Former Native American Trading Post on Route 66 AZ
Peach Springs Trading Post, Peach Springs Arizona
Peach Springs lies within the traditional territory of the Hualapai people. The springs were reliable water sources that were used by Native Americans for centuries. Euroamericans became aware of the springs during explorations conducted in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Beginning in 1858, emigrants along the Beale Wagon Road increasingly used Peach Springs as a rest stop and watering place.
Events transpired during the post-Civil War era that had a profound effect on Peach Springs. In 1866, the U.S. government granted the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad a right-of-way to build a transcontinental railroad. As an incentive for construction, the federal government allowed the railroad company to select odd-numbered sections of land along the route. The Atlantic & Pacific Railroad (later known as the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe) completed construction of the portion of the line through northern Arizona in 1883. With its abundant water, Peach Springs became a "division point" for the railroad.
A lively railroad town sprouted along the tracks at Peach Springs. Several businesses soon dotted the landscape. A post office was established in 1887. The ease of access to the Grand Canyon via Peach Springs led to the construction of a "Harvey House" restaurant and hotel for tourists. The initial period of prosperity lasted for approximately two decades. At the turn of the century, the railroad constructed the Santa Fe and Grand Canyon Railway via Williams to the Grand Canyon. The decline in tourist traffic through Peach Springs led to a decline in the town. In 1907, the railroad moved its division point to Seligman, leaving Peach Springs as only a minor stop along the tracks.
The "good roads" movement of the 1910s led to a new era of prosperity at Peach Springs. A regional booster organization lobbied for a highway across northern Arizona. In 1916, Congress authorized funds for construction of the Bankhead Highway through Peach Springs. The route was soon known as the "Old Trails Highway".
Road construction fostered new development at Peach Springs. In 1917, E. H. Carpenter started a trading post; six years later he constructed a two-story hotel. In 1923, John Osterman started a garage and service station. In 1927, Osterman and his brother Oscar started a second trading post.
Among the post-war newcomers to Peach Springs was Ancel Earl Taylor. Born on a Kansas homestead in 1887, Taylor moved in 1915 to Kingman, Arizona, where he worked for the postal service. After a stint in the Army during World War I, Taylor returned to Kingman and resumed his work with the post office. E. H. Carpenter, the trader and postmaster at Peach Springs, regularly went to Kingman for supplies. Carpenter and Taylor became friends, and in 1921 Carpenter sold Taylor a half-interest in the trading post. Taylor moved to Peach Springs to help his partner. In 1924 he purchased Carpenter's half-interest, becoming the sole owner of the Peach Springs Trading Post.
In 1926 the federal government officially designated the Old Trails Highway as U.S. Route 66. By 1928, travel along the route was so brisk that Taylor decided to expand his business. Using plans drawn by Cecil Davis, Taylor razed the old wood-frame trading post and built in its place a rock edifice of Pueblo Revival design.
Completed in 1928, the trading post enjoyed a lively trade. It conducted business in the following manner. It posted a liability bond, operated under a government license, and accepted traditional craft items (Such as Hualapai baskets) and locally-produced food (most commonly beef) in exchange for a wide variety of goods: canned food, bolts of cloth, medicine for humans and livestock, tobacco, tools, tack, kerosene, and so forth. Much of the commerce was conducted without the use of currency. Occasionally the Hualapai would pawn possessions to the trader for food and other necessities. The trader would assign a value to the pawned item and hold it until redeemed. Unredeemed items could eventually be sold.
The brisk business conducted at the post derived in part from its location along Route 66 and the Santa Fe railroad. An oversized sign mounted on the building enticed motorists and rail travelers to see the "Indian Curios" offered within. Hualapai basketry became a particularly popular commodity. Exquisite baskets sold at prices ranging from about 50 cents for a small one to $4.00 for the largest one. The story is still told of the time that a chauffeured limousine stopped at the post. Its female passenger bought every one of the post's baskets, a purchase totaling $100. When the trader examined the woman's check, he found that it was signed "Mrs. William Wrigley"; she was the wife of America's chewing-gum magnate.
The post also carried an assortment of crafts made by other Native American groups. In his reminiscences, trader Taylor wrote that:
The Peach Springs Trading Post thus became a successful and effective link between Native American and Euroamerican cultures. The post played an important role in the acculturative process experienced by the Hualapai.
Through the post, Hualapai customers acquired coveted goods of the twentieth century. Not only food and manufactured goods could be acquired at the post; the post also served as a meeting place where news and gossip could be exchanged, government regulations could be learned, and medical help could be sought. The post linked the Hualapai to the economy and material culture of the outside world. Like other trading posts of the West, the Peach Springs Trading Post and its trader acted as culture brokers between the Native American and Euroamerican communities. By displaying and selling craft items, the post also gave the outside world an appreciation for the artistry and craftsmanship of Native Americans.
