The Sidney herald., 1957-08-29
Mrs. R. Mercer
Writes Of Visit
To Black Hills
BY Mrs. Russell Mercer

BY Mrs. Russell Mercer
l wonder how many peopl
in this area realize how forum
ate we r to be within an cas-,
days drive from a vacationer'
paradise, the Black Hills. Tn,
grandeur of the scenery itself
with its beautiful lakes; pine
covered mountainsides; magnifi-
cent rock formations; the Needle:
drive, which shows a series OF
stone formations not too unlike
huge darning needles, though il
calls for a slight stretch of the
imagination; natural caves show
ing the marks of the ages, point
ing out to us what a very short
time we spend here on earth
compared to the years that have
gone before; fishing and camping
spots by the score, minus mos
quitoes, a. paradise for those who
like to "get away from it all"
for a bit of camping and fish
ing; these alone are well worth
a trip to the Black Hills.
But this is only the beginning.
The four faces of Presidents
Washington, Jefferson, Teddy
Roosevelt, and Lincoln carved in
the m~ountainside was a monu-
mental task, and 1 understand
they must be worked on each
year to prevent the ravageS of
time.
Along this same line is the
Crazy Horse Carving which
promises to be an even more
monumental task than the four
faces. 1t is slowly taking shape
as the result of the dream of a
gifted Polish sculptor, Korzak
Ziolkowski, pronounced Core
chek Jewelcuff-ski). One should
see the museum at the foot of
the hill to realize what a gifted
sculptor he is. Besides several
marble busts and wood carvings
he has antiques, one of which
is a huge, gilt-framed mirror
that originally belonged to Marie
of France.
Ziolkowski's Imagination was
fired by a letter from Sioux
Chief Henry Standing Bear who
wanted to know if he would
,arve a mountain memorial $50
he White People may know that
he Red Man had heroes, too"
He has never rested physically or
mentally since then as he has
been working, with very little
for ten years, blasting away
It the mountain which now
hows outline of the nose and
in about % years, should
portray the worlds largest mon
lment, of Chief Crazy Horse
iding a fiery steed, measuring
Al feet long and 500 feet high,
esulting in the entire mountain
'eing carved into a complete
tatue. Crazy Horse, as all STU
ents of history will remember,
; the great Sioux Chief who
,iped out General Clusters COM
land in the Battle of the Big
Torn more than rs years ago.
his battle, by the way, was
ought as a result Of the white
renegging on his promise
!, let the Indians keep the Black
ills, which to them is sacred
round.
Ziolkowski has had no govern
or state aid for his gigantic
and has already spent
yer $4,000 of his own money
\ it. He is a dedicated man and
$50 dreams of the day when
lere will be an Indian university, !
Iuseum, and hospital at the foot !
the statue. May the generosity !
the American people help him !
,alize his dream.
The Reptile Gardens near
apid City are world renowned, i,
I'D we'll they should be. Jim, :
no is interested in nature study,
all of it immensely. In :
lse you get the feeling that you /.
e entirely surrounded by snakes, :
lie can relax with a good laugh :.
looking in their collection Of
azy mirrors - a good way to
nd out how much better or I
orse one would look by adding
subtracting several pounds in 4
e right or wrong places. /
A few miles from here is d.
lsaur Park, containing huge ce- !,
ent replicas of the dinosaurs =
at roamed the earth years and =
'ars ago. 7
Deadwood and Lead are inter- O
ting little towns with plenty of t
storic spots TO remind n of f
e old west. One may take a t
through the gold mines at S
lad. The museum at Deadwood t,
very interesting, containing a
any antiques and guns used by Il
e early day desperadoes. Mrs. b
owey, formerly of Sidney, con-
.buted some of the items on :
"
all took a pleasant swim in
ans Plunge, indoor swimming q
oil at Hot Springs where the +
ater is said to completely change d
steen times a day with pleas N
thy warm spring water. n
Jack and Ruby Crosgrove, who 81
nerously insisted on keeping e
r baby the four days we wers u
ne, had taken a trip to the II
ack Hills in July and they told c.
Of another NATURALLY phenom- n