Along Navajo Trails: Recollections of a Trader, 1898-1948

Will Evans's writings should find a special niche in the small but significant body of literature from and about traders to the Navajos. Evans was the proprietor of the Shiprock Trading Company. Probably more than most of his fellow traders, he had a strong interest in Navajo culture. The effort he...

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Huvudupphov: Evans, Will, McPherson, Robert, Woods, Susan E.
Materialtyp: Online
Utgiven: Utah State University, University Libraries 2021
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author Evans, Will
McPherson, Robert
Woods, Susan E.
author_browse Evans, Will
McPherson, Robert
Woods, Susan E.
author_facet Evans, Will
McPherson, Robert
Woods, Susan E.
author_sort Evans, Will
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Will Evans's writings should find a special niche in the small but significant body of literature from and about traders to the Navajos. Evans was the proprietor of the Shiprock Trading Company. Probably more than most of his fellow traders, he had a strong interest in Navajo culture. The effort he made to record and share what he learned certainly was unusual. He published in the Farmington and New Mexico newspapers and other periodicals, compiling many of his pieces into a book manuscript. His subjects were Navajos he knew and traded with, their stories of historic events such as the Long Walk, and descriptions of their culture as he, an outsider without academic training, understood it. Evans's writings were colored by his fondness for, uncommon access to, and friendships with Navajos, and by who he was: a trader, folk artist, and Mormon. He accurately portrayed the operations of a trading post and knew both the material and artistic value of Navajo crafts. His art was mainly inspired by Navajo sandpainting. He appropriated and, no doubt, sometimes misappropriated that sacred art to paint surfaces and objects of all kinds. As a Mormon, he had particular views of who the Navajos were and what they believed and was representative of a large class of often-overlooked traders. Much of the Navajo trade in the Four Corners region and farther west was operated by Mormons. They had a significant historical role as intermediaries, or brokers, between Native and European American peoples in this part of the West. Well connected at the center of that world, Evans was a good spokesperson.Will Evans did not publish his book in his lifetime, but his granddaughter Susan Evans Woods reached that goal with the assistance of historian Robert McPherson, who has authored numerous books on Navajo and Four Corners history. Their edition is illustrated with an equally significant, rare selection of photos from the collections of Evans and his colleagues.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-406812023-12-20T12:10:58Z Along Navajo Trails: Recollections of a Trader, 1898-1948 Evans, Will McPherson, Robert Woods, Susan E. E11-143 bic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HB History::HBJ Regional & national history::HBJK History of the Americas Will Evans's writings should find a special niche in the small but significant body of literature from and about traders to the Navajos. Evans was the proprietor of the Shiprock Trading Company. Probably more than most of his fellow traders, he had a strong interest in Navajo culture. The effort he made to record and share what he learned certainly was unusual. He published in the Farmington and New Mexico newspapers and other periodicals, compiling many of his pieces into a book manuscript. His subjects were Navajos he knew and traded with, their stories of historic events such as the Long Walk, and descriptions of their culture as he, an outsider without academic training, understood it. Evans's writings were colored by his fondness for, uncommon access to, and friendships with Navajos, and by who he was: a trader, folk artist, and Mormon. He accurately portrayed the operations of a trading post and knew both the material and artistic value of Navajo crafts. His art was mainly inspired by Navajo sandpainting. He appropriated and, no doubt, sometimes misappropriated that sacred art to paint surfaces and objects of all kinds. As a Mormon, he had particular views of who the Navajos were and what they believed and was representative of a large class of often-overlooked traders. Much of the Navajo trade in the Four Corners region and farther west was operated by Mormons. They had a significant historical role as intermediaries, or brokers, between Native and European American peoples in this part of the West. Well connected at the center of that world, Evans was a good spokesperson.Will Evans did not publish his book in his lifetime, but his granddaughter Susan Evans Woods reached that goal with the assistance of historian Robert McPherson, who has authored numerous books on Navajo and Four Corners history. Their edition is illustrated with an equally significant, rare selection of photos from the collections of Evans and his colleagues. 2021-02-11T08:04:45Z 2021-02-11T08:04:45Z 2012-04-25 21:46:50 2005 book 14711 9780874216066 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/40681 image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://www.usu.edu/usupress/books/index.cfm?isbn=6060 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/83 Utah State University, University Libraries 5d56e4cb-85f2-4b72-8236-acd7ad544a3e 9780874216066 open access
spellingShingle E11-143
bic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HB History::HBJ Regional & national history::HBJK History of the Americas
Evans, Will
McPherson, Robert
Woods, Susan E.
Along Navajo Trails: Recollections of a Trader, 1898-1948
title Along Navajo Trails: Recollections of a Trader, 1898-1948
title_full Along Navajo Trails: Recollections of a Trader, 1898-1948
title_fullStr Along Navajo Trails: Recollections of a Trader, 1898-1948
title_full_unstemmed Along Navajo Trails: Recollections of a Trader, 1898-1948
title_short Along Navajo Trails: Recollections of a Trader, 1898-1948
title_sort along navajo trails recollections of a trader 1898 1948
topic E11-143
bic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HB History::HBJ Regional & national history::HBJK History of the Americas
topic_facet E11-143
bic Book Industry Communication::H Humanities::HB History::HBJ Regional & national history::HBJK History of the Americas
url 14711
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