Dawson Colony Family Creates Unusual Tribute!

Wayne and Marian Leatherman, lifetime residents of the Dawson Area show creative use of a trunk of a red oak tree that was dying and had to be sawed down on their farm. Wayne purposely cut the tree to leave a five-foot stump as he had in the back of his mind the thought that he would like to have a carving as a greeting entrance to his farmstead. His dream turned into reality when he spoke with Mr. Kip Carlin, a renowned woodcarving artist who now lives in Humboldt, about carving the face of the Indian Geronimo on his oak stump. Kip and his brother Herb, looked at the stump and said, "Yes," the stump would make a perfect carving. The carving was completed in three and one-half days in the early fall of August of 2000. A little wood stain was added for color effect, and then the entire face was shellacked to help preserve the carving. Kip estimates that with proper care, the carving will last a long, long time. Needless to say, "Wayne is quite proud of his stump, now that it has become a work of art, and he is eager to have his friends and neighbors come and look at the famous wood carving.

Now in April 2005 Geronimo has weathered the hot summers, snows of cold winters, and changes of fall and spring and still proudly greets visitors. Marian Ulmer Leatherman, and husband Wayne Leatherman own and live in the family house originally known as the Reuben Ulmer home. Reuben, son of Emanuel and Sarah Heim Ulmer, and wife True Stratton, daughter of Clarence W. and Mary Heim Stratton, raised their family of Evelyn, Lorraine, Sylvia, Ernest, Marian, and Nadine on this farmstead. The spirit of the American Indian tribes still lives on the plains of Nebraska. Tribal meetings still are held in the Pawnee and Sac and Fox Nations in nearby towns and cities. Just as this creative tribute to Geronimo is weathering the Nebraska years so do the Pennsylvania Colony of Nebraska families who find ways to change with the times

last updated May 1, 2005