Historic Trading Posts

History extols the bravery and enterprise of the pioneers, trapers, railroaders, miners and cowboys, but little has been written about the romance and legends of the Indian traders of the Southwest. Just when the first Indian trader began dealing with the Southwest Indians is uncertain. This is a book about trading posts. Old trading posts. Trading posts that are still operating and ones that are long gone without a trace, except perhaps a crumbling wall or foundation. The book describes the present condition of each post, examines its history, and provides directions to even the hard-to-find posts. Indian trading posts are rapidly becoming a thing of the past or, as some would say, have become a thing of the past. Although many still occupy the original buildings and some owners resist the complete modernization of their stores, few of today's so-called 'trading posts' bear any similarity to what a real working trading post was like -- Back cover.

On the sparsely settled Arizona reservation lands, trading posts were important centers for commerce as well as social gathering destinations. With a subsistence economy, the posts offered opportunities to trade sheep, wool, and crafts for necessities such as flour, coffee, sugar (known as "sweet-salt"), and tools. Most often, traders were Anglos, living as partners among their Indian neighbors. They often were the only contact with the outside culture, and their stores provided an outlet for local arts such as rugs, pottery, baskets, and jewelry. Traders helped with correspondence, transportation, and sickness, and they even buried the dead. Trading posts were the sites of marriages and murders; they were destinations for artists, scientists, and adventurous tourists. With the coming of roads and automobiles, trading posts have all but disappeared, but the stories and photographs shared in this volume offer a glimpse into a vanishing time in the Southwest.

On the sparsely settled Arizona reservation lands, trading posts were important centers for commerce as well as social gathering destinations. With a subsistence economy, the posts offered opportunities to trade sheep, wool, and crafts for necessities such as flour, coffee, sugar (known as "sweet-salt"), and tools. Most often, traders were Anglos, living as partners among their Indian neighbors. They often were the only contact with the outside culture, and their stores provided an outlet for local arts such as rugs, pottery, baskets, and jewelry. Traders helped with correspondence, transportation, and sickness, and they even buried the dead. Trading posts were the sites of marriages and murders; they were destinations for artists, scientists, and adventurous tourists. With the coming of roads and automobiles, trading posts have all but disappeared, but the stories and photographs shared in this volume offer a glimpse into a vanishing time in the Southwest.