CARVING THE WORLD’S LARGEST STATUE IS A BIG JOB. YOU ONLY START IT IF YOU THINK SOMEONE ELSE CAN FINISH IT. AND KORCZAK ZIOLKOWSKI THOUGHT JUST THAT. BY CHRIS WRIGHT BIGSEEKERS orczak Ziolkowski had a tough childhood. A Boston-born Polish American, he was orphaned at the age of oneI and grewDEA up in foster homes. He made his first marble portrait – of a juvenile judge – with a coal chisel when he was 23 years old. Although he never formally studied sculpture, he went on to win first prize at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. This success led to him being asked to as- sist sculptor Gutzon Borglum with the massive iconic sculptures of American presidents on Mount hotography Rushmore. From nothing, he had become one of the most recognised sculptors in the United States. p From a formless bulk of granite, K the Ziolkowski family drew out om Bear t the face of a man who has been immortalised in history books photo: photo: throughout the United States. 42 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE.COM OCTOBER 2010 43 his led to Korczak being She never left. They married in 1950 seemed more like mining than sculpt- approached by local North and raised 10 children in this wilder- ing. Korczak started out by bringing a American Indian Lakota ness, living a self-sufficient lifestyle by drill up the 741 steps to the top of the leader Henry Standing Bear selling timber and milk, and earning mountain, then pounding out holes for – a cousin of the famous the occasional sculptural commission. dynamite blasts by hand. For years, de- Native American chief So how do you start carving a moun- cades even, there was nothing to see. Crazy Horse, who fought tain? You make a model – Korczak “But it was the little things that made in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. sculpted several, from the 1/300th he a difference,” Ruth remembers. “Like TStanding Bear wanted the sculptor to started with in 1946 to a more sophis- when he started the first V-shape right create a Native American equivalent to ticated 1/34th model in the 1960s. After in front of Crazy Horse’s forehead.” Mount Rushmore, only bigger. Over 150 that, you measure the mountain in rela- Other small marks of progress included metres bigger. tion to the model; then you remove the getting the stairs built up the mountain “He said yes, and once he began he rock that doesn’t fit in order to get close and finding a compressor for the rock never did anything else for the rest of to the surface you want to carve. Easy. drills. “Even though you couldn’t see his life,” his wife Ruth tells me. Korczak But that’s a lot of rock – some sources the difference [on the mountain] you Monique (above) converts scale models to reality, died in 1982 after 35 years of ceaseless estimate 7.4 million tonnes by the time felt in your heart that you’d made prog- a vital role. The Welcome Centre offers a glimpse effort on the sculpture. But she carries he died. Initially, the job must have ress,” she says. into the past (middle) and future (top right). on with the mammoth task undaunted. From some distance away, the sculpture (top) looks just like any other piece of in-progress artwork. Then the viewer notices the tiny figures beside it and realises they’re people; the scale of the project finally “Absolutely. Korczak could sell you sinks in. This colossus has kept Ruth Ziolkowski (above) and her family busy for most of her life. the Brooklyn Bridge. He didn’t have a doubt in the world [it would be done] world’s largest statue out of the gran- “I was only 20 when I got here,” and I don’t have a doubt now.” ite of Thunderhead Mountain. With a Ruth recalls. She first visited South Da- KEEPING THE FAITH planned height of 170 metres, it will de- kota in 1947 to help get the project off ACHIEVE THE DREAM pict Crazy Horse – and his horse too. the ground – building a road in, and a The 1948 site dedication was attended by five of the nine survivors of Little Bighorn, In the Black Hills of South Dakota, The Lakota who wanted the carving log cabin to live in. “Korczak picked but attitudes have changed. Now, some Native Americans stridently oppose the just 27 kilometres down the road from – “commissioned isn’t the right word,” me up in the railroad depot in Rapid carving, saying it is a desecration of nature and that Crazy Horse always refused to Mount Rushmore, the Ziolkowski fam- remembers Ruth – had a dream, but had City. To get here and see the mountain, ear photography be photographed. But Korczak’s widow Ruth perseveres