Adams] SHONTO I ROLE OF NAVAHO TRADER 151 



a natural and perhaps inevitable outgrowth of the rations system; 

 the first traders were, in fact, army "sutlers" (Underhill, 1956, p. 181). 

 They began by encouraging the Navahos to bring in their surplus 

 wool to trade for extra rations at the ration depot, and ended by 

 quitting Govermnent service to make a full-time specialty of trading 

 for Navaho wool. Neale and Damon operated at Fort Defiance after 

 1868; in the next 3 years were opened the Dodd (later Keam's) 

 store at Keams Canyon, the Crary store near Ganado, and the 

 Stover & Coddington store at Fort Wingate (Van Valkenburgh and 

 McPhee, 1938, pp. 44-45). All of the individuals involved were 

 former army men or Indian agents. 



Farther to the west, trading posts were a direct outgi'owth of the 

 earlier, friendly trading relations between Navahos and Mormons 

 beyond the Colorado Kiver. For a long time Navaho-Mormon trade 

 was a sporadic affair, conducted by occasional trading expeditions 

 sent out by both parties. In later years, when Mormon coloniza- 

 tion southward from Utah reached the borders and actually pene- 

 trated within the Navalio country, permanent trading establishments 

 were set up. The first of these was probably the Lees Ferry enter- 

 prise mentioned earlier ("The American Period," pp. 40-42). For a 

 Navaho reminiscence of Lees Ferry in 1876, see Van Valkenburgh and 

 McPhee, 1938, pp. 43^4) . It was followed within a year by the store 

 which still operates at Tuba City, and later by another at Bluff City 

 (Dyk, 1947, p. 20). 



Throughout its 80-year history, trading on the Navaho Reservation 

 has remained largely in the hands of a few pioneer families, and 

 it is still true in modern times that a majority of traders are descended 

 either from early army men or from Mormon pioneers. Prominent 

 in the former category are, or were, Damons, Days, Hubbells, Par- 

 quettes and Shillingburgs. Outstanding Mormon trading families 

 are those of Foutz, Hunt, Kerley, Lee, and McGee. These and a 

 few other "old-lme" families still operate about half of all Navaho 

 trading posts. 



According to Underhill (1956, pp. 178-179) it was the building 

 of the transcontinental railroad (1882-84) which established the 

 trading post as a permanent fixture on the Navaho Reservation. 

 It assured the territory a steady and unlimited volume of American 

 manufactured goods at moderate freight cost. At the same time 

 Navaho wool and blankets could now be transported economically 

 to Eastern markets. Gallup, railhead of the Santa Fe in 1882, be- 

 came the great depot from which most of the Navaho country was 

 supplied — as in fact it still is. Such a situation inevitably led to 

 the development of a flourishing wholesale mercantile business spe- 

 cializing in trading-post supply. In later years secondary centers, 



