Commemorative coins removed, replaced during sidewalk improvements

WORLAND — The contractor working on this fall’s $1.13 million Americans with Disabilities Act project in Worland removed and replaced two commemorative “Trail of the Whispering Giants” coins near the Washakie County Courthouse.

EHC LLC of Deaver is the prime contractor on the project that has replacing sidewalk corners, sidewalk, curb and gutter, and double gutter this fall, including electrical work, between 10th and 23rd streets in Worland.

Workers with EHC LLC noticed the coins in the old sidewalk beside Big Horn Avenue near the Washakie County Courthouse during the project, according to Wyoming Department of Transportation resident engineer Dan McAfee of Worland.

“We appreciate that the contractor wanted to place the 1980 coins in the new concrete,” McAfee said. “We enjoy this noteworthy landmark in Worland, which honors Native Americans.”

The coins mark the 1980 work by Sculptor Peter Toth, who carved a Native American statue out of a Douglas Fir tree harvested from the Bighorn Mountains. The Worland statue honors the Eastern Shoshone, Northern Arapaho and Sioux tribes of Wyoming. One coin depicts the statue with the words “Trail of the Whispering Giants” on it and the other is a photo of Worland’s founder C.H. Dad Worland and denotes the 75th anniversary of Worland. They are now positioned in the sidewalk just on the edge of the decorative sidewalk in front of the statue.

The statue was erected on the grounds of the Washakie County Courthouse on Sept. 28, 1980.

Toth’s statue is one of 67 works located throughout the United States and Canada honoring Native Americans.