In April, 1936, A. E. Taylor and his wife Catherine sold the trading post to Victor and Grace Bracke. The reason for the sale is unclear; one source suggests that it was prompted by divorce. Ancel Taylor moved to Coolidge, Arizona, where he worked for the U.S. Postal Service until his retirement in 1951. In 1940, he married Hope Harrold. He would die in 1987 at the age of 100.
The new trader, Vic Bracke, was a Nebraska native and World War I veteran. Bracke operated the post much as his predecessor had. He continued to trade and sell a variety of items including meat, bread, canned food, dry goods, and craft items. Bracke purchased most of his wares from the Central Commercial Company in Kingman. Meat that was not locally-produced came from Tovrea Packing (later called Cudahy) of Phoenix. Bread (Webber's-brand and Wright's-brand) arrived by train twice weekly.
Trader Vic continued to sell Hualapai baskets and craft items made by other groups. Among the latter were Navajo rugs which he displayed on two huge tables. He rigged a device that allowed him to press a button and shock customers if they attempted to sit on the rug tables.
With business still prospering, the Hualapai Tribe acquired the trading post from Bracke circa 1950. The transfer signaled the end of one era for the property and the beginning of another.
Tribal acquisition of the Peach Springs Trading Post circa 1950 marked a significant step in a political process that had begun in the nineteenth century. The traditional Hualapai homeland included a territory of more than five million acres in northwestern Arizona. In 1866, the U.S. Government fostered an invasion of that territory by granting the Atlantic & Pacific (later called the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe) the right to alternate odd-numbered sections lying within 40 miles of the railroad line. The invasion was facilitated when the U.S. Army forcibly relocated the Hualapai to the Colorado River Indian Reservation in 1874. Those Hualapai who returned to their lands in 1875 and subsequent years found Euroamerican settlers there.
Deprived of access to traditional hunting, gathering, and farming grounds, the Hualapai took unskilled jobs in the Euroamerican economy. Low-paying and often dangerous, such jobs offered neither security nor opportunity for advancement. As workers at the bottom of the economic ladder, the Hualapai suffered most acutely during economic recessions. Their situation became increasingly destitute during the late 1870s and early 1880s.
In an attempt to set land aside for the exclusive use of the Hualapai, President Chester A. Arthur created the Hualapai Indian Reservation on January 4th, 1883. The reservation lay south of the Colorado River and north of Truxton, and included the area of Peach Springs. Unfortunately, the federal government did not immediately survey and fence the boundaries. This led to intentional and unintentional trespass by white settlers through the rest of the nineteenth century. The railroad company and white settlers maintained a particularly tenacious presence at Peach Springs, prized for its abundant water.
The Hualapai began to gain some economic and political power in the early twentieth century. In 1902 or 1903, a system of grazing fees was initiated on the reservation. Revenues from grazing leases rose steadily during the following decade. In 1910, construction of a boundary fence began. Starting in 1913, some of the grazing-fee income was used to buy cattle, and a tribal herd was started.
The cattle husbandry program was a mixed success. On one hand, it was a popular program; one of every four Hualapai censused in 1930 owned a cattle brand. On the other hand, the ranchers had difficulty expanding their herds enough to provide their children with a decent living standard. The cattle program created numerous owners of herds too small to meet the subsistence needs of families. The local economy was based almost exclusively on cattle, but cattle alone could not sustain the people. Economic diversification was needed.
The railroad made a bold move in 1930 to take a valuable expanse of reservation land. Company and federal officials agreed that checker-boarded alternate sections should be consolidated into an Indian bloc and a railroad bloc. The railroad attempted to gain title to the eastern bloc, the area containing spectacular views of the Grand Canyon (which could be developed for tourism), harvestable timber, flowing streams, and rich grasslands. At the urging of Tribal members including Fred Mahone, the Indian Rights Association became involved in the issue and urged the federal government not to yield any land to the railroad.
In 1932, Frankin D. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States. He appointed John Collier as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1937, Collier heeded the Indian Rights Association and sued the Santa Fe Railroad.
The Roosevelt administration had meanwhile convinced Congress to pass the Indian Reorganization Act. The 1934 legislation authorized tribes to exercise considerable autonomy. Pursuant to the act, the Hualapai people voted in 1938 to create a tribal council, a constitution, and a set of by-laws. Phillip Quasula became the first Council President.
