Author: MessierAZ

Thunderbird Style

The Patania’s shops in Santa Fe and Tucson were the training ground for a stunning array of Native American silversmiths

This article was originally published in the December 2021/January 2022 issue of Native American Art Magazine. It is an adaptation of Chapter 7 of Legendary Patania Jewelry.

In 1927 Italian immigrant Frank Patania Sr. opened the Thunderbird Shop in Santa Fe which sold Native American handmade arts and crafts. Patania, a trained goldsmith and fine jewelry designer, had become enamored with Native American jewelry. He quickly turned his talents to designing and fabricating sterling silver and turquoise jewelry inspired by Native designs, developing a new type of Southwest jewelry, termed “Thunderbird style” which combined Mediterranean elegance with traditional Native American materials. He became known for his exquisite craftsmanship and unique jewelry designs which displayed great attention to detail. 

As his business grew, Patania required assistance in the workshop and in 1932 hired Charles Begay, a skilled Navajo silversmith. He became the first of many Native Americans to work for the Patanias as silversmiths in the Thunderbird Shop in Santa Fe, and later also in Tucson. Some of these artists remained employed until retirement, while others, after becoming versed in the Thunderbird style, departed to work on their own, carrying with them the influence and inspiration of Patania family designs. Those who carried the Thunderbird style into their own successful careers were Lewis Lomay, Julian Lovato, Jimmie Herald and Harry Sakyesva, whose talents and body of work still resonate long after their passing. 

1940s fabricated sterling silver butterfly pins with detailed stampwork; this butterfly design was only made by the Native American silversmiths working at the Thunderbird Shop. Authors’ collection.

Lewis Lomay (Hopi), from Oraibi, enrolled in Santa Fe Indian School about 1932 where he attended the silversmithing class taught by Navajo artist Ambrose Roanhorse. In 1934 Lomay arrived in Santa Fe too late to enroll for the fall term, instead he found employment at the Thunderbird Shop where his friend Waldo Mootzka was working. Mootzka, also from Hopi, was known primarily as a painter but worked for Patania as a silversmith until his death in 1938.

Sterling silver and turquoise pin fabricated in the late 1930s, signed with the Thunderbird Shop mark and L.L., which is Lewis Lomay’s (Hopi) personal hallmark. The inclusion of Lomay’s initials is unusual, typically shop smiths did not apply their personal hallmark to pieces they made while working in the Thunderbird Shop. Courtesy Gloria Dollar, Nila Brown photographer.

Lomay was taught fine jewelry techniques by Frank Patania Sr. and later recalled, “Working with Patania I learned about modern jewelry and how to finish pieces in any metal as perfectly as they did in gold.” After the United States entered World War II, Lomay left the Thunderbird Shop to work in the defense industry. Returning to Santa Fe after the war, Lomay embarked on his own career making jewelry from a studio in his home. He entered pieces in fairs and exhibits and quickly built a reputation as a master of his craft and, by 1947, was winning multiple awards whenever he entered competitions. 

Patania influenced design pin and bolo tie made by Lewis Lomay (Hopi), after he was no longer working at the Thunderbird Shop. Authors’ collection.

Through the following decades, his jewelry was represented by notable southwest galleries, such as Shop of the Rainbow Man in Santa Fe. His jewelry reflected the influence of the designs he absorbed from his years working at the Thunderbird Shop; his pieces were carefully and painstakingly made with a fresh and imaginative beauty. Throughout his career, Lomay combined traditional Hopi designs with new ideas and modern techniques in silver and gold. 

Lewis Lomay (Hopi) created this floral spray pin with turquoise and coral settings. He gained experience making this type of design from working with Frank Patania Sr. at the Thunderbird Shop. Authors’ collection.

Julian Lovato was born at Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) in 1925 into a family of jewelry makers and as a child he observed his father and grandfather create silver and turquoise jewelry. In his teens he started making jewelry on his own, but enlisted in the Army in 1944 and served in the Philippines during World War II. Upon returning to New Mexico, he married Marie Oyengue of San Juan Pueblo in 1946 and the couple moved to Santa Fe. 

Lovato worked as a silversmith in various Santa Fe shops for a number of years, until 1952 when he was hired by Frank Patania Sr. to work in the Thunderbird Shop. Julian was assigned the work bench next to Frank Patania Jr., who later recounted that he learned some soldering techniques from Julian who was already well-trained in Native American traditional designs and techniques when he was hired. Julian easily adapted to working in the Thunderbird style. 

