When Will the Crazy Horse Memorial Be Completed?

FRANCIS TEMMAN/AFP/Getty Images

The Crazy Horse Memorial has no expected completion date. The Ziolkowski family and the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation cite financing, weather and engineering challenges as reasons that a date cannot be set.

Korczak Ziolkowski began sculpting the mountain on June 3, 1948. When finished, the carving is expected to be 563 feet high and 641 long. Crazy Horse’s head is 87.5 feet high and his horse’s head is 219 feet high.

The Crazy Horse Memorial is not a literal likeness of Chief Crazy Horse. Instead, the sculpture represents an American Indian hero and the spirit of the Lakota people. The monument sits between Hill City and Custer in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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