Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site |
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Hubbell Trading Post
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 Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site
Location in Arizona
Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site
Location in the United States
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| Location | Apache County, Arizona, United States |
| Nearest town | Ganado, Arizona |
| Area | 160 acres (65 ha) |
| Established | 1878 |
| Visitors | 39,361 (in 2018) |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
| Website | Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site |
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Hubbell Trading Post
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Guest House
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| Location | Ganado, Arizona |
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| Built | 1878 |
| Architect | John Lorenzo Hubbell |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000167 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | December 12, 1960 |
The Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site is a special place in Ganado, Arizona. It is found on Highway 191, north of Chambers. This site is like a bridge between two cultures: the Navajo and the settlers who came to trade.
The trading post was started in 1878. It became a National Historic Site on August 28, 1965. It covers about 160 acres (65 hectares). This site protects the oldest trading post that has been open continuously on the Navajo Nation. For over a hundred years, from the late 1860s to the 1960s, this trading post was very important. It was like a bank, a post office, and a store all in one for many Navajo people. They could trade goods, pawn silver and turquoise, and get their mail here.
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A Look Back: The Trading Post's History
The story of the trading post began around 1874. A trader named William Leonard first set up a post in the Ganado Valley. Later, a man named Juan Lorenzo Hubbell bought this post. He officially claimed the land in 1878. This was ten years after the Navajo people were allowed to return to their homeland. They had been forced to leave their homes and go to Bosque Redondo in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This difficult journey is known as the "Long Walk of the Navajo."
John Lorenzo Hubbell built a large trading business. His family continued to run it for many years. This trading post became a very important place for the community. In 1960, it was recognized as a National Historic Landmark.
When the Navajo people returned from the Long Walk in 1868, their animal herds were mostly gone. Their fields were also destroyed. Most Navajos have lived on their reservation since a treaty was signed in 1868. This treaty allowed them to return to a part of their original land. This new land was about one-fourth the size of their old territory. Over time, the reservation grew to more than six million acres.
The Navajo faced tough economic times in the late 1800s after the Long Walk. Because of this, trading became even more vital for them. In 1883, strong sandstone from the area was used to build the main trading post building. Life at Hubbell Trading Post revolved around this building.
Trading was not new to the Navajos. Native American tribes in the Southwest had traded with each other for hundreds of years. During their four years at Bosque Redondo, Navajos learned about many new items. These included flour, sugar, coffee, and tools. When European settlers, sometimes called Anglos, came to trade, the types of products changed. Traders like Hubbell provided these new items.
Trading with people like Hubbell became very important for the Navajo. The trader connected them to the outside world. This world could supply things the Navajo needed to add to their own products. In return for the trader's goods, the Navajo traded wool, sheep, and later, beautiful rugs, jewelry, baskets, and pottery. For many years, cash was not used in these trades. Since there were few towns, trading posts like Hubbell's became key places. They were where Navajo people could sell their amazing weaving and silverwork.
The Hubbell family ran this trading post until 1967. Then, it was sold to the National Park Service. Today, the trading post is still open and active. A non-profit group called the Western National Parks Association runs it. They continue the trading traditions that the Hubbell family started.
The Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site still sits on its original 160-acre homestead. This includes the trading post, the family home, other buildings, and a visitor center. Visitors can see this historic trading post on the Navajo Nation. You can watch weaving demonstrations there. The store still has its original wooden floor and walls. These remind visitors of how it looked long ago.
John Lorenzo Hubbell's Life
John Lorenzo Hubbell's father was Anglo, and his mother was Spanish. He grew up in Pajarito Mesa, New Mexico, a small village near Albuquerque, New Mexico. He arrived in this area in 1876, not long after the Long Walk. In 1878, he bought the trading post buildings from William Leonard. He was only 23, single, and learning to live among the Navajo people. He quickly learned "trader Navajo," a simple form of the language. John Lorenzo could speak three languages: English, Spanish, and Navajo. In the early 1900s, Hubbell built a successful business network. It included more than 20 trading posts. He helped shape the traditional designs of Navajo art that are still popular today.
