Crazy Horse Monument & Needles Highway 7/16/2010

This morning we headed back through Custer State Park into Custer, SD to do a couple of caches and visit the Crazy Horse Monument. The first cache was at a small rock and mineral store and the second was along a dirt road near a sign. Then it was on to Crazy Horse. Well I certainly was disappointed as it cost us $10.00 each just to drive through the gate and then it would have cost us each another $4.00 to be able to take a bus ride to the base of the monument and if you were rich you could take a van ride to the top of the mountain for $125.00 each. All the admission fee did was get you into the park and allow you to go through the museum. The actual monument is about a 1/2 mile away from the parking area and either you pay to take the bus or view it from the parking lot. Well we opted to just go through the museum as we felt that the Indians were overcharging a bit. The trip through the museum was nice as it had a lot of pictures and Indian artifacts as you can see by the few pictures that I took.


The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction in the Black Hills of South Dakota, in the form of Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance.
The memorial consists of the mountain carving (monument), the Indian Museum of North America, and the Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain on land considered sacred by some Native Americans, between Custer and Hill City, roughly 8 miles away from Mount Rushmore.
The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet high.
The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is still far from completion. If it is ever finished, it may be the world's largest sculpture.
The mountain carving was begun in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziółkowski, who had worked on Mount Rushmore under Gutzon Borglum in 1924. In 1939, Ziolkowski had received a letter from Chief Henry Standing Bear, which stated in part "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes, too."
The memorial is a non-profit undertaking, and receives no federal or state funding. Ziolkowski was offered $10 million from the federal government on two occasions, but he turned the offers down. Ziolkowski felt the project was more than just a mountain carving, and he feared that his plans for the broader educational as well as cultural goals for the memorial would be left behind with federal involvement.
Ziolkowski died in 1982. The entire complex is owned by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. Ziolkowski's wife Ruth and their ten children remain closely involved with the work, which has no fixed completion date. The face of Crazy Horse was completed and dedicated in 1998.
The memorial is to be the icon of a huge educational/cultural center that will include the University and Medical Training Center for the North American Indian and the Indian Museum of North America. The current visitor complex will anchor the center.
Crazy Horse resisted being photographed, and was deliberately buried where his grave would not be found. Ziolkowski, however, envisioned the monument as a metaphoric tribute to the spirit of Crazy Horse and Native Americans. "My lands are where my dead lie buried," supposedly said by Crazy Horse, is the intended interpretation of the monument's expansive gesture.
While Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear believes the motives may have been sincere, many traditional Lakota and Native Americans oppose this memorial. In a 2001 interview, the activist and actor Russell Means stated his objections to the memorial: "Imagine going to the holy land in Israel, whether you're a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim, and start carving up the mountain of Zion. It's an insult to our entire being."[6] In a 1972 autobiography, Lame Deer, a Lakota medicine man, said: "The whole idea of making a beautiful wild mountain into a statue of him is a pollution of the landscape. It is against the spirit of Crazy Horse."
Many Native Americans also believe that making the sculpture point with his finger is not historically correct. "In Mexico one points with the chin, whereas American Indians and certain other people point with the lips.”