Sterling silver and turquoise belt buckle and monogrammed letter opener by Julian Lovato (Kewa Pueblo). Lovato’s clean, elegant creations were influenced by designs he worked with at the Thunderbird Shop. Authors’ collection.

Patania Sr. introduced Lovato to new techniques and modern jewelry designs that influenced his career, also teaching him to initially sketch his ideas on paper. Lovato worked all day in the shop and then during the evening at home he spent hours in his own workshop, refining his talent. He had become the Santa Fe shop’s chief silversmith when Frank Patania Sr. passed away in 1964. 

When the Patania family closed the Santa Fe shop at the end of 1964, manager John Wheeler bestowed the Santa Fe Thunderbird Shop hallmark die upon Lovato, and Patania’s widow Aurora gave him permission to use the stamp on his work. Julian Lovato became known as “Keeper of the Thunderbird,” and was proud to be able to incorporate that mark with his own hallmark.

No one was better at adapting Patania designs and making them uniquely theirs than was Julian Lovato (Kewa Pueblo). This coral and silver necklace and earring set exemplifies the best of Lovato’s designs. The pendant hangs from one of Marie Lovato’s dot-and-dash chains. Courtesy White collection.

In 1991 Lovato recalled, “Frank Patania was just like a father. That’s where I began to get the idea that if I concentrate and work hard, I can do it. He helped me develop into what I do.” Lovato moved back to Santo Domingo Pueblo and worked on his own, creating his own unique jewelry designs and built a very successful career. 

Lovato’s contemporary style utilized clean, elegant lines with layers of materials that he referred to as “raised” or “dimensional,” a technique he learned from Frank Patania Sr. He designed his pieces around the shape of the setting and was able to work the bezel in such a way that the gemstone or coral settings appeared to float above the surface of the piece. His wife Marie worked with him, and while Julian designed and fashioned the jewelry, she did some of the more intricate finishing of pieces. Marie was also well known for her modern design dot-and-dash necklace chains, adapted from a Patania design.

Harry Sakyesva, born in 1922 at the Hopi village of Hotevilla, was hired by Frank Patania Sr. in 1952 to work as a silversmith in the Thunderbird Shop. Prior to that he graduated from Santa Fe Indian School and received treatment in an Albuquerque sanatorium between 1941 and 1945 for a lung disease. Afterwards, he moved to Santa Fe where he painted depictions of Hopi life for various galleries.

Harry Sakyesva (Hopi) crafted this bolo tie with the Valley National Bank logo in the 1960s. He would have become experienced in cutting out letters while making monogrammed pieces at the Thunderbird Shop in the 1950s. Authors’ collection.

While employed by the Patanias, Sakyesva’s summers were spent working in the Santa Fe shop. During the winter months he moved to Tucson to work, where he was frequently seated at the bench set up in the display window. Frank Patania Jr. remembers Sakyesva worked for them for five or six years and during that time was in treatment periodically at the Indian Hospital.

After leaving the Thunderbird Shop, Sakyesva relocated to the Phoenix area where he opened his own silver shop in Scottsdale in 1961 with his Hopi friend Morris Robinson, where for a few years they made “fine custom-made Hopi overlay” jewelry. He also made commissioned custom designs that were heavily influenced by monogram work he would have learned from the Patanias.

Jimmie Herald’s employment by the Patania family occurred by chance. He was born into a family of silversmiths in 1914 on the Navajo Reservation near Gallup, New Mexico. He was educated at the government boarding school at Crown Point. Having learned basic silversmithing skills from being around his family, he had no desire to work as a silversmith, but fate intervened.

Herald offered to drive a friend to Tucson in 1938 where he ran out of money before he could return home. Since silversmithing was what he knew, Herald went to the Thunderbird Shop and asked for work. Frank Patania Sr. told him that if he wanted to be a good silversmith, then he would train him; inevitably Jimmie became one of the most valuable silversmiths at the Thunderbird Shop, and was trusted to work on the most important pieces. 

Navajo style squash blossom necklace set with Morenci turquoise crafted by Jimmie Herald, Navajo, while working at the Thunderbird Shop in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Patania’s design influence can be seen in the construction of the blossoms. Courtesy Patania collection.

During World War II Jimmie Herald served in the Army, after returning to Tucson in 1945 he married Hazel Enos, a Pima (Akimel O’odham) woman from Sacaton, and they had two children. Jimmie’s older brother Herbert Herald also worked in the Tucson shop in the 1940s and 1950s.

