Day Family

The Day Family became known in the Colorado Plateau region for their activities as traders on the Navajo Reservation. In addition to business activities, they also served as agents on the Reservation, and maintained close ties with the people there.

Samuel Day, Sr. (1845-1925) was born in Canton, Ohio. He studied at a university in Newark, New Jersey, enlisted in the military for a brief period of time, and lived in various cities throughout the United States. He lived briefly in Iowa, where he married Anna Burbridge in 1878, and the couple soon relocated to Colorado. In 1883, Day moved his family to northeastern Arizona, where he served as a trader and agent on the Navajo Reservation. During this time, he surveyed extensions of borders on the Navajo Reservation. He held a position on the Territorial Legislature for two terms beginning in 1906, and was United States Indian Commissioner from 1920 to 1925. While in Arizona, he and Anna raised their three children, Charles, Sam Jr., and William. Day passed away in 1925 at the age of 80.

Charles Day (1879-1918), the eldest son, followed in his father’s footsteps and became a trader on the Navajo Reservation. While working as a trader, “Charlie” Day also became custodian at the ruins at Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. Day, a trader at Chinle, Bill Meadows, and later St. Michael’s, was often cited as a friend an ally of the Navajo people. He was raised on Navajo land from the age of one, attended ceremonies, and spoke the language fluently. He intervened on behalf of the Navajo several times, criticizing the actions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1906, he wrote to President Roosevelt, calling for the removal of BIA agents on the Navajo Reservation. Meanwhile, other reports suggest that Day and his father may have sold artifacts to the Brooklyn Museum prior to the passage of the Antiquities Act of 1906. Additionally, Day served as Navajo interpreter for E.S. Curtis when he photographed the reservation. Charlie Day operated the Bill Meadows Trading Post until 1918, when he was killed in an automobile accident.

Sam Day, Jr. (1882-1963) also operated a trading post, and served as a U.S. deputy marshal. Like his brother, he spoke Navajo fluently. In 1912, he married Kate Roanhorse, whose father was Navajo chief Manuelito. Sam Jr., along with brother William and Father Sam Sr., was instrumental in founding the famous Thunderbird Trading Post.

Additionally, the collection contains postcards of Native American people and places in the Southwest which were photographed by Simeon Schwemberger, as well as a set of Ben Wittick photographs mounted on cardboard. A brief biographical sketch is available within the Schwemberger and Wittick photograph series.

From the guide to the Day Family collection, 1900-1930, (The Museum of Northern Arizona)