with his vision. B ily – now in its fourth generation of nothing to contribute to its creation. “In with absolutely nothing done, no road “It doesn’t matter whether it’s Native Americans, Caucasians or who it is, you involvement with the project – are still those days Indian people still starved to coming in, no electricity, no water ... never please everyone,” she says. “But there has never been a doubt it should be working on their dream. In perhaps the death on the reservation,” she says. All Korczak always said to me it was as tom photos: done.” One curious fact came to light later: Korczak’s birthday (September 6) was most audacious piece of craftsmanship they had was the dream, but it was one close to pioneering as you could get in the same as the day Crazy Horse died. “[Standing Bear] figured Crazy Horse’s spirit ever attempted, they are carving the Korczak shared. this country,” Ruth says. hovered around the world waiting for Korczak to be born,” says Ruth. CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK 171 m high, 195 m long: Size of sculpture if finished according to Korczak’s plans. Approx. 67 m: Height of horse’s head when completed. Approx. 18 m: Height of faces on Mount Rushmore. 44 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE.COM OCTOBER 2010 45 OPENING JUST ONE EYE TOOK FOUR MONTHS, 550 BORE HOLES AND 396 METRES Although the Ziolkowski family has always been and continues to be the backbone of OF DRILLING the operation, others have inevitably been drawn in. Not surprising, considering the scale of this monumental undertaking. Things would have gone much faster government “makes more sense today On the surveying side, Korczak’s had it not been for Korczak’s dogged re- than it ever did”. original combination of tape measures, fusal to accept state or federal funding. a theodolite and good old-fashioned ar- “Working at Rushmore he learned a lot STEP BY STEP tistic judgement have been replaced by of things from Gutzon Borglum, whom The technology involved in the carving a survey control system called a total he admired very much,” Ruth says. “He of Crazy Horse has moved on a lot since station. The total station uses an infra- saw him have to go to Washington and 1948 too. Back then it was just Korc- red beam to measure distances up to beg the politicians for four weeks at a zak with a single drill. Today a 10-man several hundred metres with accuracy time to get money.” Korczak decided he team, led by Korczak’s son Casimir, to the nearest 0.3 millimetres. Laser couldn’t do that and went ahead alone. utilises hydraulic drills, mounted on scanning is used to map the mountain Now, however, fundraising is a sophis- tracks, which use carbide steel bits to into 15 million distinct points, allowing ticated effort – many companies make drill holes at a rate of up to 3 metres per digital models to be built using engi- ear photography donations of support and equipment. minute. Dynamite is little used these neering computers. B A recent US$5 million donation- days; instead, packs of high-explosive His daughter Monique, who was in- Casimir gets to press a matching gift from local businessman gel, which are sometimes described as strumental in the carving of the face, is button and blow things tom photos: T. Denny Sanford has made a huge differ- sausage-like, are linked by a detonating closely involved here. “We scanned the up as part of his job. ence to the project’s pace and ambitions. cord and the explosion set off by com- mountain, scanned the model and put Even better, he does so But Ruth maintains that the stance on puterised detonators. the two together to see how it best fits with parental approval! Why can’t the rest of us be so lucky? The completed face of Crazy Horse is almost 27 metres high – this compares to around 18 metres for the faces on 27 m: Height of 27 m: Height of completed face of Crazy Horse. 621 m: Length of pipeline needed to get compressed air to the mountaintop for the jackhammer. 46 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE.COM OCTOBER 2010 47 AN AUDAciOUS DISPLAY OF CRAFTSMANSHIP – CARVING THE LARGEST STATUE IN THE WORLD OUT the rock,” she explains in a cavernous the carving that will eventually hold studio dominated by a gigantic mock- a special reflective pool at the base of OF A MOUNTAIN up of the finished carving. “Then you the mountain. look at where you might have to bolt, Ruth’s entire adult life has been where the seam lines are, understand- spent on the mountain and it has drawn ing the rock mass.