CNN - Crazy Horse Memorial sculpture, 50 years later

After 50 years of sculpting the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills, the face has taken shape. Tuesday's blast obliterated another 100 tons of rock

Face of a nation

50 years later, sculptor family prepares to dedicate face of Sioux chief Crazy Horse

May 12, 1998
Web posted at: 4:09 a.m. EST (1611 GMT)

See the blast for yourself.
	1.7 MB, 29 sec, 160 x 120 2.2 MB, 29 sec, 240 x 180 QuickTime movie

In this story:

Movie: 100-tons of rock dynamited

Photos: Three generations of sculpting family

Photos: The evolution of Crazy Horse

Link: CNN Chicago Bureau Crazy Horse Pages

CRAZY HORSE, South Dakota (CNN) -- When it's finished it will be the largest sculpture in the world -- Sioux leader Crazy Horse, who never signed a treaty with the United States and never allowed his photograph to be taken -- astride a horse pointing into the distance.

Begun 50 years ago by Polish American Korczak Ziolkowski, work on the statue is still in the family -- seven of his ten children now carry on the work, and his widow Ruth oversees the project.

"It was my choice to do this," said son Casimir. "As I was growing up, I worked with my dad. After he passed on, I had a choice -- either carry on the dream, or not carry on. I chose to stick around."

Crazy Horse sculpture statistics:

Finished height: 563 feet (172 meters)

Finished length: 641 feet (195 meters)

Head: 90 feet tall (27 meters) (Mt. Rushmore heads are 60 feet or 18 meters)

Forehead: 32 feet tall (10 meters)

Nose: 30 feet long (9 meters)

Eyes and Eyelids: 17 feet (5 meters) wide

Korczak Ziolkowski, at one time an assistant to sculptor Gutzon Borglum at Mt. Rushmore, accepted the invitation of Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear to create a monument to Crazy Horse in the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota, and set off the first blast of the sculpture on June 3, 1948, when the memorial was officially dedicated. On June 3, 1998, the Native American leader's face will be dedicated.

On Tuesday, CNN gots an up close look at the final blast before that dedication. Almost 100 tons of rock were shaved away, exposing more of the figure's chin.

"The enormity doesn't really surprise me because for us it's been normal our entire lives," Casimir Ziolkowski said of the size of the project.

Ruth Ziolkowski said that crews will begin work on the horse's head next, now that Crazy Horse's face has taken shape. In addition to the massive sculpture, a medical center and other facilities are planned for the site.

Crazy Horse was killed by an American soldier while under U.S. Army protection at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in 1877. He was 37 years old.

In the 50 years of work on the mountain, millions of tons of rock have been blasted away. No one has an estimate for a completion date on the project, and no government monies have been used for any of the work.