All ready for a good hot breakfast!
A departure shot of Red Lion Hotel and the America-Asia travel coach.
So I've been to California the Golden State which discovered gold in 1948, and now, we've traveled from Neveda the Silver State, passed Utah the Beehive State to Colorado the Bi-centennial state. Colorado is the Bi-centennial state because US was formed in 1776 and Colorado is formed in 1876. For an Eastern state, it's considered quite populated with 4 million people. Perhaps that's why Denver has the largest airport in the US.
Taking Highway 25, we travelled westward to Cheyenne, the city of Wyoming the Cowboy State. (The other cowboy state is Texas). In Wyoming, the population is only around 500,000 to 600,000, but there are 3+million cows! On average, there are 1 person to every 6 cows you can find in the state!
Wyoming is also known as the Equality state because this is the first state where women fought for their rights. =)Wyoming is also known as the Energy state because it has a lot of oil fields, coal mines and quarry. However only 10% of these resources has been opened up. The Americans figured out that labour cost is so expensive that it is cheaper to buy the resources from outside..
Popcorn from the conference as well. Snacking on it along the way to the Crazy Horse Memorial.
America's Toilet Breaks are always full of educational materials (and information about the city and state).
Here we are at Crazy Horse Memorial. Crazy Horse is the name of a person, not the name of a place or a monument. The Native Indians arrived in the US some 10,000 years ago.
When the Native Indian mother gave birth in the Tepeeen Tent, the father will step out of the tent and name his child after the thing he sees. So when the father sees a standing bear, he'll name his son Standing Bear (that's the real name of the chief of one of the tribes). Thus, there was this man who saw a horse nay-ing madly when he came out of the tepee, and thus he named his son Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse was a warrior who fought the Whites and even other Native Indians to protect his own territory and people. The headchief of Crazy Horse's tribe is Standing Bear.
So the question of why build the Crazy Horse Memorial which has been such as long and slow process. Work started in 1948 and 50 years on, only the head is revealed. Work is still ongoing everyday.So I learnt that this Monument was built in response to the Mount Rushmore carvings of the 4 US Presidential heads. Mt Rushmore used to belong to the Native Indians. However, when the white discovered gold in mid 1850s, they chased the Native Indians away. Subsequently however, the Americans talked about human rights and returned a portion of the land (the Black Hill) to the native indians. Yet, story has it that when the Americans wanted to carve a great monument to celebrate 150 years of history, they chose to take back and use Mt Rushmore.
When the work was completed, the Native Indians were upset. The Americans took their land and used it for their glory! So Standing Bear also wanted to make a monument for their hero. Crazy Horse, and he wanted to have the monument bigger and more majestic than the Presidential heads. Indeed, the Forehead of the Crazy Horse monument alone is able to the fit in the 4 presidential heads.
Standing Bear happened to know Zalkosky who worked for Boglum. Bolgum was the one who led the project on Mt Rushmore. So Standing Bear approached Zalkosky for help. I saw the letter written by Standing Bear to Zalkosky. I was surprised that the Native Indians can be so educated in English! =)
Standing Bear happened to know Zalkosky who worked for Boglum. Bolgum was the one who led the project on Mt Rushmore. So Standing Bear approached Zalkosky for help. I saw the letter written by Standing Bear to Zalkosky. I was surprised that the Native Indians can be so educated in English! =) Zalkosky was only 27 years old then and he was touched by Standing Bear's request. He didn't know much about the whole carving process, and he only had $100+ to start with. There wasn't many people who would want to help him as well. So Zalkosky planned to have a wife and many children. With his wife and 9 children, he worked on the project over the years.
Zalkosky told his kids, "If you want to help the Native Indians, you step in and be prepared not to leave." Today, 7 out of 9 of his children have stayed back and are continuing with the work on the Crazy Horse Memorial. Zalkosky and the Native Indians do not know when the project will finish, but they are certain that it will be completed one day, as long as someone continues it.
I'm learning a lot more US history on this trip!
Leaving the Crazy Horse Memorial, I grabbed a banana as we travelled to Bear's World for some light hearted fun!
The first sight of Elks. Elks (I was told is the male version of deers?) sheds their antlers naturally after winter. During Spring, the "horns" grow back at about 1-3 inches per day. =D
Seeing a reindeer for the first time! Look at their horns! Is Rudolf around?
Close up to mountain wolves.
Not far away, mountain goats are grazing nonchalently in the fields.
