The ''Trail of the Whispering Giants'' is a collection of sculptures by Hungarian-born artist

Peter Wolf Toth Peter Wolf Toth (born December 1947) is a Hungarian-born American sculptor, who immigrated to the United States and settled in Akron, Ohio. He later studied art at the University of Akron. He created a series of sculptures called ''Trail of t ...

. The sculptures range in height from , and are between in diameter. In 2009, there were 74 ''Whispering Giants'', with at least one in each of the 50

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

s, as well as in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

,Trail Leads to Ladysmith

Ladysmith Chronicle Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queensland ...

, September 14, 2009. Accessed October 10, 2009 and one in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. One in Oregon was removed in 2017 after irreparable windstorm damage, reducing the total to 73. In 1988, Toth completed his goal of placing at least one statue in each of the 50 states, by carving one in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, and in 2008, he created his first ''Whispering Giant'' in Europe,

Stephen I of Hungary Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen ( hu, Szent István király ; la, Sanctus Stephanus; sk, Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký; 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the f ...

Délegyháza Délegyháza is a village in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It has a population of 2,930 (2007). Since 2008 the village is the site of a Trail of the Whispering Giants sculpture, the first of Peter Wolf Toth's sculptures locat ...

,Peter Wolf Toth: Sculptures Honor Native Americans
a December 31, 2008 article from Magyar News Online Hungary along the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

. In 2009, eight more ''Whispering Giants'' were planned.Tree trunk to become Tecumseh monument arrives in Vincennes Thursday
Courierpress.com. September 30, 2009. Accessed September 30, 2009

The sculptures

(Update February 2, 2015) ''The Trail of the Whispering Giants'' is an ongoing project and much of the material here especially the chart below is out of date and too extensive to edit fully this article. A traveler, David Schumaker, went on a quest to identify all the ''Whispering Giant'' statues and has documented 57 existing statues and identified 12 that are now missing or destroyed since

began this project in 1972. Schumaker has documented his information on the WEB sit
Peter Wolf Toth
which has the most current information on the ''Whispering Giants'' and messages from the artist himself. The 74 ''Whispering Giants'' range from in height, and all resemble natives of the region in which they are located. Toth always donates the ''Whispering Giant'' he creates to the town he carved it in, and never charges a fee for his time. He does require that the raw materials (a large log between in diameter) be provided, as well as lodging and living expenses. The carvings have been appraised at a quarter of a million dollars each. Toth uses a

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

and a

chisel A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind) of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal by hand, stru ...

as the basic tools to create the ''Whispering Giants'', but on occasion will use a

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...

and an

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many for ...

, or rarely power tools.Stoical 25-year-old reminder of the honor due first peoples
''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''. August 24, 2008. Accessed December 6, 2009. Before starting work on a ''Whispering Giant'', Toth confers with local Native American tribes and local lawmakers. The sculpture that is created is a composite of all the physical characteristics, especially facial features, of the local tribe or tribes, as well as their stories and histories. Toth dismisses the notion that the Whispering Giant sculptures are

totem poles Totem poles ( hai, gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually m ...

or represent Native American art, and has further stated that it would be inappropriate to carve totems because they were traditionally carved by Northwestern Indian tribes and had religious significance, where his carvings are intended as sculptures of Native American people. Currently Peter Toth resides in Edgewater,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where he has a small studio where he carves small wooden statues to raise money to create more ''Whispering Giants''. He travels around America to repair ''Whispering Giants'' he carved in the past that have not been kept up, as well as to carve new ones. The latest ''Whispering Giant'' carved was in

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attached ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, in 2009 out of

Black Oak Black Oak may refer to: Places in the United States * Black Oak, Arkansas * Black Oak, Daviess County, Indiana * Black Oak, Lake County, Indiana, a neighborhood of Gary, Indiana * Black Oak, Missouri Other * Black Oak Arkansas, American band ** ...

, but there are still eight more statues planned to be built.

The Trail

References

Bibliography

Notes

External links

* {{commonscat-inline, Whispering Giants (Peter Wolf Toth)
Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) Art Inventories Catalog: Peter Toth inventory
Sculpture collections North America-related lists Lists of outdoor sculptures in the United States Wooden sculptures in the United States Wooden sculptures in Canada Wooden sculptures in Hungary