The Hubbell Trading Post on the Navajo Nation

A Historic Arizona Landmark Lives On

Feb 2, 2009 Jeanne Lombardo

To enter the Hubbell Trading Post in the Navajo Nation of northeastern Arizona is to experience an authentic Old West moment. This is not just another souvenir shop.

The worn boards that groan with each step; the glass cases and shelves stocked with cans, dry goods, and bolts of fabric; the harnesses and farm tools hanging from hooks; the famed Navajo blankets and rugs gracing the walls with their geometric designs and symbolic motifs. All of it transports the visitor back a hundred years to the time when trader Juan Lorenzo Hubbell bestowed his heralded hospitality on Navajo, Hispanic and Anglo visitor alike.

Situated outside of Ganado Arizona, the historic site is off the beaten path. Driving south from Monument Valley, the traveler moves through a ruggedly beautiful land of dramatic changes. Mesas cut through with deep canyons open up to high plateaus. Empty stretches punctuated by strange rock formations give way to grasslands and forests. Distant horizons frame a land populated with cattle, horses, sheep and the modest Navajo communities that melt into the landscape.

Original Trader of the Famed Navajo Blankets

It was here, in what was then called the Pueblo Colorado Wash, that in 1878 J. L. Hubbell expanded the original trading post established by William Leonard. He first made his name trading goods such as flour, sugar, coffee, tobacco and meat in exchange for sheep wool, pelts and the hand-made blankets he would popularize as rugs for customers in the east.

Hubbell was among the first to recognize the value and quality of the Navajo blankets and rugs and make them famous throughout the world. The Navajo were shrewd traders and Hubbell’s success is testimony to both to his own skill and the respect his character earned him. He went on to make the post a social, cultural and political center as well as a thriving economic base.

Today the National Park Service manages the historic site and those who wish to know more can take advantage of the tour they provide, which is the only way to view the inside of the house Hubbell completed in 1902. Stepping into the cool quiet of J. L. Hubbell’s living room is to move into the sphere of a man clearly the product of three cultures.

A Man of Hospitality and Culture

Born in New Mexico in 1853 of a Hispanic mother and an Anglo father, the home is a showcase of his love for the west, the native peoples, books, art and music. While a portrait of Hubbell dominates the central wall of the living room, dozens of paintings of Native Americans vie for attention with the Navajo rugs, the collection of literature, and the architecture itself: thick adobe walls, beamed ceilings and oak plank floors.

Known as Don Lorenzo or “Naakaii Sani” (Old Mexican), Hubbell entertained a multitude of guests here, prominent men of the time such as Teddy Roosevelt. His hospitality was famed, so much so that the outdoor oven that provided bread to his visitors could produce 1000 loaves a day. According to the friendly and informative National Park Service guide, much of the art in the house came in the way of repayment for this hospitality.

Hubbell died in this house in 1930 and is buried on a small hill overlooking the property. The visitor cannot help feeling his presence here, a presence still as warm and welcoming as it was in the heyday of the trading post. His legacy of hospitality lives on.

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J.L. Hubbell's home is open for tours.