Welcome
The coordinates for this earthcache will take you to a location within the Visitor Complex for the Crazy Horse Memorial. There is a fee to enter the memorial grounds per person or per carload (whichever is cheaper for you). Up-to-date fee information and hours of operation are available here.
There is NO physical container located at the cache coordinates. This is an earthcache where you will make some observations and answer some questions via email to earn credit for finding the cache.
The Black Hills
The Black Hills are an isolated mountain range in western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming (physiographically they are not hills but mountains). The range contains some of the tallest peaks in North America east of the Rockies.
The Black Hills are among the earth's older geological formations. The volcanic uplift that created the Black Hills occurred in several episodes during the Tertiary period (a geologic period 65 million to 1.8 million years ago). The core of the uplift is characterized by Precambrian granite, pegmatite, and metamorphic rocks. The oldest rocks near the center of the uplift dome are over 2 billion years old. These rocks contain many different types of minerals, including some of which are rare.
Crazy Horse Mountain
The location chosen for the Crazy Horse Memorial lies within the Black Hills. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear officially started Crazy Horse Memorial June 3, 1948. The Crazy Horse Memorial carving will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high when completed, and it will be the largest sculpture in the world.
Millions of tons of rock have been removed in the process of working on the memorial to date. Examining the rock that has been removed allows one to examine a small piece of Black Hills geology up close.
Rocks and Minerals
Rocks are made of two or more minerals. Some common names for rocks are boulder, stone, and pebble. Rocks can also be as small as sand or dust.
Minerals are naturally-occurring inorganic substances with a definite and predictable chemical composition and physical properties. There are over 3000 known minerals on earth. Minerals are identified using several properties including color, hardness, luster, clevage, and specific gravity.
The rocks blasted from Crazy Horse Mountain contain several different minerals.
The Logging Requirements for This Earthcache:
1) Post a photo of yourself, a member of your team, or your GPS with the Crazy Horse Memorial in the background along with your found log (example photos below). The photo can be taken from anywhere at the Visitor Complex.
Allen Cachers 2010
3/4 of the Allen Cachers 2016
Per current earthcache requirements, a photo cannot be required. So, if you are unwilling or unable to post a photo, as an alternative, you will find a model of the completed sculpture near the cache coordinates. Instead of posting a photo, you can instead email us the first seven lines of the text that will be part of the finished memorial.
ALSO
2) Proceed to the display with the sign that says "ROCK FROM CRAZY HORSE MOUNTAIN" located near the cache coordinates.
There you will find actual rocks blasted from the mountain that you can take home with you (donations are appreciated). Either take one of the rocks with you to examine at home (rinsing off the rock may help), or closely examine one of the rocks at the display, and email us the answers to the following via our profile (do NOT include any answers in your log):
- Describe your rock, including your estimate or measurement of the size and weight and a detailed description of what the rock looks like.
- Describe at least three of the minerals that you see in your rock in detail using some of the properties for minerals, such as Color, Hardness, Luster, and Cleavage (using all of the properties for each mineral is not necessary). Can you name any of the minerals? (Naming of the minerals is optional, the main objective is to just describe the minerals you see in the rock the best you can.)
Our thanks to the Crazy Horse Memorial for allowing this earthcache.
We hope that you enjoyed your visit!
Congrats to zacknmom on being first to complete the logging requirements.