Hubbell married a Spanish woman named Lina Rubi. They had two sons and two daughters. Their family home grew with additions finished in 1902. It started as a simple adobe building. The Hubbell family made it into a comfortable and beautiful home. Paintings, artifacts, and many large Navajo rugs still decorate the inside. Unlike other traders who left their families in the East, the entire Hubbell family lived in Ganado most of the year. The Hubbells lived in the house until 1967.
The guest house was built in the early 1930s. It was a tribute to Mr. Hubbell from his son Roman and daughter-in-law Dorothy. Dorothy Hubbell carved the inner wooden door. Many visitors stayed in the Hubbell home. These included artists, scientists who studied cultures (anthropologists), important leaders, family friends, and travelers. The guest house is built in the Hogan (pronounced hoe-gone) style. Hogan is the Navajo word for home. Most hogans are made of logs and have their door facing east. They are usually one-room dwellings with six or eight sides. Mr. Hubbell also built several traditional hogans on the grounds. These were for Navajos who traveled long distances to trade.
The guest house was first called Pueblo Colorado. However, people often confused it with the town of Pueblo, Colorado. There was an important Navajo leader named totsohnii Hastiin (pronounced Toe-so-knee haaus-teen). This means "man of the big water clan" in Navajo. He was also known as Ganado Mucho (pronounced gah-nah-doe-moo-cho), which means "many cattle" in Spanish. Mr. Hubbell renamed the area Ganado after him. Ganado Mucho's son, Many Horses, is buried on the property.
North of the trading post, the Pueblo Colorado Wash flows. This wash forms the northern edge of the Hubbell settlement. In some parts of the Ganado-Cornfields valley, the wash has springs and flows all year. Melting snow and heavy summer rains can sometimes cause floods. In the Southwest, a good water source has always attracted people. The ancestral Puebloans lived in small villages along the valley hundreds of years ago. The Navajos came later, and then the traders. All were drawn to the water. The Navajo called the ancestral Puebloans the Anasazi (pronounced ah-nuh-saa-zee), meaning "the ancient ones."
Hubbell Hill is a cone-shaped hill northwest of the trading post. The family cemetery is at the top. Mr. Hubbell, his wife, three of his children, a daughter-in-law, a granddaughter, and a Navajo man named Many Horses are buried there. Many Horses was a local herdsman and the son of Ganado Mucho. He and Mr. Hubbell were close friends for many years. Mr. Hubbell stayed friends with many of his customers until he passed away in 1930. His younger son Roman then ran the business. When Roman died in 1957, his wife Dorothy managed the store for another ten years. In 1967, the National Park Service took over the site.
The trading post had corrals built with juniper logs standing upright in the ground. These corrals held lambs and sheep that Mr. Hubbell bought from Navajo herders. The animals stayed in the corrals until they could be taken to the railroad. Sometimes, Mr. Hubbell also kept beef cattle. Mr. Hubbell claimed 160 acres of land before it was part of the reservation. When the reservation grew, it surrounded his property. Through a special act of Congress, Mr. Hubbell was allowed to keep his home. Freight wagons brought supplies 56 miles (90 km) to the store from Gallup, New Mexico. This trip took two to four days in good weather. On the way back to Gallup, the wagons carried huge sacks of wool.
Building the Trading Post
The national historic site mainly shows a historic landscape from 1878 to 1967. Construction of the trading post barn began in 1897. Local people built the walls using local sandstone. The roofs were made in the ancient Anasazi style. They used layers of ponderosa pine beams, aspen poles, juniper bark, cornstalks, and dirt. Each layer was placed at right angles to the one below it. Mules and pulleys helped lift the heavy beams into place. The timbers came from about 12 miles (19 km) east of Ganado Village. This area was high enough for Ponderosa pine trees to grow. The aspen poles came from farther away in the Chuska Mountains. These mountains are about one hundred miles north, along the Arizona/New Mexico state line. The barn was finished in 1900.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Apache County, Arizona
- Navajo trading posts
