During the later part of the 19^th century and early part of the 20^th century thousands of sheep were raised in the wilderness of Colorado. The sheepherder, away from loved ones for months at a time expressed his loneliness and boredom on the vast canvas available to him, the soft white bark of the aspen tree. Visions of home, hearth and missed loved ones adorn trees all throughout the forest. These carvings are known as arborglyphs, which means literally “tree-writing, ” and date from the late 1800’s to the early 1950’s. Due to the relatively short life span of the aspen (80-120 years), a significant number of carvings are being lost to age, disease, blow-downs and fire.  

   Much excitement has been generated in recent years regarding the Basque carvings in Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming, and the story of immigration that they tell. Particularly intriguing about the carvings of Colorado and New Mexico is that they were not carved by Basque shepherds, but by Hispanics, whose forefathers had been in the area for generations. Among these herders were descendants of early pioneer families, settlers that came north from Mexico when this part of country was known as Nuevo Mexico and controlled by Spain. There was some Basque immigration to the Grand Junction, Colorado area but little if any to the south San Juans. These carvings are culturally different from the Basque carvings making them even more significant to Colorado and New Mexico’s history. They have their own unique story to tell.

Dru's horse

   Prior to 1821 Southern Colorado was part of Spain’s New Mexico Territory. To encourage colonization in these vast lands, Spain rewarded its officials with large land grants. Land grants were meant to foster the colonization of self-sustaining farming settlements.

   The earliest of all Mexican land grants that had it’s boundaries within present day Colorado was the Tierra Amarilla Land Grant awarded in 1832. The vast majority of carvings found in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico were carved by the descendants of these pioneering, Hispanic settlers.

   It was a light hand that carved the most graceful and long lasting of the carvings. A skillful carver made only a slight incision with a pocketknife or a nail on the outer layer of bark. He knew it would cure over time leaving the exquisite gray etchings that are still easy to read today.

   The sheepherders were the scribes of the forest, and on occasion used several different types of lettering styles. Along with the elegant cursive there is stippling and relief lettering. Also left behind was a trail of erotic longing.

Leandro Cruz
carved this design in 1931

   Arborglyphs of any origin are a unique mixture of folk art and historical documentation. They are records of who was on the land and when, records that may not exist anywhere else. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 protects those that are over 50 years old.

   Many of the carvings were done by a fine artistic hand and are quite beautiful. They are truly aspen art, as valuable in their artistic achievement as in their historical significance.