Jimmie later recalled something Frank Patania Sr. said to him, “It’s not how you look or what you are that means your reputation. Let your work speak for you. Always do your best.” Herald kept that thought in mind, endeavoring to always improve his work, and wanting customers to be satisfied. 

Silver and turquoise Bits of Silver design bolo tie made by Jimmie Herald, Navajo, 1970s-80s. The design was originated by Frank Patania Jr. for the Thunderbird Shop. Authors’ collection.

In the early 1970s Jimmie retired from the Thunderbird Shop, but continued to make some jewelry on his own in his home studio. Most of the designs he used in his personal jewelry were modern and based on those he made while working for the Patanias.

Daniel Enos Jr., of Pima (Akimel O’odham) descent, was a master silversmith who worked in the Tucson Thunderbird Shop for all three generations of the Patanias. Courtesy Patania archives.

Daniel Enos Jr., Pima (Akimel O’odham), was the lone Native American silversmith to work for the Patanias who only made jewelry during his time as a Thunderbird employee. He was born on the Gila River Reservation in 1927, attended Presbyterian Indian Training School in Tucson as a youth, then served in the Marines during World War II.

Daniel Enos Jr., Pima (Akimel O’odham), constructed this Patania influenced sterling silver and turquoise squash blossom necklace in the 1970s. This is one the few Thunderbird Shop pieces to exhibit Dan’s personal hallmark along with shop marks. Courtesy Patania collection.

Returning to Tucson after the war, he worked as a heavy equipment driver, wheat combine operator and welder. In 1950 he was persuaded by his brother-in-law, Jimmie Herald, to learn the intricacies of silversmithing. Enos said he would try it for two weeks, and after 42 years with the Thunderbird Shop, he retired in 1992. He was a highly skilled and trusted silversmith who worked continuously in the Thunderbird style for all three generations of Patanias. 

The modern designs incorporated within these artist’s creations have influenced subsequent generations of Native American silversmiths, though some may not be aware these styles and techniques originated with Patania family designs born in the Thunderbird Shop.

Strausenback as Artist, Part I: Original Art

This blog is adapted from Chapter 7: “Trader as Artist” in our book Garden of the Gods Trading Post. This series of three blogs not only expands on the information in our book, but also reproduces the artwork in color since the book was printed in black-and-white.

One of the least known aspects of the life of Charles Strausenback—founder of Garden of the Gods Trading Post—is his career as an artist. Largely self-taught, he began making art as a youth by carving souvenirs from gypsum found in a rock formation in Garden of the Gods park (see previous blog A Unique Souvenir: Gypsum Carvings Made at Garden of the Gods).

In his early twenties Strausenback began to draw and paint on paper and canvas; the earliest known paintings date from 1914 and depict cowboys and Western scenes.

One of the earliest pieces of artwork by Charles Strausenback, signed “C.E.S. 1914,” is a watercolor painting depicting a cowboy on a horse in a western landscape. (Private collection)
Two early oil paintings by Charles Strausenback. (Private collection)

In the 1920s Strausenback made paintings of two buildings that he was associated with, the first was Curt Goerke’s “The Indian” trading post and the other was his own trading post constructed in 1929; both paintings were used as advertising postcards.

This painting of “The Indian” was created by Charles Strausenback in 1924, copied from the drawing made by the architect T. Charles Gaastra. (courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post)
Charles Strausenback made a painting of his new Pueblo-themed trading post which was used on postcards advertising “Strausenback’s Trading Post,” published 1929. Strausenback took artistic license and situated the Trading Post where “The Indian” once stood. (Author’s collection)

His subject matter gradually turned to scenes from Garden of the Gods, Native American themes and portraits and landscapes of the Southwest. Painting and artwork consumed much of Strausenback’s time during the 1930s. 

By the 1930s, Strausenback’s subject matter focused on Garden of the Gods, evidenced by this oil painting of the Gateway Rocks, Cathedral Spires, and Three Graces. (Private collection)

Before 1935 he studied briefly under Boardman Robinson, then director and instructor at the Broadmoor Art Academy, later becoming director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center in 1936. Robinson introduced Strausenback to the modernist movement, and he began using opaque watercolors to make angular representational paintings of landscapes and Pueblo Indian designs.

