “Anne” from
Green Gables, “There is not much scope for the imagination” at the Super 8.
We fled the hotel as quickly as possible and found our
way to Black Hills National Forest, home of Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse
Monument. I was afraid that Mt. Rushmore would be a let down. That it would be
a giant work of vandalism against the wild of nature and another great show of
how humans force the earth to submit to our will. But I was wrong. It was cool.
It was big. And it was nestled in high above as though they were enjoying the
beauty of the hills as well.
Beyond Mt. Rushmore in the depths of the hills to
another rise and clearing lies the Crazy Horse Monument. It is many times the
scale of Mt. Rushmore. It is incomplete. It is ambitious. It is solemn. It
began as a plea from the elders of a Lacota tribe to a single sculptor to tell
the story of their people as a final act of pride and defiance against a world
that would move forward and forget a people and culture that lived with this
land for ages. I did not know much about Crazy Horse or the importance of this
area to his people, but I am compelled by their story to return again and again
to watch the progress of this monument. It is a pure labor of love, dependent
only on the contributions of those who believe in its importance. Not a dime of
federal dollars has gone to this project. It is a monument undertaken on its
own terms and nothing will interfere with the vision of the leaders and the
artist who endeavored to bring this dream to reality. I am in awe and I am
grateful to have had a moment at this monument.
“A very great vision is needed and a man who has it
must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.” – Crazy Horse
Mangga, your prose is this post is beautifully poetic. Thank you for sharing!
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