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NORTHEASTERN NEVADA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
QUARTERLY
Early Elko - Reminiscences of
George D. Banks
by Edna Patterson
Volume One
Summer 1970
Number One
Dirt Runways - A History of Elko Airpor~
1919-1926
by Howard ffiekson
Volume One
Fall 1970
Number Two
Basque Tree Carvings
by Riehard Lane
Volume One
Winter 1971
Number Three
· The Old Schoolhouses Are Disappearing
by Edith Landon Ba-khelder
Volume One
Spring 1971
Number Four
2001-2
ELKO, NEVADA
.
�64
Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly
Volume One, Number Three, Winter 1971
Basque Tree Carvings
by Richard Lane
Introduction:
During the past summer I examined numerous aspen groves on the western
slope of the Ruby Mountains between Lamoille Canyon and Mitchell Creek, in the Red
Rock area west of Jiggs, and on the Mountain City and Gold Creek districts of the
Humboldt National Forest. The carvings that were located were always interesting and
sometimes very beautiful. Many persons, including sheepherders, who frequent the
mountains give these carvings only a cursory glance and thereby miss the enjoyme nt
and confrontation by some small evidence of the lives of the strong men who followed
this solitary occupation in the past.
This is a loss to all concerned and especially to those interested in the range
history of the West, for neglecting to consider the actual roles of the sheepherder and
sheepmen distorts our understanding of how the present attitudes and situation came
to be. Aspen carvings are only a small part of the necessary evidence, but a very
enjoyable part.
Several persons have provided valuable assistance in the preparation of this
paper: William Douglass, Luis Garcia, Jess Goicoechea and Richard King.
Basque Tree Carvings
by Richard Lane
Scattered among the aspens in northeastern Nevada are clusters of carvings
etched by sheepherders and camptenders; a legacy for the anthropologist a nd
testimony that thoughts of other people (oftimes females) occupied a good deal of the
lonely herder's time.
The carvings - dating from the turn of the century - provide a glimpse into
those idle moments away from sheep husbandry and camp routines when a man took
knife in hand to leave his successors with evidence of his presence.
Most frequently he simply carved his name and the date. On a few occasions
an artist here and there expressed himself with drawings of women, houses or other
objects. More verbose carvers left complete quotations or cultural stateme nts, evidently
the direct results of frustrations of this often lonely occupation.
The earliest identifiable carvings date from a few years later than the influx of
Basque sheepherders into this area about 1895.
Since there is no tradition of tree carving in the Basque Country, it is likely that
the early herders learned the skill from persons in the United States. To my knowledge ,
no pre-Basque aspen carvings from the nineteenth century are still living. The Basques
and other Iberians were preceded in their occupation by northern Europeans,
predominantlv from the British Isles.
�65
q--oves on the western
ell Creek, in the Red
·eek districts of the
ays interesting and
who frequent the
~iss the enjoyment
---ien who followed
ted in the range
heepherder and
situation came
'lCe, but a very
paration of this
'·ng.
mpse into
man took
'J X
of
ues
Aspen grove with tree carvings.
Museum collection
�66
During the present century Basques and Spaniards have provided most of the
labor on Elko County summer ranges.
The medium which these men have used is a living material that changes in
size, color and texture over the years at the points where incisions were made.
Should the incisions be too wide or too deep, the resulting bark which grows
to heal the wounds will cover so large an area that the intended shape of the carving
may be obscured. There are numerous examples of this error that can be observed.
The appropriate technique for producing clean, narrow lines is a single very light
incision which barely penetrates the surface of the white bark. Though penetration with
the knife into the cambium will doubtless place a stress on the life support system of
the tree, densely carved living aspens exist which surpass seventy years of age. The
surface of a dead tree deteriorates and destroys the carvings.
An overwhelming majority of carvings consist of names and dates (Figure 2):
more rarely, direct statement of Basque ethnic identity and, in the cases of many of
the Spanish Basque herders, farmstead (very rare) or town, province, and country of
origin (Figure 3). The earliest of these which I have located was carved in June , 1903,
and it is just barely discernable (Figure 4). It was spared the depredations of the beaver
that many of its neighbors have suffered.
Jua n L
Muse,.
Jean Arosteguy, 1928 (Fig. 2).
Museum collection
�67
e provided most of the
aterial that changes in
ns were made.
•ing bark which grows
s hape of the carving
liat can be observed.
is a single very light
ugh penetration with
ife support system of
,ty years of age. The
and dates (Figure 2):
lie cases of many of
nee, and country of
rved in June, 1903,
ations of the beaver
Juan Lano, 1921, also shows a province in Spain (Fig. 3).
Museum collection
June, 1903 (Fig. 4).
Museum collection
�68
In a few places herders have made remarkable carvings of human figures
(Figures 5, 6 and 9), animals (Figures 8? And 9?), and buildings (Figure 11) and
geometric shapes (e.g., a star). Some of the women are identified as prostitutes in
either Spanish or Basque. No carvings of sheep have been located.
Occasionally a herder has left a few words of warning on appropriate herding
practices to his successors, exclaimed on the fine conditions of his lambs, or registered
a lament (Figure 12): in Spanish, "el que tiene que estar aqui es par que esta media
loco nose una puta"/ "the guy who has to be here must be half crazy because there
are no prostitutes to be seen." Or on at last preparing to return home to the Basque
country feelings are expressed (Figure 13): in Spanish, "Adios la sierra papa
siempre"/"Good-bye forever, mountain." There is also an instance of an untranslatable
Spanish expletive being directed toward a sheep foreman. The most surprising kind of
item missing from this category is anything referring to conflicts with cattlemen.
