Hubbell Trading Post – A Photo Essay

Hubbell Trading Post NHS

Hubbell Trading Post NHS © 2010 Bo Mackison

I was going to move on to Mesa Verde, but then I found another catalog of photos taken of the exterior of Hubbell Trading Post NHS and also of Canyon de Chelly National Monument. So today I’m posting the last of Hubbell — honest! — and tomorrow I will do just a few of the Canyon. We were only able to spend a few hours at de Chelly, so I have only the most basic of road side shots, but for anyone who has never seen those glorious red canyons, they deserve to be seen.

Stockades at Hubbell Trading Post

Stockades at Hubbell Trading Post © 2010 Bo Mackison

All the while we were walking around the Hubbell Trading Post, I felt like I was in a different era. Half expected to see a trading expedition come in. But no, mostly just the ghosts of the past, and a few, very talented Navajo artists who exhibit and sell their art at the Post.

Trading Post

Trading Post © 2010 Bo Mackison

So, when the pace of today gets too much, and you vow you want to return to a simpler life, take a visit (or a photo visit) to Hubbell Trading Post NHS in northern Arizona. You’ll either yearn for the olden days — or be more appreciative of some of the things that make your life a heck of a lot easier.

Trading Post

Hubbell, Gated

Gated © 2010 Bo Mackison

Photographs from Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site in northern Arizona.

Hubbell Trading Post NHS

Hubbell Trading Post © 2010 Bo Mackison

This place was built to last — rock solid. Even the benches are rock solid — literally!

Next stop. Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.

Cliff Hangers

Cliff Hangers

Determined Juniper Trees © 2008 Bo Mackison

These scraggly trees are common on rocky ridges. Where there is a fracture in the rock, the roots of the trees will reach deep enough to access just enough water to survive. One-seed junipers have the capacity to speed up or slow down their growth depending on water availability. It is also common for part of a tree to die back, allowing the rest of the tree to survive. Though their growth is slow, sometimes only 4 to 6 inches in a decade, they may live for hundreds of years.

Native Americans used the juniper for medicine, gum, dye, food (the berries) and fuel. They also made shoes from the woody fibers. Herbalists still use the plant for a variety of remedies.

These trees are hanging off the rocky top of Walnut Canyon in northern Arizona.