The three above opaque watercolor paintings are Strausenback’s modern renditions of, top to bottom,, the Gateway Rocks in Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak with Zuni Pueblo heartline deer in the foreground, and an unknown building. (Private collection)
Paintings of recognizable American settings, such as Strausenback’s Monument Valley, encompassed the regional movement by modernists in the 1930s.

Beginning about 1934 much of Strausenback’s artwork was signed with the pseudonym Charley Earnesta, derived from his first and middle names Charles Ernest. 

He also painted under the names Charley Yazza (for Navajo themed work) and Tong Say Ontya (or Tohn Say Ontay) for Pueblo themes. It is unknown why he used different names for some of his artwork, but it has been speculated that he was trying to distance himself from his German ancestry considering events transpiring in Europe at the time. 

Strausenback’s only solo exhibition occurred in 1936 when his modern canvases were displayed in the Chappell House, then the home of the Indian collection of the Denver Art Museum. A critique of the show by art museum director Donald Bear was published in the Colorado Springs Gazette January 8, 1936, under the title, “Strausenback Wins Renown as Artist.” In his assessment, Bear wrote:

Something quite original in picture-making claims our attention when viewing the present show of opaque watercolors by Charley Earnesta now on view at Chappell House. These are neither pictures in the ordinary sense of the word, nor formal designs, having attributes of both. They are picture-designs, suggested by the art of the American Indian, by their painting, their rug designs and Kachina dolls.

   Earnesta, who originated this particular idiom, takes first the natural motif and reworks his material with Indian pattern designs which make the picture. He very wisely insists that these pictures have no symbolic meaning. Because of the gaiety and, likewise, because of their geometry and color, we imagine them as staged sets or as frescoes suited for a simple, functional architecture.

   Mr. Earnesta was born in Mexico, is familiar with the art of the Mayan, as well as that of the American Indian, and the native arts and crafts of the southwest. This is an exhibition that we can enjoy because the work not only fulfils its intention, but is also amusing and not without charm.

Strausenback was fascinated with Pueblo Indian designs and painting techniques. Many of his paintings, and even his company logo, are reminiscent of Awa Tsireh’s artwork, if not direct copies. This 1935 opaque watercolor painting, signed Charley Ernesta, incorporates Pueblo bird and butterfly designs. (Private collection)
Referring to the painting above, entitled West Colorado Avenue, depicting a busy street in Manitou with Pikes Peak looming over the scene, Denver Art Museum director Donald Bear wrote in 1936, “These pictures are most entertaining when there is an obvious connection between the natural motif and its formalization. We refer to the patterning of the posteriors of streamlined motors…”. Strausenback also showed this painting at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Twenty-First Annual Exhibition. (Private collection)

While Strausenback exhibited his modern paintings at area art shows in an attempt to gain attention as an artist, he continued to work in oils and standard watercolor media. Watercolors made in 1936 and 1937, when Charles and Esther began to spend their winters in Phoenix, Arizona, depict scenes of the Arizona desert, saguaros, the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix, and San Xavier del Bac Mission near Tucson. These paintings show a mature artist working in a variety of styles. Oils paintings of this time depicted New Mexico adobes, and landscapes of the Garden of the Gods.

Two watercolor paintings of scenes from Arizona, saguaros in the Phoenix area, and San Xaxier del Bar Mission in Tucson. (Authors collection)
Oil Painting dated 1937 depicting a New Mexico adobe dwelling. (Private collection)

Strausenback stopped making art by 1940 as no known examples of his work are dated later than 1939. 

The following series of images show the sequence of Strausenback’s artwork and print making. The process started with a photograph of Awa Tsireh (San Ildefonso Pueblo) taken by Strausenback, who then made a pencil drawing in 1939 from the photograph. From the pencil drawing a lithograph was produced. 

The photograph on left was taken by Charles Strausenback while Awa Tsireh worked with him at the Trading Post in the 1930s and was the basis for the center pencil sketch made in 1939. The drawing was later the basis for an oil painting and lithographs. (Left and center courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post)

Strausenback as Artist, Part II: Lithographs and Etchings

This blog is adapted from Chapter 7: “Trader as Artist” in our book Garden of the Gods Trading Post. This series of three blogs not only expands on the information in our book, but also reproduces the artwork in color since the book was printed in black-and-white.

