A Tree is Worth a Thousand Words: Chronicling Local Arborglyphs

July 8, 2021

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A tree trunk is carved with the message: Sheena, Laura, July 30, Frank, CJB, 1968, and who else was here? The tree is surrounded by green foliage in a forest setting. The carvings are slightly weathered.

By Matt Hoisch

Shepherds and ranchers would often use tree carvings for way finding or keeping track of their herds. Picture by Matt Hoisch.

Shepherds and ranchers would often use tree carvings for way finding or keeping track of their herds. Picture by Matt Hoisch.

The Telluride Historical Museum has partnered with the Ah Haa school for the arts to launch an app to catalogue historical arborglyphs—tree carvings—across the region. Ahead of the launch in the coming weeks, museum staff headed out to the Deep Creek Trailhead to demo the app.

Note: Carving in trees is illegal. The museum is only interested in carvings that pre-date the mid 1960s.

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