Manito Trail Arborglyphs: Expressions of Place and Conceptions of Wilderness in Historic Graffiti from New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming

Summary

Chicana/o scholars Levi Romero and Vanessa Fonseca define the Manito Trail as a late 19th through mid-20th century diaspora of New Mexicans traveling to work across the state of Wyoming. Manitos labored in herding, ranching, farming, mining and lumber extraction, as well as in-town jobs. Some returned to New Mexico annually while others made Wyoming their permanent residence; yet most never fully lost contact with their homeland. Although Wyoming has a small Hispanic population whose presence hasn't always been recognized by the public at large; there is a rich archive of literature, poetry, and music related to the Manito Trail. This presentation outlines an ongoing project recording the material culture of the Manito Trail—in the form of arborglyphs or historic graffiti left on aspen trees by sheep herders and other laborers in Rocky Mountain forests. Arborglyphs are found at both ends of the Manito Trail—in Northern New Mexico and adjacent areas of Colorado as well as Wyoming. They are material evidence of the culture history of the region as well as a conduit to understanding people's conceptions of the wilderness, mountains, and forests in which they labored.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17294