Cheyenne Holy Man and Eagle Catcher removed for restoration

A crew of workers, led by Bryan Buikema of C8 Design + Fabrication out of Berthoud, and David Schaldach of Niwot's We Love Trees, arrived early on Wednesday morning, Nov. 15, at the intersection of Second Avenue and Niwot Road to remove the two iconic tree carvings by Native American artist Eddie Running Wolf for restoration.

The willow tree trunks carved by the late artist once lined a lateral of the Hinman Ditch that ran along Niwot Road to irrigate farmland around Niwot before housing subdivisions made the lateral obsolete. Without water, the trees died, but when Boulder County arranged to remove the dead trees located in the Niwot Road right-of-way, several Niwot residents, the Niwot Business Association and the Cottonwood Park West Homeowners Association convinced the county to leave the tree trunks.

Running Wolf was selected to carve the trees, even though he had no prior experience with wood carving. As Chuck Klueber, who has managed streetscapes for the Niwot Business Association for many years, said, "We thought we were getting a chainsaw tree carving and instead we got Michelangelo."

The first carving, Spear Lodge Man, has been restored by Running Wolf's son, Dustin Wolf, with the assistance of Niwot resident Jeff Wolcott, who has also provided a shop in which to dry out the trees, and work on the restoration.

From outside appearances, the last two tree carvings were in good condition, but it became clear in the removal process that the tree trunks were rotting from the inside, due to moisture continuing to be sucked into the trunk by the tree roots, which had also led to the deterioration of Spear Lodge Man.

At the outset, a shorter trunk next to Eagle Catcher was simply pushed over by the assembled workers, without any cutting of the trunk.

Schaldach, an arborist, and Buikema, who specializes in art fabrication, set to work notching the tree trunks with a chainsaw below the carvings to allow straps to be attached to the trunks. Crew members Andrew Wintergerts and Parker Mayer assisted with the project.

Buikema skillfully operated a forklift to allow straps holding the tree trunks to be attached to the tongues above the sculptures. Once in place, the forklift simply lifted the sculptures out of the ground, at which time the rotted base of the trunks became apparent.

Once removed from the ground, the base of each trunk was leveled and the tree carvings were placed on a flatbed trailer to be taken to Wolcott's shop near 95th Street and Niwot Road.

Klueber and Wolcott, members of the Tree Carving Committee of the Niwot Cultural Arts Association, were also on hand to observe and assist, and provided pizza and drinks to the crew as the delicate operation carried over to the afternoon.

Kathy Koehler of the Niwot Historical Society was also on hand to record the process for the Niwot historical archives.

Once restored, the tree carvings will be relocated to an outdoor setting, but covered to protect them from the wind, rain, snow and sun. One proposed location is in Left Hand Valley Grange Park near the LoBo Trail. Also in the plans are the creation of three-quarter size metal replicas, colored with a patina to match the original wood appearance, to be placed elsewhere in the Niwot community. Each of the three sculptures was scanned before removal so that the tree carvings could be replicated.

Funding for the project has been provided by the Niwot Business Association, the Niwot Cultural Arts Association, and the Niwot Local Improvement District, with the cooperation of Cottonwood Park West Homeowners Association.