The Hubbell Trading Post: located outside Ganado, just west of Window Rock, Arizona, this is the oldest continously operating trading post on the Navajo Reservation. It was established in 1876 by Don J. Lorenzo Hubbell (who is a very distant relative of mine!). He is said to have done more to popularize the arts and crafts of the Navajo than any other person. He is still held in very high regard by the Navajo. In the visitor center, you can see Navajo weavers making a rug (a small one takes several weeks to do). The trading post still functions with a general store, as well as offers Native crafts, jewelry, and rugs. It is also still a spot for social gatherings, although I don't think they do "chicken pulls" anymore (a Native horse riding game similar to that of the Mongolians, although in this case is was a chicken buried in the sand - or later, a bag of coins - that was the grab-it goal, not a goat).

The Hubbell Trading Post looks much like it did when it was established, but now as it is a National Historic Site you may get a historical tour of the post as well as the Hubbell home behind it from a Navajo National Parks Guide. The tour is well worth the time, especially to see the collection of native baskets Don Lorenzo had on display on the ceilings, and the many red conté crayon drawings of Indians done by artist Eldridge Ayer Burbank. He was just one of many of the famous (including former President Theodore Roosevelt) and not so famous visitors at the Hubbell home.

Behind the trading post and the Hubbell home is "Hubbell Hill," where Don Lorenzo and his wife Doña Lina are buried (the only white people buried on reservation ground) along with his old Navajo friend, Many Horses. I wonder if this place name is linked to Hubbell Hill, New York, where some of his relatives lived...

During the Depression, a modern guest hogan was built (out of stone, with electricity and running water) on the trading post land for visitors and business travelers. It was designed as a memorial to Don Lorenzo, who was noted for his graciousness, tri-lingual skills, fairness as a trader and promoter of the Navajo.

For more information on Don Lorenzo Hubbell and the Hubbell Trading Post, see the White Mountains Online: Hubbell Trading Post Historical Site.