10/15/2026
Greetings from Fort Selden Historic Site!
Earlier this month, our Museum Technician and Conservator and Interpretive Ranger undertook a cleaning of our bronze statue, The Sentinel. The Sentinel is a statue of a Buffalo Soldier and commemorates the African American soldiers who served in the United States Army after the Civil War, particularly the 9th and 10th cavalries. The statue was designed by Reynaldo “Sonny” Rivera, from Mesquite, New Mexico.
Rivera cast the sculpture in Juarez and spent a full year completing it. Annual cleaning helps to keep The Sentinel in good shape to greet visitors of Fort Selden.
In the video, you will see the staff perform multiple steps in the cleaning process. First, we must carry out an initial rinse with water to remove any abrasive materials before we clean with soap. This helps to avoid rubbing any abrasive materials against the metal while cleaning. Next, we begin to clean the metal with a diluted solution of Orvus WA Paste which is PH neutral and extremely gentle. After giving the surface a thorough cleaning, we complete a final water rinse to remove the soap. Along with the sun and some soft, dry rags, the sculpture is dried and receives an application of a thin layer of wax. It is important only a thin layer is applied so we do not change the appearance of the original bronze. We used Trewax clear paste wax. The wax is not only soluble and clear, but it can easily be removed with a solvent, if necessary, as conservation and preservation efforts should always strive to be reversable!