Now you know why. The animals are safely separated by electrical drains. They can't cross the barrier.. but if the bear keeps guarding the entrance, our coach can't enter the area too! =p
The bears above are herbivores. Black bears or brown bears, they don't kill. And the way we differentiate the bears which don't eat meat with the Grizzly bears which eat meat is by the hump on the back of their neck (see below). The muscles on the neck gives the grizzly bear strength to bite and lift (and swing?!?) its prey! Bears are ungry when cold and aggreesive when irritated (especially so during hibernation). Hope the rain is not making them irritable!
Took a little walk along the "more friendly path". How could I forget that a porcupine is actually HUGE! Bigger than the size of a basketball!
And baby bear cubs are just sooo cute and cuddly!!! They actually do stand up and wave at us (probably mimicking the humans).
Oh, one more fact I learnt : When a grizzly bear gives chase to you, choose to run down slope. That's the only way the bear will not outrun you. =D
Hey, I thought Peacocks are only found in the tropics. Surprise surprise!
And now, to the final and main highlight of the day!
First, the story of "why this place". The truth is, initially, it was another place that was chosen, but Mt Rushmore was eventually chosen because it is made of Granite. Granite corrodes at a rate of 1 inche every 10,000 years. So this sculptor is supposed to last! Having said that, however, I was told that every year, silicon is poured into the craked foreheads of the presidents to prevent water from entering the granite. =P
Remember I mentioned about Black Hills earlier? At that time, anyone who found gold can just "squat" there and process the gold. So the US government (in the mid 1850s) sent Charles Rushmore to find out more about the area, to gather statistics for tax purposes. When Charles Rushmore went there, the native guide began introducing the names of the land, mountain, plants etc. Myth or Legend -- apparently when Charles Rushmore asked about this particular mountain, the guide didn't have an answer for him. Instead of saying "I don't know", he replied "Oh, this is Mt Rushmore" knowing that Charles' first name is Rushmore. Perhaps to get more tips with such a satisfying answer. Guess what? If it is any Tom, Dick or Harry who proclaim that the mountain is called Mt Rushmore, people wouldn't believe it right? However, because it was noted by a credible guy sent by the government, everyone took it as Mt Rushmore.
Zalkosky told his kids, "If you want to help the Native Indians, you step in and be prepared not to leave." Today, 7 out of 9 of his children have stayed back and are continuing with the work on the Crazy Horse Memorial. Zalkosky and the Native Indians do not know when the project will finish, but they are certain that it will be completed one day, as long as someone continues it.
I'm learning a lot more US history on this trip!
Leaving the Crazy Horse Memorial, I grabbed a banana as we travelled to Bear's World for some light hearted fun!
The first sight of Elks. Elks (I was told is the male version of deers?) sheds their antlers naturally after winter. During Spring, the "horns" grow back at about 1-3 inches per day. =DSeeing a reindeer for the first time! Look at their horns! Is Rudolf around?
Close up to mountain wolves.
Not far away, mountain goats are grazing nonchalently in the fields.
Now you know why. The animals are safely separated by electrical drains. They can't cross the barrier.. but if the bear keeps guarding the entrance, our coach can't enter the area too! =p
The bears above are herbivores. Black bears or brown bears, they don't kill. And the way we differentiate the bears which don't eat meat with the Grizzly bears which eat meat is by the hump on the back of their neck (see below). The muscles on the neck gives the grizzly bear strength to bite and lift (and swing?!?) its prey! Bears are ungry when cold and aggreesive when irritated (especially so during hibernation). Hope the rain is not making them irritable!The relationship of the bear and man is like that of the cat and mouse. The cat does not necessary want to eat the mouse, but when it sees one, its natural instinct is catch it! So it is the same for the bear when it sees a man. Self Defence skills? Act dead! And do not stare at a bear -- they do not like eye contact (they find it a threat!)
Took a little walk along the "more friendly path". How could I forget that a porcupine is actually HUGE! Bigger than the size of a basketball!
And baby bear cubs are just sooo cute and cuddly!!! They actually do stand up and wave at us (probably mimicking the humans).
Oh, one more fact I learnt : When a grizzly bear gives chase to you, choose to run down slope. That's the only way the bear will not outrun you. =D
Hey, I thought Peacocks are only found in the tropics. Surprise surprise!
And now, to the final and main highlight of the day!First, the story of "why this place". The truth is, initially, it was another place that was chosen, but Mt Rushmore was eventually chosen because it is made of Granite. Granite corrodes at a rate of 1 inche every 10,000 years. So this sculptor is supposed to last! Having said that, however, I was told that every year, silicon is poured into the craked foreheads of the presidents to prevent water from entering the granite. =P
Remember I mentioned about Black Hills earlier? At that time, anyone who found gold can just "squat" there and process the gold. So the US government (in the mid 1850s) sent Charles Rushmore to find out more about the area, to gather statistics for tax purposes. When Charles Rushmore went there, the native guide began introducing the names of the land, mountain, plants etc. Myth or Legend -- apparently when Charles Rushmore asked about this particular mountain, the guide didn't have an answer for him. Instead of saying "I don't know", he replied "Oh, this is Mt Rushmore" knowing that Charles' first name is Rushmore. Perhaps to get more tips with such a satisfying answer. Guess what? If it is any Tom, Dick or Harry who proclaim that the mountain is called Mt Rushmore, people wouldn't believe it right? However, because it was noted by a credible guy sent by the government, everyone took it as Mt Rushmore.Now, to the question of " why the carvings".
