The proposed dimensions of the Crazy Horse memorial are staggering. At 563 feet high it will be taller than the Washington Monument. The length will be 641 feet, and that's longer than two football fields. Crazy Horse's head will be 87-1/2 feet tall, which is equivalent to Rushmore's Washington head, plus Miss Liberty's head, plus an additional 10 1/2 feet.
Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski didn't always deal in such heroic proportions. One of his smaller works is a bust that marks Sitting Bull's grave near Mobridge. Below are some curious historical facts concerning this grave.
Sitting Bull was born and died on South Dakota soil, but he was initially buried across the North Dakota border at Fort Yates. For many years Sitting Bull's remains lay forgotten in the North Dakota graveyard. In 1953 a group of historically motivated individuals, led by Clarence Grey Eagle, sought to have great Sioux leader's remains brought back to South Dakota.
Sitting Bull's surviving relatives agreed with the plan. But negotiations with the governors of North and South Dakota and other prominent officials repeatedly broke down. Both states wanted Sitting Bull's grave.
On April 8, 1953, Grey Eagle and friends could wait no longer. In a dramatic midnight raid on the North Dakota graveyard, involving several vehicles, a backhoe and an airplane, Sitting Bull's bones were secretly dug up.
The remains were soon back in South Dakota. To assure that North Dakotan's wouldn't steal the bones back, they were encased in a concrete block weighing 20 tons. The bizarre story received national and international coverage. South Dakota's Governor Anderson said he approved of the return of the bones, but frowned on the method used. North Dakotans called it grave robbery.
10/01/03