Charles Strausenback, founder of Garden of the Gods Trading Post, had been painting and drawing from a young age. But in the summer of 1938 he began working in a new medium, and produced a series of limited-edition lithographs and etchings over the next two years. The decision to make prints over original artwork was likely driven by economics; whereas his paintings sold for about $35 each, lithos could be sold for the more appealing price of $7.50 for small prints up to $12.50 for the largest. 

The lithographs were produced in editions ranging from twenty prints per image to editions as large as fifty impressions. Landscapes from Garden of the Gods were frequent subjects of Strausenback’s artwork.

This print titled Gateway and Pikes Peak was Charles Strausenback’s first lithograph. On the bottom of the artist’s proof he noted in pencil, “1st Litho I ever made Aug 1938.” (Courtesy Private Collection)
Litho number 3 depicts Cathedral Spires in Garden of the Gods.
Charles Strausenback’s fourth litho subject was Balanced Rock, made in 1938. A self-taught artist, he frequently copied his subjects from photographs and postcards, as was the case with this view. 

It’s tempting to speculate Strausenback had his lithographs inked and pulled by Out West Printing and Stationary Company, as they were the only company listed under the “Lithographing” section of the 1938 Colorado Springs city directory. But none of the prints have yet provided a source for the printer.

The lithographs encompass a series of forty-five unique illustrations, depicting scenes from the Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak and scenic venues around Colorado Springs, also landscapes of Arizona including Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and the Superstition Mountains, as well as New Mexico adobes, and even San Juan Capistrano Mission in California. 

Strausenback depicted the Grand Canyon, as viewed from the South Rim, in two different styles in the lithographs above and below. This print, number 10 titled Grand Canyon shows a traditional view of the canyon. 
This print is number 15, also titled Grand Canyon, and is Strausenback’s modern rendition with simplistic flat mesa tops and the Colorado River flowing like a ribbon through the middle of the scene. Both prints were made in 1938.
Number S-40, Adobes, depicts a New Mexico scene in sepia tone and was produced in a series of 30 prints.

In 1936 the Strausenbacks began spending winter months in Phoenix, Arizona, and desert landscapes became a subject of Charles’s artwork. Many desert scenes were depicted in his lithos, actually surpassing the Colorado scenes in quantity, these were sold from the Strausenback Indian Silver Shops in Phoenix. 

Litho number S-45 is a sepia toned print depicting the Superstition Mountains, on the outskirts of Phoenix, under a night sky.
These lithos were printed two-up on the same piece of paper and were never separated. On the left is number 20, titled Yucca, on the right is number 21 Saguaro.

Additionally, Strausenback made portraits of the Navajo and Pueblo Indians who worked for him; Awa Tsireh, Severo Tafoya, and Porfilia Tafoya were among his subjects.

Number S-25, Ca-Ping in sepia tone.
Number 14, titled Monument Valley depicts the Arizona landscape as a modern design. 

To accommodate the tourist market accustomed to purchasing postcard souvenirs of their visits to Garden of the Gods, Charles Strausenback produced a series of five scratchboard prints of scenes from the Pikes Peak region that sold at budget prices. Approximately postcard-sized, these prints were not signed by Strausenback and were printed in editions of 100. 

A series of five scratchboard postcard-sized prints, numbers 34 Gateway, 35 Garden of the Gods, 36 Pikes Peak, 37 Balanced Rock, and 39 Will Roger’s Shrine were not hand signed but were titled and numbered in pencil.

Cowboy themes used in his very first paintings reemerged in Strausenback’s art as he made prints of a speeding stagecoach, cowboys on bucking broncs, and western towns. 

Number 38, Soapy Williams Rides Firefly was copied from a popular postcard entitled “Soapy Williams on Glass Eye.”
Number 45A, titled Out West “Before the Gay 90’s” is the only color lithograph Charles Strausenback ever created. The sign on the train station appears to read “Espanola”, a town close to Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico.

Along with the lithographs Strausenback also experimented with copper plate etchings, and a small series were made with subjects such as Navajos and Plains Indians, Garden of the Gods, and the mountains near Phoenix. 

This etching, titled Navajos, depicts two men in traditional dress. The subjects are placed in a spatial void in the style typical of American Indian easel art of the early 20th century. 

Each lithograph or etching was originally accompanied by a small green-colored paper certificate with the title of the print and the size of the edition hand written in pencil by Strausenback. Few of these have survived to the present.

These lithographs and etchings provide evidence that Strausenback was a talented, if underrated, artist, not just an astute businessman.