The highly complex steps in the mountain carving process at Crazy Horse can be summed up in relatively simple terms. We are making a very large duplicate of Korczak's sculpture to tell the story of North American Indian cultures. That artwork depicts the Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, seated on his horse and pointing over the horse's head as he says, "My lands are where my dead lie buried." In order to convey that powerful story on a monumental scale on the mountain we follow three basic steps: 1) measure Korczak's model; 2) measure the mountain; 3) remove all the rock that doesn't fit! In reality each of these steps gets quite complex and requires the use of powerful tools and techniques, but the guiding principles remain quite simple.
The members of the Crazy Horse mountain crew are experts in precision blasting, equipment operation and engineering. They maintain a strong emphasis on safety in all steps of the operation and are proud to have an outstanding safety record. Here's a little closer look at each of the meticulously detailed steps this team carries out to carve the mountain.
Measuring systems have evolved steadily during the 60-year history of the mountain carving. Korczak relied on artistic estimates and his incredibly practiced eye and natural feel for dimensions and scale. After his death, his family and the mountain crew developed a mechanical pointing system to measure the 1/34th scale model of Crazy Horse's face. After completion of the face, we designed and built another mechanical pointing system to measure the 1/300th scale model of the entire carving. More recently laser scanning methods have been used to measure the 1/34th scale model and just in the past year brand new technology has been used to measure the 1/300th scale model with a laser scanning arm. Monique Ziolkowski is currently working to build a 1/60th scale model that will combine the artistic elements of Korczak's story with dimensions and geologic details from the mountain. Some combination of mechanical pointing systems and laser scanning technology will likely be used to measure this model when it is complete.
Korczak used a combination of his artistic eye, tape measures and a beautiful old theodolite (survey instrument) to determine the basic location of his model within the mountain and begin the process of removing excess rock. A 60-foot long measuring boom was fixed to the top of Crazy Horse's head in 1987 to direct the work on the face. A plumb bob suspended from that measuring boom was used to transfer numbers from the pointing system on the 1/34th model of Crazy Horse's face.
When work moved beyond the face in 1998, a survey control system was developed and a modern survey instrument was used to measure the entire mountain. This instrument, known as a total station, measures very precise angles and distances from known control points to calculate 3 dimensional coordinates for any point on the mountain. It uses an infrared beam reflected from a hand held prism to measure distances up to several thousand feet with accuracy to the nearest 1/1000th of a foot. Measurements from Korczak's models are transferred to the mountain using this same instrument and survey control system.
Laser scanning equipment has been used to measure the entire mountain on several occasions over the past 10 years. These instruments work on the same principle as the total station to measure angles and distances from known control points to points of interest on the rock. They use a laser beam reflected from the rock to measure the distances without need of a prism at each point. This allows for measuring huge numbers of points very quickly and accurately to build 'digital models' of the mountain in our engineering computers.
The next step in measuring on the mountain will be to apply the best possible methods to measure the geologic structure of the mountain in addition to the basic geometry of the mountain. This information becomes critical in refining the shape of the models and in planning for long term stability of the memorial.
Rock is removed from the mountain primarily with explosives. Again this complex process can be summed up in basic steps: Drill precisely placed holes in the granite; load explosives in the holes; time the detonation sequence of those explosives; push the blasted rock (known as 'muck' in the mining industry) off the mountain with heavy equipment and finally remove the last layer of rock in the finishing stage. All blasts at Crazy Horse are designed, drilled and executed to protect the rock that is left after the blast. This is the opposite of most blasting operations, where the main concern is the final size and location of the material being blasted away. The mountain crew prepares most blasts using a system that explosives engineers call "pre-splitting." It is similar to perforating a piece of paper to allow it to tear evenly. The rock to be removed is drilled on all sides with a series of parallel drill holes. Explosives are detonated throughout the entire length of each of the drill holes, cleanly removing the desired rock while leaving the remaining rock undamaged. Here's a more detailed look at each of the steps in the rock removal process:

Drilling
Equipment has evolved from Korczak's use of a single-jack (sledge hammer and hand steel) to drill the holes for the first blast on the mountain. Korczak quickly advanced to pneumatic jack hammer drills powered by 'Buda', the ancient air compressor which quit frequently during the work day and forced him to make many trips down and back up the 741 steps to the top of the mountain. He then progressed to wagon drills, a larger drifter drill mounted on a D8 Cat and finally air track drills. These machines required less manual labor but still relied on gas or diesel powered air compressors to drive the hammer. The mountain crew did much of the drilling for Crazy Horse's face using hand held rotary hammer drills powered by more modern, efficient electric air compressors. We still drill 1 3/8 inch or 1 5/8 inch holes up to 21 feet deep using these hand drills on rare occasions when the track drills cannot be maneuvered to the drilling site. Hydraulic drills are now the standard and our fleet includes three of these very efficient machines mounted on tracks or rubber tires. Most of our holes are drilled about 20 feet deep using 2 inch diameter carbide steel bits. Our largest machines approach drilling rates up to 10 feet per minute! The next generation of these drills will be faster and more efficient and will have enclosed cabs to better protect the mountain crew from the noise and dust generated in the drilling process.