The railroad issue came to a head in 1940, when Congress passed a Transportation Act that repealed a section of the 1866 law requiring railroads that received land grants to carry government passengers and freight at reduced rates. To be able to raise their tariffs, such railroads had to surrender any unsettled land claims. The Santa Fe chose to surrender its claim to reservation land and to raise its rates. In 1943, the federal government again sued the railroad on behalf of the Hualapai people. Under a settlement agreement ratified in March 1947, the railroad ceded its claim to 113,000 acres of reservation land, gave up much of the Peach Springs townsite, and paid a cash settlement for its use of Hualapai land. Thus the Hualapai at last gained clear title to their reservation. With the land claims settled, the Tribal Council laid plans to take over existing businesses and to launch new ones in ways that would more directly benefit the Hualapai people.
It was during the Presidency of Sterling Mahone, circa 1950, that the Tribe took over the Peach Springs Trading Post. The Tribe first used the building a tribal store (with post office) serving mainly the Hualapai people; Route 66 motorists were also accommodated. The store continued to sell myriad items that the local population needed: meat, bread, canned goods, dry goods, tools, and other supplies. Although the Tribe often hired Anglos to manage the store, the clerks serving the customers were most often Hualapai. Thus the store provided a source of employment for the local population, generated income for the Tribe, and helped to diversify the economy.
In the early 1970s, a new tribal store was built in Peach Springs. Although the modern, self-serve, convenience store made the old tribal store obsolete, the Tribal Council continued to put the latter building to good use. The old trading post building became a business incubator that nurtured new enterprises. The building provided office space for the Job Corps, a river-rafting business, the Tribal Forestry Department, and the Tribal Wildlife Conservation Department. These ventures helped move the Tribe along the path of sovereignty, self-determination, and economic diversification.
Building Description
The Peach Springs Trading Post is a stone and concrete building in the Pueblo Revival style. Built in two phases in 1928, it historically housed a trading store, post office, and trader's living quarters. The facility catered mainly to residents of the Hualapai Indian Reservation and motorists along Route 66. After its acquisition by the Hualapai Tribe circa 1950, the building was first used as a store/post office, and later as a river-rafting office and Job Corps headquarters. It currently provides office space for the Tribe's Forestry and Wildlife Conservation departments. Although its function has changed, the building still retains good integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and feeling.
The trading post building is located in eastern Mohave County, Arizona, in the community of Peach Springs. Peach Springs is on the Hualapai Indian Reservation and serves as tribal headquarters for the Hualapai Indian Nation. The setting is rural. Seligman, the nearest town, is approximately 35 mi to the southeast. Kingman, the nearest city, is approximately 50 mi to the southwest. Peach Springs is linked to Seligman and Kingman by U.S. "Route" 66 and by the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad.
The building is sited within Yampai Canyon on a terrace above Truxton Wash. The canyon is defined by low mesas to the north and south. The climate is characterized by mild winters, warm summers, gentle winter precipitation, and torrential summer thunderstorms.
The trading post building is located on the north side of Route 66, about 0.1 mi from the railroad tracks. A small, unpaved parking area lies in front of the building. Immediately east of the old trading post is a stone gas station, now vacant. About 50 ft to the west is a wood-frame, single-family dwelling that is still in use.
The stone Peach Springs Trading Post, was built in 1928. It replaced the wood-frame Peach Springs Trading Post that had been established on the same site around 1917.
The stone building was constructed for trader and postmaster Ancel Earl Taylor (1887-1987). According to Taylor, increased traffic along Route 66 caused business to boom in Peach Springs during the late 1920s. This, in turn, influenced his decision to expand:
Historical photographs document the construction project. The photos reveal that the stone building was erected in two closely-phased stages. The west wing of the current trading post building was constructed first, on a site immediately adjacent to the older wood-frame building. When that wing was finished and put into service, the second stage of construction began. It consisted of razing the wood-frame structure and expanding the rock building in an easterly direction. When construction was completed, the west wing became the trader's living quarters, while the central bay of the building and the east wing became the trading post and post office.
Careful planning on the part of Taylor and Davis gave the finished building a seamless design; it appeared to have been built in one construction stage rather than two. The entire building was of the same material and design. The foundation was concrete and rock. Walls were of uncoursed, medium-sized cobbles set in rough-textured concrete. Somewhat larger cobbles were used at the front corners to suggest quoins. Small chunks of malachite were occasionally set in the mortar as decorative and colorful chinking. Sills and lintels were of concrete. Windows were of wooden construction; some were double-hung, while others were of casement type. The building was two stories in front and one story in the rear. The shed roof sloped at a medium pitch from the front to the rear of the building. The front elevation presented a low, straight parapet. The side elevations had stepped parapets that masked the shed roof. The east and west elevations held massive stone chimneys; their fireplaces provided the only sources of heat for the building.
