Crazy Horse Memorial

Crazy Horse Memorial

The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument on privately held land in the Black Hills. It depicts Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance.

The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a private non-profit organization.

Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people. His most famous actions against the U.S. military included the Fetterman Fight (21 December 1866), and the Battle of the Little Bighorn (25-26 June 1876).

He surrendered to U.S. troops under General Crook in May 1877, and was fatally wounded by a military guard while allegedly resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in present-day Nebraska.

Location

12151 Ave of the Chiefs
Crazy Horse, Custer County
South Dakota
USA

Getting There

The Crazy Horse Memorial is located in the Black Hills region of South Dakota, about 17 miles southwest of Mount Rushmore. While there is no public transportation directly to the memorial, there are several tour companies that offer shuttle services from the nearby towns of Keystone and Hill City. Visitors can also rent a car or take a taxi from the Rapid City Regional Airport, which is about 40 miles away.

Nearby Airports

This is a list of primary airports in South Dakota that have scheduled passenger service on commercial airlines.