TRADERS TO THE NAVAJO - The Story of the Wetherills of Kayenta [SOLD]

TRADERS TO THE NAVAJO - The Story of the Wetherills of Kayenta by Frances Gillmor and Louisa Wade Wetherill

The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque

First edition copywrite by Frances Gillmor & Louisa Wade Wetherill in 1934

This edition published by UNM Press in 1953

Softcover, 265 pages

From the Back Cover

“The Story of the Wetherills of Kayenta, a Southwestern classic now in its third reprinting, recounts not only the trading experiences and the archaeological finds of John Wetherill and his wife Louisa from 1900 into the 30s, but gives an insight to Navajo customs, legends, and ceremonies.

“John, proprietor of the famous Arizona trading post Oljato, ‘Moonlight Water’ (later changed to Kayenta), also served the Indian as white father, doctor, lawyer, psychiatrist, confessor, historian, chronicler, and school teacher.  As a guide to noted scientists and explorers and as an amateur archaeologist, Wetherill discovered the ruins of Mesa Verde, Betatakin, Kietsiel, and others.  He was the first white man to reach the majestic Rainbow Bridge, largest natural arch known to man, in southeastern Utah.

“The Indians found it hard to believe that Louisa was not a Navajo, so fluent was she in their language, so understanding and loyal to their ideals.  Theodore Roosevelt wrote: ‘If Louisa Wetherill could be persuaded to write on the mythology of the Navajos . . . and on their psychology . . . she would render an invaluable service.’  She does so here with the assistance of an authority on the Southwest, Frances Gillmor of the University of Arizona English Department.”