Don Robinson, a US historian happened to have budget from the US government to make this monument. Initially, he picked out Lois&Clark (famous explorers of those times) and Red Indian Chief named Red Cloud. However a lot of people opposed to his suggestions and said, "why not the presidents instead?" So the 3 presidents from the same era, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln were chosen. 
Don Robinson had the privilege of some 2000 people to work on this project; artists who are skilled in enlarging pictures using matrix, skilled folks in explosives who could determine the skills and strengths. Boglum was picked as the head sculptor to lead the team as he was the first to "specialise" in gigantic art during that time.
Boglum started the work in 1927 and died in 1941 (partly due to the WWII). By right the project should have been completed within six to six and half years. However, sometimes there was not enough money and projects were delayed until union stations or students helped raise the funds to continue the project. The work on the project came to a halt when Boglum died. This is the American's way of respecting the artist for his work. (Similar to the incomplete Hearst Castle in England => the back of the castle is unfinished and the UK govt). Thus, if you observe carefully, Washington's button is missing and Lincoln doesn't have a left ear! =P
So there are 3 presidents on the plan initially when did the 4th president come into place?
How? Here's Boglum's explanation:
After the rain, there's a rainbow! Can you see the little bow coming out from the right?
We drove under the tunnel.
And across the meadows.
And finally reached our hotel.
I had a pleasant surprise. My backpack was a little wet (perhaps there was some water in the coach). Since this is like the 5/6th day of the journey, my backpack does need a little packing. So I thought, why not pack. As I unpacked my stuff, I saw the cold, deserted and lonely laptop. I thought, why not just give it a try again. Guess what? Ta-Daa.. the laptop revived on its own! And the best thing is that there is free internet access in this hotel. So I managed to skype mom (and some business associates). =)
Don Robinson had the privilege of some 2000 people to work on this project; artists who are skilled in enlarging pictures using matrix, skilled folks in explosives who could determine the skills and strengths. Boglum was picked as the head sculptor to lead the team as he was the first to "specialise" in gigantic art during that time.
Boglum started the work in 1927 and died in 1941 (partly due to the WWII). By right the project should have been completed within six to six and half years. However, sometimes there was not enough money and projects were delayed until union stations or students helped raise the funds to continue the project. The work on the project came to a halt when Boglum died. This is the American's way of respecting the artist for his work. (Similar to the incomplete Hearst Castle in England => the back of the castle is unfinished and the UK govt). Thus, if you observe carefully, Washington's button is missing and Lincoln doesn't have a left ear! =P
So there are 3 presidents on the plan initially when did the 4th president come into place?Part of Washington's face was "bombed" incorrectly, so Jefferson took Washington's place.
The 3rd place was too concaved to carve, so Lincoln took the place which we see as the 4th position now. But for artistic's sake, Boglum wanted to put something into the place which we see as the 3rd position now. Somehow, Theodore Roosevelt was so close to Boglum that Boglum could make a model of Roosevelt from memory. However, when Boglum wanted to add the 4th President, there are opinions from the people too.
How? Here's Boglum's explanation:1st President Washington represents the Birth of US
2nd President Jefferson sets the blueprint (guideline) of US with the declaration of the independence treaty.
3rd President Lincoln demolished slavery
4th President Roosevelt brings forth the future of US (he opened/created the Panama Canal)
President Roosevelt being of a later era compared to the 3 other presidents is thus a little at the back of the 3 presidents.
Wow, what an explanation making my dinner with the Presidents now so much more meaningful!
After the rain, there's a rainbow! Can you see the little bow coming out from the right?
We drove under the tunnel.
And across the meadows.
And finally reached our hotel.
I had a pleasant surprise. My backpack was a little wet (perhaps there was some water in the coach). Since this is like the 5/6th day of the journey, my backpack does need a little packing. So I thought, why not pack. As I unpacked my stuff, I saw the cold, deserted and lonely laptop. I thought, why not just give it a try again. Guess what? Ta-Daa.. the laptop revived on its own! And the best thing is that there is free internet access in this hotel. So I managed to skype mom (and some business associates). =)Praise the Lord! =)
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