Navajo Progress 1776 – 1976

1975-76 is the Bi – Centennial year in America, and across the country different groups of Americans celebrated the 200^th birthday of the United States. Part of the celebration recognizes the progress that has been made in this time period, a time during which the United States has grown from a struggling nation of thirteen states and four million people to a powerful nation of fifty states and over 200 million people.

Within the larger story of the growth of a nation, there are smaller stories of the progress made by different groups of people. It is thus fitting for us to look at one segment of the American population - the Navajos –and to examine to how far they have come in the 200 years since 1776.

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Shonto, Arizona

Shonto, or Shaa' toho' in Navajo, meaning "Spring on the Sunny Side" is located at the end of Arizona Highway 98.  The isolated trading post and chapter house sits on the Shonto Wash some 20 miles upstream of the confluence of Shonto and Bagashibito Washes.  Shaa' toho', the spring that Shonto is named after, is located a mile and a half up the canyon from the Shonto Trading Post.  For years Navajos in the vicinity have used wells at the trading post.  The Navajos were led into this canyon from Black Mesa some time before they went to Fort Sumner by Tseyi sizini and Hashke'.  Navajos state that the soldiers of Colonel Kit Carson were in the canyon in 1864.  In 1915 John Wetherill and Joe Lee started a trading post here and later sold out to Harry Rorick.  Once, Shonto was a lush meadow with many small lakes like Segi Canyon, but in 1912 floods broke the natural earth dams and released the impounded waters.  Many Anasazi ruins, mostly open pueblos, were found along the floor of the canyon.

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