Strausenback’s lithos were numbered in the image in the order that they were created. The series number and a capital S for Strausenback were drawn into the image, typically in the bottom right corner, hidden among the elements of the subject matter. The etchings were not identified in the same fashion. The lithos were typically hand signed in the following fashion:

Title of the illustration in the bottom left corner, this print is “Awa Tsireh” San Ildefonso Pueblo.
In the middle is the number of the litho followed by the size of the edition. In this instance 14/S-20 indicates the print is number 14 of an edition of 20 sepia toned prints.
The bottom right corner of series S-26 “Awa Tsireh,” San Ildefonso Pueblo in sepia tone showing the capital S for Strausenback and series number 26 inscribed into the image above his signature.

Below is a chart of the series number, title and edition size of Charles Strausenback’s prints as known at present. One print, Mount Holy Cross, Colo has not yet had its series number recorded.

Series NoTitleEdition Size
1Gateway and Pikes Peak25
2South Cheyenne Canyon
3Cathedral Spires25
4Balanced Rock25
5Superstition Mountains30
6If This Isn’t Pike’s Peak30
7
8
9Pikes Peak from Woodland Park30
10Grand Canyon50
11San Juan Capistrano50
12Mountain Valley25
13San Xavier Mission – Ariz.50
14Monument Valley, Ariz25
15Grand Canyon30
16Painted Desert, Arizona30
17
18Superstition Mountain- Ariz.50
19Santiago Naranjo50
20Yucca50
21Saguaro50
22Camelback Mountain Ariz50
23
24
25“Ca-Ping” Pueblo Indian
S-25“Ca-Ping” Pueblo Indian, sepia20
26“Awa Tsireh” San Ildefonso Pueblo50
S-26“Awa Tsireh” San Ildefonso Pueblo, sepia20
27Pottery Seller50
28“O-See-Thune” Pueblo woman 108 years old50
29Gertrude Silver, Navajo Princess50
30Corn Dance50
31Gateway & Pikes Peak40
S-31Gateway & Pikes Peak, Sepia30
32Balanced Rock40
S-32Balanced Rock, sepia30
33Out West “Before The Gay 90’s”30
34Gateway, scratchboard100
35Garden of Gods, scratchboard100
36Pike’s Peak, scratchboard100
37Balanced Rock, scratchboard100
38Soapy Williams Rides Firefly50
39Will Roger’s Shrine, scratchboard100
40Adobes20
S-40Adobes, sepia30
41Wind Harps, Timberline
S-42In Before Dark, sepia35
43Out West “Before The Gay ’90’s”
44Desert Sunset40
S-45Superstition Mountains at Night, sepia30
45AOut West “Before The Gay ’90’s”, color31
unknownMt. Holy Cross, Colo
Superstition Mt, Ariz, etching40
Navajos, etching35
Buffalo Hunt, etching35
Camel Back Mt Ariz, etching35
Gateway, miniature, etching

Strausenback As Artist, Part III: Trading Post Murals

This blog is adapted from Chapter 6: “A Lifetime in the Garden” in our book Garden of the Gods Trading Post. This series of three blogs not only expands on the information in our book, but also reproduces the artwork in color since the book was printed in black-and-white.

When Garden of the Gods Trading Post opened in 1929 Charles Strausenback’s skills as an artist were put to good use. He painted a large version of his company logo on the porch façade. 

Left, hand tinted postcard showing the porch of the Trading Post in 1929. Right, original artwork sent to the US Copyright Office in 1926 of a Tewa Thunderbird attacking a rattlesnake painted by Charles Strausenback, adapted from a painting by Awa Tsireh. The copyright was granted and this logo was used for Strausenback’s business Garden of the Gods Curio Company and later for the Trading Post. Courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post.

He also painted murals on the exterior porch walls depicting Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and Rio Grande Pueblo figures. 

Garden of the Gods Trading Post photographed by the authors in 2019 showing the murals painted on the porch walls.

These murals were copied from other artist’s work, for example the mural painted by the left side door of a Pueblo woman emerging from a kiva is a copy of a painting by San Ildefonso artist Awa Tsireh, now in the collection of the Firestone Library at Princeton University, https://graphicarts.princeton.edu/2015/08/30/awa-tsireh-1898-1955/.

Additionally the Zuni Shalako figure painted between two windows was copied from a 1900 painting by Mary Wright Gill reproduced in the 23rd Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1901-1902. 

The other murals depict a Navajo sandpainting of Yei figures, and a Hopi sunface kachina. 

