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| JUAN YELLOWHORSE WAS BORN MARCH 23, 1930. HE WAS FROM
THE TOWERING HOUSE PEOPLE CLAN AT WILDE RUINS, ARIZONA. HE WAS A NAVAJO INDIAN. HIS PARENTS WERE PIONEERS OF INDIAN TRADING THROUGHOUT THE FOUR CORNERS AREA. (COLORADO, ARIZONA, UTAH AND NEW MEXICO. YOUNG JUAN YELLOWHORSE WAS A PROUD NAVAJO INDIAN, AND HE SERVED HIS COUNTRY WELL AS A NAVY AIRMAN. HE WAS A CHIEF NAVIGATOR FROM 1948 TO 1958. HE FLEW 69 MISSIONS INTO WEST BERLIN TO SUPPLY SURVIVORS WHILE WEST BERLIN WAS BEING DIVIDED AND UNDER COMMUNIST RULE. JUAN YELLOWHORSE SAW THE BERLN WALL BUILT. HE FELT IN HIS HEART THAT SOME DAY THAT BARRIER WOULD COME DOWN. HE BELIEVED THAT IT WAS NOT GOOD TO DIVIDE A NATION... LAND OF THE NAVAJO BACK HOME ON THE RESERVATION, YELLOWHORSE WORKED FOR THE NAVAJO POLICE FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS. BUT HIS GOAL WAS INDIAN TRADING. JUAN YELLOWHORSE GAINED THE HONORED TITLE OF CHIEF YELLOWHORSE. HE BLAZED A TRAIL ALONG ROUTE 66 AS AN INDIAN TRADER. HE LOVED AND ENJOYED THE EVERYDAY PEOPLE THAT HE TOUCHED. CHIEF YELLOWHORSE BOUGHT THE OLD MILLER TRADING POST AT LUPTON, ARIZONA IN 1960. IT IS LOCATED AT THE ARIZONA-NEW MEXICO BORDER. HE NAMED IT "CHIEF YELLOWHORSE TRADING POST." CHIEF YELLOWHORSE HAD CORRALED BUFFALO FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE. THERE WAS NO TAX ON THE RESERVATION, SO CIGARETTES WERE CHEAP WHICH ENTICED TOURISTS AS WELL AS LOCALS. ALONG ROUTE 66 AND INTERSTATE 40, THE PROMINENT RED, YELLOW AND WHITE TRADING POST SIGNS MADE THEIR POINT! "WE NO SCALPUM PALE FACE. JUST SCALPUM WALLET!" PEOPLE JUST HAD TO SEE THE BIG YELLOW HORSE REARING ON TOP OF THE MAIN BUILDING. THERE WAS EVEN A WOODEN INDIAN GREETER! AND OF COURSE, EVERYBODY HAD TO SEE FORT CHIEF YELLOWHORSE. CHIEF YELLOWHORSE TRADING POST ON OCTOBER 27, 1999 WHILE WORKING IN HIS OFFICE AT THE TRADING POST, CHIEF YELLOWHORSE DIED. HE HAD A HEART ATTACK. SURROUNDING STATES MOURNED WITH THE NAVAJO NATION. CHIEF YELLOWHORSE WAS LAID TO REST AT THE YELLOWHORSE FAMILY BURIAL GROUNDS. THE FUNERAL WAS CONDUCTED IN ENGLISH AND IN NAVAJO. YELLOWHORSE TRADING POST REMAINS OPEN YEAR ROUND. IT IS MANAGED BY THE CHIEF'S FAMILY. "MAY THE WIND ALWAYS BE AT YOUR BACK." |
