Ganado

The Long Walk, the U.S. government’s forced relocation of some 9,000 Navajos in the 1860s, had a lasting effect on the Navajo identity and way of life. When the Navajos returned to Arizona in 1868, they no longer had their crops and livestock, so trading for goods, already a key component of the Navajo economy, became even more vital. Enter John Lorenzo Hubbell, who bought what would become Hubbell Trading Post in 1878. As a link between the Navajo Nation and the rest of the U.S., Hubbell supplied Navajos with many of the items to which they were introduced during their internment in New Mexico, such as flour, sugar, canned goods and tobacco. Hubbell was 23 when he bought the property. He later married a Spanish woman named Lina Rubi, and they raised four children in the house they built at the site. Hubbell eventually created 30 trading posts in Arizona, New Mexico and California, and his descendants operated the original post until it was sold to the National Park Service in 1967. It’s now part of Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. The site includes nearby Hubbell Hill, where most of the original Hubbell family is buried.

LOCATION: From Flagstaff, go east on Interstate 40 for 134 miles to U.S. Route 191. Turn left (north) onto U.S. 191 and continue 38 miles to State Route 264. Turn left onto SR 264 and continue 0.5 miles to Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, which is on the left.
CONSTRUCTED: 1883 (trading-post building)
ARCHITECT: John Lorenzo Hubbell
INFORMATION: 928-755-3475 or www.nps.gov/hutr