These murals are signed Tong Say Ontya 1929. Evidence suggests this was a name used infrequently by Charles Strausenback on his artwork.

More proof of the use of this pseudonym by Strausenback is this opaque watercolor painting of a Pueblo corn dance signed “Tong Say Ontya 1933.” Below the painted signature is Strausenback’s name and 1933 written in pencil. 

Pueblo Corn Dance painting signed “Tong Say Ontya 1933” and also signed in pencil “Strausenback 1933.” (Private Collection)

The painting style is consistent with Strausenback’s as indicated by the below lithograph entitled Corn Dance made by Strausenback in 1939. The litho is nearly identical to the 1933 painting, except for the added background, to indicate they were made by the same artist.

Strausenback’s talent was also utilized on the fireplace constructed in the interior of the trading post. Tiles designed by Awa Tsireh, and made from commercial clay at a factory in Denver were inlaid in the surface and Strausenback painted Navajo Yei figures and a Pueblo cloud design on the front.

Legendary Patania Jewelry

In the Tradition of the Southwest

Now available!

Celebrate three generations of significant American jewelers—their stories and their stunning work—in the only authorized history of the Patania family.

The Patania’s unique jewelry blends their Italian heritage, midcentury modern design, and influences from Native American southwestern jewelry, resulting in a singular and striking style. The authors chronicle the history of the family from 1899, when Frank Patania Sr. was born in Italy, through his son Frank Patania Jr., up to the present day, where the third generation, Sam Patania, continues the tradition of designing and making modern jewelry with a southwestern flair. This first full-length publication for collectors, historians, and enthusiasts documents the jewelry made by the Patanias and their craftsmen, sold at the Thunderbird Shop, including information to attribute and date pieces, history of hallmarks used, and biographies of noted silversmiths who worked there. Beautiful images, including full-page photos of never-before-published masterpieces, make this the definitive resource on the family and their continuing legacy.

Book Details:
ISBN: 978-0-7643-6446-4
Size: 8 1/2″ x 11″
Illustrations: 304 color and b/w images
Pages: 256
Binding: hard cover
Price: $60.00

Available at SchifferBooks.com and Amazon.com.

At the Sign of the Cart

We are frequently approached by collectors asking for assistance to identify hallmarks on Native American jewelry. Sometimes the maker is easy to identify, other times the attribution is more difficult to make. Many times the marks are unattributable as they were used by Native American or Anglo craftsmen who worked during the “boom” years of the 1970s and their identification marks were not recorded. But every so often we are challenged by an obviously old hallmark that has not previously been described or seen.

Such was the case for a hallmark shared with us recently by collector Gloria Dollar. Her tourist era pin in the shape of a deer, likely made by a Pueblo silversmith, has a hallmark on the back depicting a cart. The mark was at first a mystery, but vaguely familiar. Once the “aha” moment struck we began the required investigation to attribute this unusual hallmark. The cart hallmark reminded us of the two-wheeled ox cart, or carreta that has been the logo for a Santa Fe curio store for more than a century.

Photos courtesy Gloria Dollar.

It all started with a merchant named Jake Gold. Jake left New York in 1862 and joined his father Louis Gold, along with his brothers Aaron and Abe, in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory. The Golds became successful merchants in the city concentrating on groceries and general merchandise. However in 1880 Aaron Gold opened Gold’s Provision House on the corner of San Francisco Street and Burro Alley, it not only offered groceries and provisions, it was also the first place “in town where Rare Specimens of Indian Pottery, ancient and modern” were on display. By 1883 the store was managed by Aaron’s youngest brother Jake, who acquired the business from Aaron the same year and changed the name to Gold’s Free Museum which could be found at the “Sign of Indian Cart” on San Francisco Street. By 1893 Jake renamed the business the Old Curiosity Shop, established 1862, the year he came to Santa Fe.

Circa 1890 photograph of Jake Gold’s Old Curiosity Shop at the corner of San Francisco Street and Burro Alley, note the two-wheeled ox cart, or carreta on the roof.

