The sculpture of famed Native American leader Crazy Horse is on its way to being completed after 70 years of hard work and development.
The monument was started back in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski who saw it as fitting that a Native American should be memorialized on the side of the mountain where they ruled for thousands of years.
When Korczak first proposed the idea of starting the project, he was backed by Native American chief Standing Bear who said that it was of historical importance that this project honored his people’s culture.
Korczak worked along and sculpted a staircase that had over 700 steps to the top of the mountain where he begin the project without water or electricity. Even seven of his ten children joined in to help him in his efforts of building it.
The master sculptor spent 34 years working on the monument until he eventually died in 1982 forcing the project to have to be completed by others. He was buried at the foot of the monument in honor of his dedication with one quote on his tombstone.
“Go slowly, so you do it right,” the words on his tomb said.
Facebook page Crazy Horse Memorial has been releasing images of the progress being made showing workers cutting rock and scaling the mountainside to sculpt it.
Development stopped shortly after his death and the project finally begun to make progress once again. When it is completed it will be 563ft tall and 641ft long, which is four times taller than the Statue of Liberty.
It will be one of the largest monuments in the world. It’s made of granite and it’s located on the peak of Thunderhead Mountain in South Dakota. The location is not far from the famous Mount Rushmore monument which has the heads of five famous U.S. presidents.
The project is being financed by an establishment set up near the monument that attracts over 40,000 visitors per year and rakes in $12.5 million in admission and donations annually. Once finished, it will be one of the great wonders of the modern world.