The result is a 14-mile drive like no other, ascending hundreds of feet into the "needles" - soaring spires of rock that first gave sculptors the weird idea to carve men's heads in mountains. There are no buffalo jams for me on the Needles Highway, a throwback to the days (1922, in this case) when American park planners tried to spark public interest in the outdoors by building motorways right through and on top of natural wonders, rather than going around. Custer's bison are also the main attraction during the annual Buffalo Roundup on the last weekend of September. Today it isn't a complete trip to Custer without a "buffalo jam," the phenomenon where bison wander onto the road, blocking cars from both directions until the surprisingly dangerous beasts decide to move on. ![]() Bison numbers have definitely rebounded in this century when I was a kid I thought they were mythical or extinct. A popular way to get around nowadays is via rental UTV (utility terrain vehicle), maybe because your camper or quad cab won't work for winding park roads and tunnels that were made for the Model T.Ĭuster is truly a national-caliber state park, thanks to its high-winding scenic drives and a safari-like Wildlife Loop starring pronghorn, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, burros, the elusive mountain goat, and around 1,400 bison. Leaving the memorial, I instead amble toward the state park on the 17-mile Iron Mountain Road, with its switchback turns, pigtail bridges and tunnels that afford surprise distant views of Rushmore. The Crazy Horse Memorial has been in progress for decades and features a 70-foot visage of the legendary Lakota leader. I steer clear of the crowds this time around. On my last visit there in 2014, the hike to the base of the presidents was still impressive, though the charming midcentury cafeteria had been replaced by the more formal Avenue of Flags. But Rushmore has always been the core attraction. When I make the epic day's drive across South Dakota to the Rapid City area every few years, I think about what has changed, and what hasn't.Ĭrazy Horse wasn't on our to-do list back then the sculpture started by Korczak Ziolkowski in 1948 really started to take shape about 25 years ago. My experiences of the Black Hills - a mountain range with more character than elevation - are forever colored by nostalgia for trips with the Boy Scouts and family in the 1980s, followed by a pre-college solo sojourn. Ironically, the closest town to Crazy Horse is a motel-filled crossroads known as Custer - and the area is dominated by the wilderness of Custer State Park.īut at the memorial, the warrior's stony glare reminds me that even in our shared American history, even here in patriotic South Dakota, there is more than one side to the story. But today the Crazy Horse Memorial, funded only by donations, with its sprawling visitor center and museum, has joined Mount Rushmore as a busy mainstream attraction in these vibrant Hills. The Lakota would eventually lose their land, and both men their lives - Custer, famously, at Little Bighorn, and Crazy Horse a year later in military custody. ![]() George Custer's advance into the sacred Black Hills in the 1870s. ![]() And I don't think that's by accident.Ĭrazy Horse fiercely resisted U.S. The outlines of the future completed monument - his body, his flowing hair, his horse - are faintly discernible.īut what strikes me most is that Crazy Horse is fixing his eagle-eyed gaze, and gesturing, in the general direction of the more famous Rushmore, some 15 miles to the east across South Dakota's Black Hills. At 70 feet high, that visage is much larger than any of the presidents on Mount Rushmore. From here, the stark details of Crazy Horse's face are perfectly clear. We deboard, and I peer up at the carving, which is an active construction site. "The purpose of this monument is to honor all North American Indians," our otherwise jocular bus driver intones. I've boarded a battered yellow school bus that will bring tourists to the base of the mountain where the legendary Lakota leader is being carved in granite - a massive work in progress going on decades. In step with this goal, our business offices, homes, and activity centers are woven within the neighborhoods they’re in.Crazy Horse is staring down four presidents of the United States. From top to bottom, our culture is to be part of the community, not just in the community. Since 1958, we have always been integrated within the community on purpose.
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