The principle (south) elevation exhibited symmetrical massing. Identical east and west wings flanked the central bay of the building. A recessed porch extended along the entire front of the central bay. The roof of the porch (and floor of the central bay's second story) was supported by four large, unhewn Ponderosa pine vigas. Four centrally-placed, concrete steps led to the porch landing and entry. The entry was flanked by two square, rock and concrete pillars. Each pillar rested on a massive rock and concrete base that measured 3.8 ft long by 1.8 ft deep by 2.1 ft high. The concrete caps of the pillar bases provided front-porch seating for patrons of the facility.
The recessed porch led to two entries. The central, main entry provided access to the trading store and post office. The main door was 4 ft wide, with 9 lights over 2 wooden panels. A concrete plaque set in the outside wall immediately left of the main door was engraved "1928," obviously referring to the year of construction. A second entry, at the left (western) end of the porch, provided access to the trader's living quarters. Its wooden door was 2.6 ft wide and bore only one small, high light. The front porch also contained three casement windows. Two flanked the main entry. The third window occurred at the eastern end of the porch, set into the west wall of the east wing.
In overall design, the exterior showed a Pueblo Revival influence. The rock walls, massive vigas, and stepped parapets recalled a style of architecture used by prehistoric and historic Pueblo groups of the Southwest. Ironically, the building reflected no stylistic influences derived from Hualapai sources. In this sense, the building's architecture catered more to the expectations of Route 66 tourists than to the specific Native American group it would serve.
Lest any tourists miss the establishment, the building bore an enormous metal sign that read "Peach Springs Trading Post/Hualapai Indian Reserve/General Merchandise--Indian Curios." The signage covered the entire front of the second story of the central bay. Oversized signs such as this example were a hallmark of Route 66 in its heyday; they were designed to capture the speeding motorist's interest, and to entice him or her to stop.
The west wing of the building contained the residential quarters for the trader. The front room of this apartment functioned as a living room. A hallway led from the living room to a bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom(s). Amenities of the apartment included porcelain bathroom fixtures and built-in cabinetry. A particularly notable feature was a doorway (leading from the hall to a linen closet and bath) with arched wooden molding.
The central bay and east wing provided space for the trading post and post office, and originally functioned as one large, mostly open room. Four 4-inch-square metal posts supported the ceiling. The ceiling was 9.5 ft high. Ceiling and walls were sheet-rocked. Five-panel wooden doors led to the trader's apartment, to storage areas, and to the stairway leading to the second story. The second story was attic-like, providing extra storage space as well as sleeping quarters for the occasional guest.
Wooden counters were situated inside the main entry. If a customer wished to see or purchase an item, a clerk would retrieve the item from rear shelves and bring it to a counter for inspection. The interior also held a meat locker. Positioned in the center of the store, this built-in device measured 7 by 7 by 7 ft on the interior, had 6-inch walls, and was lined with cedar/redwood.
The building witnessed additions and modifications during its long use. Part of the rear (north) elevation was extended about 7 ft to create more storage space. The walls of this small addition were constructed of poured concrete with wooden planks. The rear addition is not readily visible from the front of the building.
After the Tribe acquired the building circa 1950, the U.S. Postal Service required that the post office be separated from the rest of the store. This was accomplished by installing an interior wall that divided the central bay from the east wing, and by replacing the first-story, front windows of the east wing with a set of wooden double-doors. The first story of the east wing thus became a post office apart from the Tribal store. The space continued to serve as the Peach Springs Post Office until 1965, when a new post office was erected to serve the community.
Other changes have consisted of the following. The historic metal sign (now faded) remains in place, but has been partially covered by two smaller signs that read "Hualapai Tribal Forestry Department" and "Wildlife Conservation." Two rock and concrete planters that once held cacti have been filled with concrete to create a small landing in front of the store, between the porch and parking area. A metal security screen has been installed over the central front door. During the 1990s, the four vigas over the porch were removed because they had rotted; they were replaced in kind with new Ponderosa pine vigas. After an arson attempt in the late 1990s, the Tribe replaced and repaired some of the rafters in the second story. The rolled roofing of the shed roof has been replaced with composition shingles; the roofing material is not seen because of the building's parapets.
Partially-completed rock trading post (left) adjacent to original wood-frame trading post (right) (1928)
Central and east portions of rock trading post under construction (1928)
Main (South) elevation (2003)