Statements occur in either Spanish or Basque, but none in French have been
found. Some Basque speakers inscribe their messages in Spanish.
There are some carvings which often produce a strong, discomforting
emotional reaction in me (Figures 14 and 15) because of odd staring eyes within
unidentifiable shapes.
Carving of human figures {Fig. 5).
M useum collection
�69
of human figures
ngs (Figure 11) and
-fied as prostitutes in
:ed.
a ppropriate herding
lambs, or registered
por que esta media
• crazy because there
home to the Basque
ios la sierra papa
of a n untranslatable
t s urprising kind of
ith cattlemen.
:rang, discomforting
staring eyes within
Carving of human figure (Fig. 6).
Museum collection
Carving of human figure (Fig. 7).
Museum collection
�70
Carving of animal (Fig. 8) .
Museum collection
Carving of an animal? (Fig. 9).
Museum collection
�71
Caroing of a man riding an animal (Fig. 10).
Museum collection
Caroing of a home complete with chimney {Fig. 11).
Museum collection
�72
Notice carved on aspen: "el que tiene que estar aqui es por que esta media
loco nose una puta"/"the guy who has to be here must be half crazy because
there are no prostitutes to be seen. "(Fig 12).
Museum oollection
Carving on tree in regards to returning to the Basque country: "Adios la sierra
para siempre"/"Good-bye forever, mountain" (Fig. 13).
Museum collection
�73
e esta media
Distorted figure (Fig 14).
Museum collection
W
erra
«·
;a
Distorted figure (Fig 15).
Museum collection
-+. --
I
�74
There is, of course, no assurance that all of the items illustrated here and
others upon which my statements are based were actually made by sheepherders or
camptenders. The human and animal figures are difficult to document with certainty
because so few include the apparent signature of the artist. Moreover, to provide but
one example, in one of the aspen groves near Red Rock there are patriotic carvings
in English and of our flag dating from World War I which are intermixed with those
definitely by sheepherders.
The photographs of humans, animals and the house in this article are from
areas which lack any evidence of non-Basque , non-French, and non-Spanish language
carvings. Howeve r, it is possible that there are carvings in Chinese, Japanese,
Portuguese, Italian, one of the Philippine languages, or, perhaps, others, since speakers
of each of these languages did some sheep herding.
The author:
Mr. Lane is a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at Yale
University. He came to Elko in May, 1969, and has been conducting research o n
sheepherders and the development of the sheep industry in northeastern Nevada fro m
1870. The investigation is being done with the cooperation of the Basque Studies
Program , Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada, Reno. This work will result
in a Ph.D. thesis to be completed in 1971. Prior to coming to Elko he received his
Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and the degree of Master of
Philosophy in anthropology at Yale.
Northeastern :\"c,
Volume One, :\"um
The Old Sc
by Edith Landon I
Introduction
The Quarter
difficult task of findir
a special interest i
publication.
The museursale as collector's ite
many sets as you wo
In the fo llov..
memories of EDITH
attended.
This is, in nc
northeastern Nevada
and those who would
The Old Sehool
by Edith Landon Bat
Tree caruing of a man's face
Museum co llechon
Ona Sunday.
School being torn dov..
and was probably the
Seeing it being
which have disappear
The ones I kr
attending usually num
Some of the sc.
shuttered windows and
and two rows of hooks.
for the shorter ones.
Several of the
others the stockade type
plank flooring and door<',
teacher's desk and chair .
had built-in inkwells. Th
room. A large woodbox
small bench with a water
nail above. There were
�
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225c8cb68a9c69ca021cd47b27b23e69
Dublin Core
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Northeastern Nevada Museum Quarterly
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Description
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Quarterly journal of the Northeastern Nevada Museum, located in Elko, Nevada.
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Northeastern Nevada Museum
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Northeastern Nevada Museum
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1978-2015
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Scott A. Gavorsky
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Northeastern Nevada Museum
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.pdf files
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English
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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"Basque Tree Carvings"
Description
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<p>A summary of Basque tree-carvings in the northeastern Nevada area, based on Richard Lane's investigations in 1969-1970 for his dissertation research. Lane was a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at Yale University at the time. The article contains a number of photographs of typical types of Basque tree carvings.</p>
<p><a title="Basque Tree Carvings article" href="/omeka/files/original/8eca8cf80d54382b581f8fb7739d4f1e.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">View article as pdf</a></p>
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Richard Lane
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<p>Original Publication: <em>Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly</em>, 1.2 (Winter 1971)</p>
<p>Reprint: <em>Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly</em>, 2001.2 (2001): 64-74.</p>
Publisher
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Northeastern Nevada Museum
Date
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1971; 2001
Contributor
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Gretchen Skivington [GBC]; Scott A. Gavorsky [VHC]
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VHC Deposit Agreement on file:
http://humanities.gbcnv.edu/omeka/items/show/185
[administrator access only]
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Richard Lane, "The Cultural Ecology of Sheep Nomadism: Northeastern Nevada 1870-1972" (Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, 1974)
Language
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English
arborglyphs
Basques
Community
Crossroads
Meaning
NNM