Frank Yellowhorse, a co-founder, operator and Navajo Nation craftsman of the famed Chief Yellowhorse Trading Post in Lupton, Arizona, near the New Mexico border, died Thursday. He was 87.
David Yellowhorse, his son, passed along the news that morning:
Tough news, My father, Frank Yellowhorse had passed this morning at 8:35am… He was 87, and had a great life… He enjoyed everyone he had met along route 66 and later Interstate 40. He was, “A friendly Navajo, doing his own thing”.
Chief Yellowhorse Trading Post, in addition to being one of the oldest Navajo businesses in the region, also was known for painting the dividing line between New Mexico and Arizona right in the middle of the store and the red cliffs that overlooked it.
The trading post’s website described the history of the business:
It all started in the 1950’s from a roadside stand that the Yellowhorse family started selling Navajo rugs and petrified wood to the passer-by vacationers. Traveling the route 66 was an adventure in itself, and stops were far in between. So the need to stop and stretch along with the gnawing curiosity to meet with the Navajo family was the ingredient for success and great memories for everyone.
In the 60’s, Juan and Frank Yellowhorse, tidy up some at the newly constructed trading post, not far from the rug stand. The addition of gas pumps selling Shell gas, and new signs along the Route 66, were constructed.
Juan Yellowhorse died at his business in 1999.
Here’s a brief interview with Frank Yellowhorse in 2013:
Funeral arrangements are pending at Rollie Mortuary in Gallup, New Mexico.
(Image of Frank Yellowhorse in 2011 by Larry Lindahl via Route 66: Arizona on Facebook; image of Yellowhorse Trading Post by Tony Hisgett via Flickr)