This undertaking is absolutely phenomenal, yet most people know very little, if anything, about it. In the Black Hills of South Dakota, away from Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park, an entire mountain is being slowly carved into the likeness of the great Oglala Lakota Chief Crazy Horse atop his steed. The construction on this began in 1948, and has continued nonstop since! Every day, many tons of rock are blasted off and hauled away. Yet it is not expected to be completed for another 200 or more years! At that point the dimensions of this colossal monument will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. This project began when Lakota elder Henry Standing Bear commissioned Korczak Ziolkowski to sculpt the likeness of Crazy Horse out of Thunderhead Mountain. Korczak passed away in 1982, at which point his widowed wife Ruth took over the project. Ruth passed away in 2014, at which point her daughter Monique took over the project together with her siblings. The Wild Images Team captured this image from within the Visitor Center and Museum, where a statue in the window depicts the eventual design in front of what has been completed of the Crazy Horse Memorial to date. The Wild Images Team has captured many other images from South Dakota such as the bright flash of a colorful lightning strike over the badlands, the moment that a pronghorn displays its phenomenal physique, and the time that a massive bison bull came meandering past, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from South Dakota have documented the centuries long carving of the massive Crazy Horse Monument, the very majestic Mount Rushmore and the Avenue of Flags, the expansive view as wild burros walk through the rolling prairies, the ever wary prairie dog stands at attention in the prairie, the amazing location of the granite roadways through Custer State Park, when The Wild Images Team encountered a remote end of trail sign in the middle of nowhere, this close up image of textures in a colorful badlands mound, the interesting time when a flock of turkeys photobombed our image, and The Wild Images Team sunset shadows over Badlands National Park. In neighboring North Dakota, The Wild Images Team has captured images such as the contrast created by the horizontal color bands cross through yellow badlands and the entire herd as a group of wild horses cluster together on a hilltop, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts of North Dakota have documented the herd of bison grazing in the grasslands and the ever changing colorful badland mound that caps a rolling ridge. In neighboring Wyoming, The Wild Images Team has captured images such as the contrast found in the colorful grasslands and background Grand Teton National Park peaks, the varying landscape of Grand Teton National Park rocky peaks and clouds, the large antlers on display as an elk takes a look back in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, the vertical abruptness as Devils Tower rises above the red rocks and green pines, and the many hues found as the colorful badlands cover over this very remote region, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Wyoming have documented as the rugged snowy peaks rise above wildflowers, and as The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome poses for a picture at the Meeteetse “Where Chiefs Meet” welcome sign. In neighboring Montana, The Wild Images Team has captured images such as a group of white mountain goats as they graze the highlands, an expansive view of rocky ridges extending to the horizon, the colorfully massive wall of Hidden Lake, high altitude view of tundra and glacial lakes, a very remote reflective alpine lake covered with rocks, and an ominously approaching heavy downpour over the green foothills, all of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Montana have documented the very deep blue waters of McDonald Creek and the panoramic view of The Wild Images Team at Hidden Lake.
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