Crazy Horse Statue - a work in progress

Day 36 - Tuesday - Crazy Horse

I took the car out for a short drive and the check engine light was still on, so I researched Ford dealers in the area.  The closest is Rapid City and the earliest appointment I could get was Wednesday of next week.  The service advisor said it could be something or nothing.  He also said if the light isn't flashing there should be no problem until I got to his shop, and also that the light could go out if it was a false positive.  So I made the appointment.

We spent quite a bit of time on the phone and both applied for a Medicare Supplement plan to replace the Arizona plan we previously had.  It's now gone to underwriting so see if we qualify for the lowest rates.

Then we headed to the Crazy Horse Memorial, only a few miles from our RV park.  This is a work in progress - a stone carving of the 18th Century Oglala Lakota (Sioux) chief who fought against US soldiers after the US government reneged on a treaty that confirmed  the Black Hills as the home of the Lakota.  This happened after gold was discovered in the Black Hills.  The carving shows Crazy Horse riding his horse, and when finished will be bigger than the presidential statues on Mt. Rushmore.  It's funded entirely by private donations and admission fees, and has been in progress for 70 years,  Our tour guide said his best estimate of the completion date is another 70 years.

It was commissioned in 1939 by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota chief, who asked Polish American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to create a sculpture "to show the White Man that the Red Man has heroes too".  Ziolkowski twice refused offers from the US government to fund the construction.  His family continues the work today.

While the sculpture is still in progress, the site has much more to offer.  An amazing museum describing the history of many Native American tribes, along with artifacts; an orientation movie telling the story of the memorial; a museum dedicated to the American Bison; Indian dancers and artisans; bus tours to the foot of the carving and more.  We spent over 3 hours there, taking in everything.   

We came back to the RV for hamburgers cooked over the campfire and then returned to the site for their evening program - a laser and light presentation on the face of the memorial after dark.  You can sit in your car to watch it (which we did) and it was preceded by a very impressive lightening display that I wasn't able to capture on my camera.

When we returned for dinner, the check engine light on the car was off, so I'm hoping the problem was a false positive.