357

Catalog, Signed Check, and Business Card of J.L. Hubbell, 

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:350.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 700.00 USD
Catalog, Signed Check, and Business Card of J.L. Hubbell, 

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Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
lot of 3. Includes Navajo Blankets & Indian Curios, Catalog and Price List, J.L. Hubbell, Indian Trader, Ganado, Apache County, Arizona. 3.5" x 6.26" when folded; fanfold catalog, pages numbered to 13. Blankets, katchinas, baskets, pottery, silver and turquoise. Business card in red, blue and white advertising Hubbell's stores in Ganado and Keam's Canyon. Verso lists times of pueblo dances and ceremonies (before tourists were banned from many of them in the 1950s). Third item is one of Hubbell's business checks made out to C.N. Cotton Co., Hubbell's former partner, dated 7 Apr. 1909 and signed by Hubbell. (see also lots 355, 356)

John Lorenzo Hubbell (1853-1930), of Anglo-Mexican heritage, was one of those "characters" of the old West. He opened his trading post in Ganado in 1878, and provided Navajo and Pueblo people with an outlet for their crafts and supplies needed to live and work. He acquired Czech beads that look like the local turquoise that he thought would appeal to the Indians, for example. Hubbell seems to have been well-known as a womanizer, and there is quite a bit of speculation as to how many offspring might have Hubbell "blood in their veins."

He served as local sheriff for a time, and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1900. Teddy Roosevelt came to Walpi for the Snake Dance in 1913 (according to NPS) or 1914 (according to ASU), and stayed with Hubbell, possibly when Hubbell was considering running for the Senate (1914). A man of many interests and talents!

He is buried on a hill overlooking his "domain," although some say he wanted to spend eternity there so he could keep an eye on his "Navajo beauties." 

The Thomas Minckler Collection of Western Americana

Condition: Catalogue and business card excellent. Check has some toning and usual stamps and cancellations.