Immediately following the "ode to presidents" we headed down the street to see the original inhabitants of this land's answer to Mount Rushmore; the Crazy Horse Memorial. Jeremy visited when he was 8 and back then (wayyyy back then) the face wasn't even started. There wasn't much of a visitor's center either largely in part to the project being completely funded by the artist's money and the money of individual supporters. Three times did the sculptor, Korczak, turn down government money knowing it would ultimately undermine the work - much as it has the native americans historically speaking. So, in order not to repeat history he took on the challenge offered by the Oglala Lakota people as their answer to Mount Rushmore which Korczak worked on himself. He agreed, feeling that his life needed a greater purpose and he believed in the Native American plight and made it his mission to tell the story of their greatest hero in stone. He funded the project himself with only about a $140 dollars to his name. He bought a generator and some tools and climbed the mountain everyday with only mt goats to keep him company and started chisling and dynamiting the rock away. Slow going but his dream was not limited to just the monument which will be able to be viewed from 3 angles but will also include an entire community dedicated to the Indians....a hospital, college, cultural arts center. The monument is so much bigger than Mount Washington....it's as if the Oglala said, OK, I see your little statue and I raise you a mountain! Jeremy had an important talk with Taylor Mae about following your dreams and sticking to them even when you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. She promised to return one day to Crazy Horse one day when she's grown to remind herself of the great man immortalized in granite and of sticking with your dreams. She said she would bring her children if she could but at the least she would return. They sealed the deal and knowing Taylor, she will stick to her dreams, her promises and her guns! We all loved this place, what it stood for and the man behind the great endeavor. It said more to us than Mount Rushmore and had an amazing spiritual feel. We all learned a lot about Crazy Horse, who I compare to the Dali Lama in many ways. That evening they had drums and dancers and the kids were invited up on stage to dance. The memorial stood majestic in the background as the sun set and the air crisped. There is a unique and sacred feeling you get in the Black Hills and especially here, where dreams are coming to life...slowly but surely. The gift shop made you feel good about spending your money because you can see what it's going towards. there is also a large museum and part of Kworczak and his wife's home that can be toured. Many one of a kind things have been donated to the museum to support the endeavor. Although Kworczak has passed on, his wife and 8 of his 11 children are running the operation. He blocked out the plan for the monument and unlike Mount Rushmore that was pronounced "complete" when the artist, Borglum, died by his son so that no more work could be done to it, Crazy Horse continues on the path set in motion by the wish of the Oglala and the dedication of an immigrant man with enormous talent, drive and vision.