The Wandering Adventurers: June 16 and 17

June 16

Norm is feeling better but still running a temperature. Faye, John, Chris and I drove down the Wildlife loop road to see the herd of bison, pronghorn, and prairie dogs. The only bison we saw were a few big males right by the campground area. We did see the herd of burros down there in the parking area. They are definitely after snacks from everyone! We brought the last of our carrots along just in case. One had his whole head in the window before Chris could get out of the car. They were keeping everyone entertained. We stopped at the Wildlife Station to ask about the whereabouts of the bison. I guess they don’t like the diesel jeeps and trucks that the Army Reserves are running back and forth. They have a small camp here right in the middle of the grasslands. Who could figure! The other night we saw them in a caravan with soldiers sticking up in a opening in the roof with their helmets and night lights dangling holding a big rifle pointing out into the hinter lands. Didn’t quite seem to fit in the picture of serenity of the grasslands at dusk. The bison had moved north to be out of their way. We changed out plans and drove up Iron Mountain Road and found hundreds of them up there. Faye and John had a great view. We drove into Custer for gas seeing a few males by themselves. They won’t be allowed into the herd again until later this summer when the males will be gathering their harem. We stopped at the Legion Lake Lodge for lunch, fabulous homemade pie.

Wild Burros in the face!

Faye with her new pets.

We had made reservations months ago for play tickets for the “Run for Your Life” at the Black Hills Playhouse and Norm had to miss it. He has been looking forward to coming back here for 20 years! We got there early and played cards outside on the deck. Our expectations were met with the hilarious play. We had front row seats and laughed ourselves silly. The main character is a taxi driver that has been enjoying two wives in two flats in London and managing it all with a very careful schedule. A monkey wrench has been thrown into this nice life and he and the innocent guy who lives upstairs are caught up in one lie after another. It has a great twist at the end, very funny. All seven actors were great. The theater has been going since 1982, and obviously is still going strong.

July 17
We drove over to see Crazy Horse today. Norm is still suffering but probably from an infected bite so he joined us. What a wonderful surprise. When Chris and Norm were here in ‘93, not much of Crazy Horses face had been completed and there was nothing to see but the site. They drove up, looked and went on. Now it is a days outing. The extensive buildings hold a Native American museum with over 14,000 pieces, a restaurant, his studio and original cabin, gift shop, and cultural center with an extensive library and Curtis photograph collection in the basement. The face of Crazy Horse is before you as you drive up. It is the world’s largest mountain carving now is progress. The sculptor, Korczak Ziolowski, had won first prize at the 1939 World’s Fair with his sculpture of Paderewski. Chief Standing Bear and his Lakota council had heard this and invited him to South Dakota to do a carving in granite. Ziolowski arrived in 1947 to take on the project. The Lakota chose the symbolic representation of famed Battle of Little Bighorn leader Crazy Horse to honor all North American Indian people and proclaim, “The red man has great heroes also.” The first blast was in 1948, and it has been a continuing project ever since. He lived here with his wife and their ten children in a log cabin as he tackled the gigantic sculpture. When he died in 1982, his wife and children kept the project going. Today seven of his children and his wife are working right here. Three of his sons are part of the 10 man sculptor team and the others are working in the running of the facility. The size is unfathomable. All of Mt. Rushmore would fit in the head of Crazy Horse! It alone is 9 stories high. The horse will be 22 stories high! The painted outline shows the 45 foot ear and the 16 foot wide eye. The paint lines themselves are four feet wide. The iron in the granite allows them to seal the surface with blow torches so the magnificent sculpture will not have trouble with erosion like Mt. Rushmore. We took a bus ride down to the bottom of the mountain for a closer view. The guide filled us in on some details about the project and the family. For years, Ziolowski worked alone. He bought an old generator that he had to crank to get going and then climb over 700 stairs to get to the blasting area. Sometimes he would have to go up and down the stairs many times just to recrank old Buba when it would go “kaput” again and again. With all the hardships, he was living his dream. Thank goodness his wife had the same dream! Some of his grandchildren are coming into the business today. They work on it year round with temperatures below zero. Within the next ten years we should see the arm and hand pointing to “My lands are where my dead lie buried.” along with the outline of the head.

Cards and dinner back at the Lodge.