LOT John D Kennedy  /  Navajo Trade Tokens  / 

6

CN Cotton 25-cent Trade Token

Currency:USD Category:Western Americana / Collectibles - Tokens Start Price:20.00 USD Estimated At:NA
CN Cotton 25-cent Trade Token
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CN Cotton was an important early trader. He was one of the few traders that numbered his tokens. Another was Hubbell.
Cotton came to Gallup in1880s and worked as a telegraph operator. He later opened a wholesale Indian trading company and a wholesale supply house for reservation trading posts. He, in addition to JB Moore at Crystal Trading Post, is credited with being an influential force in developing a market for Navajo Rugs by publishing a catalog.
In 1882 Cotton became a partner in Hubbell Trading Post. JL Hubbell had been elected as Sheriff of Navajo County and had to move to St Johns, AZ, the county seat. Cotton agreed to run the trading as an owner since Hubbell could have no conflict of interest. In 1886 Hubbell returned to Ganado and bought back his shares in the trading post. Cotton returned to Gallup. Their partnership may explain why the store operations numbered their tokens. In order to track the business that was conducted at Hubbell’s, proper accounting for credit liabilities was required to satisfy the partners. Cotton used tokens until 1932.
After Cotton returned to Gallup, he and Hubbell partnered again in 1886 to build Canyon de Chelly Trading in Chinle. The store was about a mile from Chinle Trading.
The C. N. Cotton Warehouse was on Third Street and built around 1880. It later became Gross Kelly Company until the 1980s when it then became known as Associated Grocers, which is a large supply operation based in Phoenix. It always served as a wholesale supply house to reservation traders. With the demise of reservation trading posts, Associated Grocers branched into the area grocery store business. It was listed as an historical site in 1988 and remains at its original location.
The building was a landmark with a larger-than-life wooden carving of a Navajo man wrapped in a Navajo rug encased on the front of the building. It stayed as a fixture of AG until the death of the building owner, Basilio DiGregorio in 2001. He son, Joe, inherited the sculpture. CN Cotton was the original owner.
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