We continued our excellent adventure with my dad in South Dakota to see The Crazy Horse Memorial, Bear Country USA, and Mount Rushmore.

Crazy Horse Memorial

The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction in the Black Hills, in South Dakota. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion.  The memorial is controversial, as descendants of Crazy Horse say the destruction of the sacred mountain is a disgrace.  There is also speculation that the sculptor’s family is the true beneficiary financially rather than the Lakota people.

The white sculpture is a rendering of what the monument will look like upon completion. The current monument is in the background. There is a long way to go until it is finished.

Bear Country USA

Bear Country USA is a drive through wildlife park. We enjoyed seeing the various types of animals.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

We traveled on the Needles Highway in Custer State Park to visit Mount Rushmore. We had no idea that our first sighting of it would be through a one car tunnel carved into the rock. It was so cool, we immediately stopped for pictures.

There is enough rock up there to carve more faces. What about mine??

We came back for the evening presentation. There was a movie about the history of the memorial…

then a celebration of current and former military. Military and their families were invited on stage for the lowering of the flag ceremony. My dad is in the red hat that reads, “Once a Marine, Always a Marine.”