How was Crazy Horse chosen out of so many prominent Native American historical figures?
Sprague: Crazy Horse was something of a mystic. There are a lot of things about him that are unknown. Since there is no proven photograph of Crazy Horse, the model we used was based on interviews with people who came to Crazy Horse Mountain in 1948. Some were survivors of Little Big Horn: They knew he had hair down to his waist, stood about five-foot, eight inches, was of medium build, and had a scar on his left cheek from a bullet wound. Q: What symbolism is represented in the sculpture? Sprague: Crazy Horse was known to wear one or two feathers. He never wore a full bonnet. Eagle feathers would be accumulated based on bravery, generosity, respect, wisdom, and your deeds or war record. So, he would’ve been entitled to a very large headdress; but he was a very humble man, and he preferred to wear only a few feathers of a red-tail hawk. He also wore a sacred stone behind his ear, which was a protective stone to protect him from enemy bullets. The Lakota were known for their horsemanship