Explosives loading
When most people think of explosives, they imagine dynamite. The primary types of explosives used here at Crazy Horse, however, are not dynamites but detonating cord and small diameter water gel or emulsion based pre-split products. Dynamite is very effective at fragmenting rock, but expends all of its energy in an area equal to the length of the cartridge - a very small portion of the drill hole. Our blasts using detonating cord and pre-split products can be designed to expend the same amount of energy over the entire length of the drill holes. This provides much better control of the explosive energy and does much less damage to the rock that is not removed by the blast. In a typical blast at Crazy Horse up to several hundred drill holes are loaded with the appropriate size of detonating cord or pre-split explosives. After the product is in place the holes are filled with small crushed stone. The stone fills the open space in the hole and better focuses the explosive energy to precisely split the rock.

Blast timing
The typical blast is actually a carefully timed series of smaller blasts spaced only a few milliseconds apart. The vibration and damage caused by the blast can be controlled by limiting the amount of explosive detonated in each section of the blast. The distance to what will be the finished surface of the mountain carving ("final grade") dictates the distance between drill holes and the type and amount of explosive used in each hole. The closer to final grade, the smaller the drill hole spacing and the smaller the explosives charge weight in each hole. Timing between the blast sections is controlled by the blasting caps (detonators). This is another area where advancing technology is making a big difference in our mountain carving operation. Electric blasting caps which are susceptible to premature detonation caused by static or nearby lightning strikes or radio transmissions are no longer used. Our most common method uses non-electric delay detonators fired by sending a spark through long plastic tube or with a highly secure 2-way radio controlled remote initiation system. We have also used the latest technology - a system of electronically controlled, programmable detonators which allow nearly infinite choices in blast timing. We expect systems like this to play a key role in controlling blasts as we work closer to finished grade in the future.

Mucking
Removing the blasted rock or muck from the mountain is accomplished with heavy equipment. Here again there has been a steady improvement in the type, size and efficiency of the equipment used over the past 60 years. A typical blast today produces 2000 to 3000 tons of rock fragments. These rocks range in size from small gravel up to the occasional 10 ton boulder and most remain on the blasting bench rather than falling off the mountain from the force of the blast. The mountain crew spends 2 or 3 days with a combination of excavators and bulldozers to move this rock off the mountain and clear the way for the drills to prepare the next blast. To lend some perspective to the quantity of rock being handled - the average dump truck on the highway is hauling about 15 tons of material. It would take 200 truck loads to haul away the rock from just one large blast on the mountain!

Finishing
When the crew returns to finishing work it will be accomplished as it was on Crazy Horse's face by drilling to isolate small blocks of rock (100 to 1,000 pound chunks). These blocks may be blasted off using very light explosives. In very detailed areas of the carving, drill holes are located so close together that they almost contact each other and mechanical wedges are used as an alternative to explosives. A jet torch is used to finish the surface of the mountain carving. The jet removes drill marks and smoothes the final surface. The torch runs on diesel fuel and compressed air. The 3,300 degree (F) jet flame causes tiny fragments of rock to flake off as the result of heat expansion, leaving a polished surface. The variety of minerals in the pegmatite granite makes torching a challenge because each mineral reacts differently to the heat. The final step in finishing is to seal the natural seams in the granite so that water cannot infiltrate and cause damage during freeze/thaw cycles.

