Crazy Horse Monument sculptor's widow, Ruth Ziolkowski, has recently died at the age of 87. Meanwhile despite the death of the Crazy Horse Monument sculptor's widow, the project is still on-going, reports CBS 12.
According to the Associated Press, Ruth Ziolkowski, has been a widower who has carried on her late husband's dream of honoring Native Americans by carving the huge likeness of warrior Crazy Horse into the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Crazy Horse Monument sculptor's widow, Ziolkowski, was a soft-spoken visionary. She reportedly oversaw the ongoing project until she entered the hospital in April. This was a month after her cancer diagnosis. As reported by WPEC, according to memorial spokesman Mike Morgan Ziolkowski died Wednesday night in Rapid City.
Jack Marsh, a member of Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation said, "Ruth Ziolkowski, the remarkable matriarch of Crazy Horse Memorial, was loved and admired by millions who were inspired by her example to 'never forget your dreams. Ruth, as much as anyone, advanced reconciliation between the Native and non-Native people of the United States."
Before being Mrs. Ruth Ziolkowski, the Crazy Horse Monument sculptor's widow, she was then Ruth Carolyn Ross. Mrs. Ziolkowski came to South Dakota's Black Hills from Connecticut in 1948. Back then she was with other young people who volunteered to help sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski begin the carving that year. The two were reportedly married at the site of the Crazy Horse Monument in 1950 on Thanksgiving Day. Korczak was 42 while Ruth was 24.
Korczak reportedly took on the project of the Crazy Horse Monument because of the invitation of Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear. The chief referred to the nearby Mount Rushmore National Memorial, and wrote a letter to Korczak saying, "We would like the white man to know the red men have great heroes also."
Korczak Ziolkowski, the to-be sculptor of the Crazy Horse Monument contemplated the offer before accepting. He also reportedly helped Gutzon Borglum at Mount Rushmore in 1939.
Crazy Horse Monument sculptor's widower Ruth Ziolkowski told The Associated Press back in 2006, "He decided it would be well worth his life carving a mountain, not just as a memorial to the Indian people. He felt by having the mountain carving, he could give back some pride. And he was a believer that if your pride is intact you can do anything in this world you want to do."
According to CBS 12, Crazy Horse was a legendary Oglala Lakota warrior. Back in 1876, he helped lead the attack against Gen. George Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana. Crazy Horse was killed by a soldier's bayonet the following year in Nebraska.
Ruth was known as Mrs. Z around the 1,000-acre complex. She took over the Crazy Horse Monument project after Korczak died in 1982. She tried to heed his last words, which were: "Crazy Horse must be finished. You must work on the mountain - but slowly, so you do it right."
Crazy Horse Monument's widower Mrs. Z helped lead the effort to shift the focus from the horse to carving the warrior's 90-foot-tall face. The move was reportedly accepted and was done through the infusion of donations and worldwide interest in the project. The Crazy Horse Monument was dedicated in 1998 at the 50th anniversary ceremony.
As of the moment, the project is slow-going. However, the site now includes a welcome center, a Native American museum, educational and training area, restaurant, gift shop and the Indian University of North America. The University will be hosting 32 students in the summer who will be taking college courses and will be working on the Crazy Horse Monument.
Ruth reportedly did most of her work in the cabin where her and her husband's 10 children were born while others worked on the Crazy Horse Monument.
Her desk was simple, just like her dresses and smocks Ziolkowski with her white moccasins and hair bands. In spite of having to work long hours, Ruth was always willing to greet visitors with a smile, pose for a photo and ask where they were from.
Rollie Noem, Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation chief operating officer, told the AP in 2006, "She's very detailed but also very visionary. She's an astute business person and she lives this project 24/7. It is her passion. She's not only kept things together but she's overseen all of the growth that has happened and the expansion and development from all fronts."
The memorial reportedly draws more than a million visitors to the southern Black Hills annually and brings in millions of dollars every year, mainly through admission fees.
The memorial has already received large donations, but there also have been numerous smaller gifts as well, even from children's lemonade sales. According to The AP, the Ziolkowski family has followed Korczak's reproach of refusing help from the government and just rely solely on private funding.
Family members have not yet an estimate when the carving will be complete, but that it depends largely on donations. Harsh weather during winters could limit how much can be done in a year, and that the Crazy Horse Monument is unlike any other.
According to the memorial, the Crazy Horse Monument project is massive, as all four 60-foot heads on Mount Rushmore can fit into it.
Crazy Horse Monument is envisioned to eventually show Crazy Horse astride his horse pointing east to the plains. The carving will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high, reportedly higher than the Washington Monument and almost twice the size of the Statue of Liberty. Ruth's children and grandchildren have promised to keep the project going. Ziolkowski grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut and she will be buried in a stone coffin at the base of the mountain next to her husband.
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