There's a lonely stretch of grassland in Montana, with gently rolling hills next to a small river, where 132 years ago this June, a battle was fought. More on this in a moment.

One of the victors of this battle was a Native American named Crazy Horse. In the Black Hills of South Dakota, not far from Mount Rushmore, another mountain is being carved in his likeness, in the largest sculpture mankind has ever attempted. When finished, it will dwarf Mount Rushmore in size.

Crazy Horse monument in background, with working model in foreground.

Today, at the Crazy Horse Memorial, two dynamite blasts were set off in honor of the 60th anniversary of the very first blast, on June 3, 1938. The first blast today removed approximately ten tons of granite, the same size as the first blast ever on the mountain, 60 years ago. The second blast removed a much more impressive 1,000 tons of rock, showing the ongoing commitment to the monument.

The Crazy Horse Memorial, it should be noted, is entirely privately funded. They do not want, and will not accept, government funds for their work. They have plans to open a Native American community college at the foot of the memorial some day. When you visit the memorial, you can donate to their "dynamite fund" and take home a few chunks of granite blasted off the mountain as a souvenir. I've got a few of these in my garage, I must admit.

This is sometimes what happens when you are the victor in battle -- impressive monuments are built in your honor. In Montana, on the battlefield site itself (which the Native Americans call the "Battle of the Greasy Grass"), there is also a monument to the victors of the battle. It was erected in 1991.

Native American monument to the Battle of Greasy Grass, erected 1991

There's also a monument to the losers of the battle. It is a grim pillar of stone which marks the names of the 7th U.S. Calvary members who died in the battle there. It was erected not long after the battle took place. While this monument was built first, it really can't hold a candle to the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.

7th Cavalry Monument to the dead of the Battle of the Little Bighorn

The losers of this battle were led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. It was named the "Battle of the Little Bighorn" (for the name of the river), but is more popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand." While nobody can say exactly what happened to Custer's troops (since they were slaughtered to the last man), everybody agrees that he was probably caught by using bad battlefield tactics against an overwhelming opposing force. And that he was convinced he was going to win, because he thought he had superior forces. Up until the very last moment.

This has been a historical interlude from Montana and South Dakota. I leave it to you, dear reader, to draw any allegories or parallels you wish, on your own.

-- Chris Weigant