Equipment Used:
Caterpillar
Case
John Deere
Atlas Copco CMT
Sandvik Mining & Construction
RDH Mining Equipment
Atlas Copco Compressors
Gardner Denver Compressors
Kuefler Lightning Protection
Erico
Sioux Steam Cleaner Corp
East Coast Drilling
Martin Marietta

Explosives & blasting technology
Dyno Nobel
Orica USA
Buckley Powder Company
Austin Powder Company
Alpha Explosives
Intermountain West Energies
Wampum Hardware
Instantel
Blastronics
Davey Bickford USA
Rothenbuhler Engineering


Measuring & engineering technology
AutoCAD
Eagle Point Software
Real Earth Models
Direct Dimensions
FARO
Thatcher & Associates
Trimble
Vibronics
Engineered Dimensions
Lamp, Rynearson

The Crazy Horse Memorial mountain crew uses precision explosive engineering to carefully and safely remove and shape the rock of the mountain. Since the dedication of the face of Crazy Horse in 1998, the work has been focused on blocking out the horse's head.
A network of about a dozen benches will be cut out around the horse's head. The benches serve to block out the head to within 20 feet of the final surface of the horse's head, while providing access roads for the heavy equipment used to drill holes for loading explosives and to remove loose rock after each blast.


After we were done at the museum we headed north to pick up the Needles Highway Scenic Drive through the Custer SP. The Needles Highway, along with the US 16A concurrency, are also part of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. Portions of the highway are also a section of Custer State Park's Wildlife Loop.
After splitting from US 16A, the route is known as the Needles Highway. The highway is named after the high granite "needles" it winds among. Along this stretch lies the Black Hills Playhouse. The highway passes through two tunnels blasted through sheer granite walls—Iron Creek Tunnel at mile 25, and Needles Eye Tunnel at mile 31. Owing to the narrow roadway, sharp turns, and low tunnels, the road has very little traffic. The vehicles that do travel this road are almost exclusively sightseers.
Just after Needles Eye Tunnel, Highway 87 serves as the northern terminus of SD 89. After this junction, SD 87 has one more tunnel, Hood Tunnel, at milepost 33. It then provides access to the Sylvan Lake Resort. The route finally ends at US 16/385 south of Hill City.
Driving through rock tunnels and winding past rock spires, the Needles Highway was labeled impossible when it was constructed in 1919. That didn't deter Governor Norbeck, who supplied more than 150,000 pounds of dynamite and the determination needed to construct the roadway.
The Needles Highway curves and winds through 14 miles of magnificent rock formations called 'needles.' One of the most prominent rock formations on the Highway is the Needles Eye, reaching 30 to 40 feet in the air with a 3 foot wide slit.
The Needles Highway is more than a 14-mile road – it’s a spectacular drive through pine and spruce forests, meadows surrounded by birch and aspen and rugged granite mountains. The road’s name comes from the needlelike granite formations which seem to pierce the horizon along the highway. The roadway was carefully planned by former South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck, who marked the entire course on foot and by horseback. Construction was completed in 1922.

The drive was beautiful up and down the 14 mile highway. We stopped many many times to view the rock formations and take pictures as you can see. We saw the Black Hills Playhouse which didn't look like it was being used. Then we stopped again at one of the many picnic areas and had lunch. After lunch we took the Wildlife Highway Loop in hopes of spotting the buffalo again as they were headed for the high country and open plains, but we didn't see nary a one. We did see the buffalo corrals where they herd the buffalo in September of each year. Custer State Park in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota is home to one of the world's largest buffalo herds. This 71,000 acre State Park with it's of lush forests, quiet and serene meadows and majestic mountains provide food and shelter for nearly 1,500 buffalo. Each fall the ground rumbles and the dust flies as cowboys, cowgirls and park crews bring in the thundering herd. The roundup serves ecological and environmental purposes. The first part of the roundup involves moving the entire herd into a system of corrals along the Wildlife Loop Road. While in the corrals the massive animals are sorted and categorized by Custer State Park's resource personnel. To control the size of the park's bison population, a portion of the herd is sold at the annual Buffalo Auction, the third Saturday in November. Those animals chosen to be sold are retained in the corrals, while the remainder of the herd is turned back out into the park. The revenue received from this auction remains in the park and comprises a portion of the park's annual operating budget. Then it was back to the coach for the rest of the day. Well that's about all from here for today so until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick