Charles Bonney, the sculptor for the Lumberjack statue next to NAU’s union, and the Buffalo at Buffalo Park, is currently in prison for the assault of his sister in 2017. NAU recently formed a committee to decide the future of the Lumberjack statue on campus.
Robert Nokes created what is believed to be the first visual representation of a Lumberjack for NAU in 1949. He entered into a contest to win twenty-five dollars, and ended up creating something that would represent the school forever. At the time the school was still ASNAU, but even with it changing to NAU the Lumberjack stuck.
The Louie statue by the Skydome was not made for NAU. It was sold to the Lumberjack Cafe, and can be seen in the intro of the movie Easy Rider, which was released in 1969. NAU later bought this statue and based Louie’s look off of it.
During April of 1991, winds became so strong the Louie statue by the Skydome got beheaded. They spend a few months repairing the damage as it got very scratched up during the fall. .
1991 is not the only time Louie has lost his head. In October of 2018 someone actually decapitated Louie and stole his head. There was no information on who stole it or why, but Louie has been restored and continues to stand tall by the Skydome.
The inspiration for Louie’s name came from the song “Louie, Louie” by the Kingman which was released in 1963.