Turn left at MM 322 and travel up Main Street to the first stop light. The historic section starts at the Tuba Trading Post.

It was the first Mormon settlers of the area who gave this little town its moniker, naming the place after the Hopi called Tuuvi. He was from the village of Oraibi and leader among the Moenkopi Hopi farmers. Tuuvi and his wife were the first Hopis to venture to Salt Lake City, meet Brigham Young, then-president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and convert to the Mormon religion. It was he who gave the first 14 Mormon families a place in the area Hopis knew as"white sands" to build their town, away from the Hopi village, on the condition that they protect the Hopis and their fields from Navajo and Paiute raids. In his honor the Mormons named it Tuba City.

Relations between the Mormons and natives were not always placid, especially after one of the dams built by the Mormons in 1877 broke, flooding the Hopis' crops. With the increased number of settlers moving into the Tuba area, the chief told the Mormons that his people wanted to live in peace but that the settlers must stop building farms next to every available spring.

Tuba City was a half-way station for Mormon settlers traveling south from Utah to develop communities along the Colorado River. In 1871, John D. Lee was "called" by LDS church president Brigham Young to establish a crossing on the Colorado. Situated 60 miles (97 km) north of Tuba City, Lees Ferry became the only reliable crossing of the river for hundreds of miles in either direction, easing an already hazardous journey for Mormon pioneers and other travelers.

In 1878, Erastus Snow platted the town of Tuba City, patterning it after a typical Mormon community with wide streets lined by Lombardy Poplars. By 1900, there were 150 settlers living in the community. Farming was the Mormons' primary interest and much of the area where the Indian Health Service hospital sits today was an apple orchard.

Mormon occupation was short-lived, however, after the Tuba City area was added to the Navajo Reservation. The government pressured the Mormons to sell their homes, farms, orchards and other improvements for a total of $48,000, and in 1904 they left for good. They re-established themselves in places like Snowflake and Woodruff, Ariz., and Farmington and Gallup, N.M.

A NATURAL OASIS
The Navajo name for Tuba City is Tsnaneesdizi, which means, "many springs" or "tangled water" for the desert rivulets discharging from an underground aquifer.

The Charlie Day spring is the most famous water source in the area. It is named for Mr. Day whose hogan was next to the spring and who once served as an Army scout. In 1928, Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendent Walker ordered the development of the spring. While digging, the construction crew found fossils of extinct mammals. The University of Pennsylvania and the American Museum of Natural History identified the findings. Among the skeletons recovered were camelops similar to the South American llama, bison larger than those of present day, equus, a type of horse that became extinct in North America during the Ice Age, and elephas columbi, a mammoth that was about the same size as an African elephant. (Museum Notes, 1931)

WHY ARE THERE SPRINGS IN THE DESERT?
Rain water falls on the porous sandstone and seeps into the underlying clay layers. Tuba City is especially blessed because it is south of the Kaibito Plateau, a large mass of sandstone that collects water and carries it in its natural underground clay layers to Tuba City where it bubbles up as cool, naturally pure drinking water. (Museum Notes, 1931)

TUBA TRADING POST
This famous landmark was first opened in 1870 by Charles Algert who hired store clerk Samual Preston to run the post for him. Preston later became a partner with the Babbitt Brothers who bought out Algert in 1902. Preston built the big, beautiful, hogan-shaped portion of the post after becoming a partner. It's constructed of locally-quarried blue limestone, with logs hauled in from the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff.

The Babbitt family, which also owns the CO Bar Ranch on U.S. 89, has played a major role in the Indian trading business for a century. They got into Indian trading inadvertently; acquiring ownership of the Red Lake Trading Post in 1891 after its previous owner was shot and killed by a jealous lover. (See page 164 for more about Red Lake.)

The Babbitts developed 10 other trading posts throughout northern Arizona. Still a successful trading company, the Babbitt Bros. corporation owns stores in Grand Canyon, Kykotsmovi, Red Lake and Tuba City.

Like other traders, the Babbitts were attracted to the reservation because of the country's need for wool at the time. In exchange for one sackful worth about $3 to $4, they traded food, clothing, tobacco, medicine, tools and kerosene to Navajo sheepherders.

Teddy Roosevelt stayed at the Tuba Trading Post with the Prestons in 1913 on his return from a mountain lion hunt on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Zane Grey also was a frequent visitor. Several films based on his books were shot in and around the Tuba City area.

Still a working trading post, it offers many items traded or bought from local native artists: silver jewelry, sandpaintings, kachina dolls and Navajo rugs. The post also has a wonderful assortment of T-shirts and books about the Southwest. Because the post caters to a growing number of out-of-town visitors, it remains on Mountain Standard Time like most of Arizona. It's open 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday. (520) 283-5441 or (800) 644-8383.

NAVAJO HOGAN Just north of the Trading Post
Hooghan, pronounced in Navajo as "ho-whan" is the word for "home" and has come to also mean the traditionally round or octagonal dwelling used for living or ceremonies. Whether mud-covered, built of logs or stone or made from 2x4s and plywood, a hogan is a hogan to Navajos. Common to them all, however, is that their doors always face east to the rising sun.

Inside the hogan, life is organized in a specific way. Food is prepared and stored in the northeast corner. Tools for making a living are on the southeast corner. Spiritual paraphernalia are kept in the northwest corner and beds are stored in the southwest corner. Today, many Navajo families live in modern houses or trailers, using the hogan for primarily ceremonial purposes.

Most trading posts had guest hogans available for Navajo families who traveled long distances to trade at their particular post. To encourage business, many traders sponsored horse races, chicken pulls and ceremonials. In the past a "chicken pull" was exactly what its name implies. A rooster is buried in the sand up to its neck and two horsemen, riding bareback, compete to see who can pull the rooster out of the sand first. Since the 1920s this practice has been replaced with the more humane use of a gunny sack instead of a rooster.
Chapter continues for seven pages detailing the history, lodging, restaurants and amenities available in Tuba City.

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