This was taken earlier in the spring to show the Cardinal "staking out his territory" but its purpose today is to show the Rock which holds down the plastic bird fountain. We bought the rock form the Korczak Ziolkowski family and the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation when we last visited the area in September of 1999. It was part of the ruble as the Sculpture of Crazy Horse began to take shape. Mrs. Ruth Ziolkowski died May 21st at 87 after providing leadership on the project since Korczak's death in 1982. The had 10 children, most of whom helped with the project over the years. She along with other young people from Connecticut volunteered back in 1948 to help Korczak with the carving and they were married in 1950. He had worked with Gutson Borglum on the Mount Rushmore Memorial. Korczak took on the task after receiving a letter from Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear who referred to the Rushmore Memorial and said that "We would like the the white man to know the red men have great heroes also". My brother Don, 3-Buddies and I saw Mount Rushmore in 1946 and Elaine and I have been out there 7 or 8 times. Our last visit was in September of 1999 following a Center For Rural Affairs meeting at Ft. Robinson. My Journal entry for September 20 includes: "Considerable progress on the Crazy Horse Monument since we last saw it. Had a hot dog-potato salad lunch at the Museum and brought home some rocks." Here is what the Monument looked like at that time.
No comments:
Post a Comment