“We have no concept of Indian traders to match our nearly universal picture of the American cowboy, the cavalryman of Indian-fighting days, or the pioneer settler who followed in their wake,” wrote Frank McNitt. In The Indian Traders men like Lorenzo Hubbell of Ganado Trading Post and Thomas Keam, hidden in his canyon, are put into perspective, no longer merely shadowy figures moving through the history of the West. In the Southwest, traders like John D. Lee, Thomas Keam, and old Dan DuBois, moving far ahead of the homesteaders, realized their effectiveness as an influence for the Indians' good. While Indian agents often served their own interests—financial, religious, or political—traders knew that if Indians did not achieve a greater degree of prosperity, traders could never succeed. Whether it was Keam rescuing the Navahos from Agent William F. M. Arny’s exploitation and offering his buildings for a Hopi school, Frank Noel mediating their differences with the government, or John B. Moore publicizing and improving Navaho weaving, traders have helped better the lot of Indian artists. From the Bents and St. Vrain to modern vendors selling jewelry and groceries to tourists, the traders of New Mexico and Arizona have been the bridge between cultures. Based on interviews, letters, and unpublished documents, The Indian Traders helps complete the history of the Southwest.

The Indian Traders

Business & Money

McNitt, Frank

Economics

University of Oklahoma Press

The author said, "In writing this book my principal concern has been to determine the underlying causes of the hostilities that led to almost continuous warfare between the Navajo Indians and white colonizers of the province and territory of New Mexico. Inevitably, a corollary concern was with the treaties that punctuated the temporary lulls between periods of fighting. The effort has engaged the better part of eight years and a search of some thirty thousand documents found in Spanish, Mexican, and American archives.....Unfortunately, almost nothing exists today to document the Navajo side of the case.

Navajo wars; military campaigns, slave raids, and reprisals

University of New Mexico

Anasazi, the Navajos' name for the "Ancient Ones" who preceded them into the Southwest, is the nickname of Richard Wetherill, who devoted his life to a search for remains of these vanished peoples. He discovered the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde and Kiet Siel and the Basket Maker sites at Grand Gulch, Utah, and at Chaco Canyon he initiated the excavation of Pueblo Bonito, the largest prehistoric ruin in the United States. His discoveries are among the most important ever made by an American archaeologist.

Richard Wetherill - Anasazi: Pioneer Explorer of Southwestern Ruins

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

University of New Mexico Press

Navajo Wars: Military Campaigns, Slave Raids, and Reprisals

History

Military

Univ of New Mexico Pr

A highly readable true-story of Mr. Wetherill's life and times in New Mexico in the late 1800s - early 1900s. A few of the subjects and locations include: Mesa Verde, Mancos, the Utes, Cliff Palace, archaeological sites and prehistoric Indians (Basket Makers) Snider's well (mass burial in a painted kiva) in the first few chapters, and so much more in the others that follow them. A rich history of the New Mexico and Colorado area by those who lived and died there.

Richard Wetherill: Anasazi

Literature & Fiction

Literary

Literary Licensing, LLC

Format Paperback Subject Literary Collections Publisher Literary Licensing LLC

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Books by McNitt, Frank