Monitor Pass arborglyphs, California

Huge herds of sheep were often managed by Basque sheepherders in California, Nevada, and other areas of the west. It was a lonely life, often with little contact with other people for months at a time, and these men often carved their names or images on aspens (arborglyphs). In their loneliness, these images were often of women, and the skill level of the carving was quite variable, as can be seen from these arborglyphs from Monitor Pass, California. The image on the left had to be cropped below the neck since this is a family website.