Northern Arizona University

Recognizing that fire is the greatest immediate natural danger facing residents of the Colorado Plateau, the staff of the Cline Library Special Collections and Archives Department at Northern Arizona University embarked on a project to document the history and impact of wildland fires. Contained in collection are over 30 hours of oral history interviews featuring firefighters, ecology and forestry specialists, and environmentalists.

The Ecological Oral Histories Course recorded the ecological impact and change from those who have lived and worked for years on the Colorado Plateau. The project was funded by an Environmental Research, Development, and Education for the New Economy (ERDENE) grant and administered by the Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University.

The Navajo reservation is the largest Indian reservation in the United States. Navajo started trading with Spanish by the end of the 17th century. Trade was later established with members of Southern Ute, Hopi, Yuma and Apache tribes. The first trader went onto Navajo territory a few years after the signing of the Navajo-U.S. treaty of 1868. Since the late 19th century, trading posts have been a prominent feature of Navajo economic life. Navajos shaped trade and traders to the way they lived and worked. So traders who did not accept Navajo ways were not very successfull, and often did not last long. The first trading post in and around the Navajo reservation appeared between 1870 and 1880. A store, now well known as Ganado Trading Post, was built in 1870s. This post was later bought by Lorenzo Hubbell, and it was well known as Hubbell's Trading Post from then on. During 1870s, Chaco Canyon Trading Post was also in operation. Around 1875 an Englishman named Thomas Varker Keam built a post at the foot of the Hopi Mesas known as Keam's Canyon.

Men like Lorenzo Hubbell of Ganado Trading Post, Thomas Keam of Keam's Canyon, the Wetherills of Kayenta and Dan DuBois were prominent Indian traders of Southwest.