Jake purchased the property in October 1890 and in 1893 set about improving his place of business by nearly doubling the capacity and enlarging the main sales room. Jake became the leading dealer in Santa Fe of Indian pottery and blankets, Chimayo weavings and Mexican curios, and was referred to as “The Curio Man” in the local newspaper, he had become an important component of the territorial economy. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported on July 1, 1893, he, “has at least thirty men and women constantly employed at Chimayo, in the Navajo country and elsewhere manufacturing his supply of Indian and Mexican blankets. Also he has a dozen or so men on the road traveling all over New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico, gathering all manner of curios for his stock.” He was, perhaps, the first in a long line of curio dealers, or Indian traders as we know them today, who wove tall tales in order to entice buyers with the rarity of their goods; in 1894 journalist Henry Russell Wray wrote that, “in this shop of Jake’s you can purchase the last pair of trousers worn by Columbus, the sword De Soto wore, the hat of Cabeza de Vaca or the breastplate of silver worn by Cortez.”

1894 advertisement for Jake Gold’s Old Curiosity Shop.

But it all came crashing down in 1896 when Jake was charged with violating the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act, and was additionally charged with abandonment for leaving his wife Lizzie. To avoid prosecution, he fled to El Paso, Texas losing his business in the process. He was eventually returned to Santa Fe where he pled guilty and for which he was sentenced to a year in the territorial penitentiary, a sentence which began in January 1901. After Jake abandoned his business the property and stock were purchased by his brother Abe who continued to run it as Gold’s Old Curiosity Shop.

While in prison Jake corresponded with his friend Candelario. J.S. (Jesus Sito) Candelario was born 1864 in New Mexico and first worked in Santa Fe as a clerk for Blain Brothers who were merchants, pawnbrokers and dealers in second-hand goods. But in 1891 he launched out on his own opening a second-hand shop and advertising himself as an auctioneer and pawnbroker who “buys, sells, rents and exchanges second hand goods on Lower San Francisco Street,” in the same vicinity as Jake’s former store. This business appears to have closed by 1902. 

Jake and Candelario were laying the foundation for a partnership as curio dealers and Candelario began procuring Pueblo pottery, Navajo blankets and other goods. After Jake’s return to Santa Fe, the Old Curio Shop—Jake Gold, manager, J.S. Candelario, proprietor—opened in January 1902 on San Francisco Street, a few doors to the east of the Old Curiosity Shop now owned by Abe Gold. The new partnership didn’t last long, in June 1903 Jake Gold and Candelario parted ways amicably with Jake taking over management of his brother Abe’s store. Candelario continued in business under the name the Old Curio Store, and the roof, of course, was ornamented with an old carreta.

But the death of Abe Gold in August 1903, and subsequently the demise of Jake Gold, “the original old curio man,” in December 1905 left J.S. Candelario as the most prominent curio dealer in Santa Fe. Candelario quickly assumed the role of “The Curio Man” and renamed his shop the Original Old Curio Store, advertised as the biggest curio store in the west, at 301-303 San Francisco Street, “Look for the Old Mexican Cart.” 

J.S. Candelario’s the Original Old Curio Store at 301-303 San Francisco Street with a two-wheeled ox cart, or carreta displayed on the roof.
Postcard published by J.S. Candelario around 1910.
The Original Old Curio Store was photographed around 1910 during a snow storm in Santa Fe. Jake Gold’s original shop at the corner of San Francisco Street and Burro Alley can be seen a few doors to the left of Candelario’s.

He claimed to be the largest wholesale and retail dealer in genuine Indian and Mexican goods in the United States and maintained that he was the only native-born curio dealer in the Rocky Mountain district. Candelario’s shop became a must-see for visitors to Santa Fe, attracting the curious and the famous alike including Sinclair Lewis, William Jennings Bryan and President Theodore Roosevelt. Besides thousands of curios offered for sale, comprising Indian blankets, baskets, pottery, drawn work, and turquoise from his own mine near Cerrillos, he also publicized his collection of relics accumulated over the years that were emphatically not for sale. These included the oldest bell in America cast in 1330, a suit of clothes said to have been worn by a man when killed by lightning and a silver spur said to have been worn by Emperor Maximilian on his last horseback ride. His assertion that the business was established in 1603 was as large a fabrication as was the rarity of his relics.

Postcard published by J.S. Candelario, looking towards Saint Francis Cathedral, the Original Old Curio Shop can be seen on the left, the north side of San Francisco Street.
Circa 1925 business card for J.S. Candelario.

Upon Candelario’s death on July 30, 1938 the Santa Fe New Mexican proclaimed him, “one of the most prominent curio dealers and property owners in the entire Southwest.” The store had closed the year prior after J.S. suffered a heart attack. His grandson (and adopted son as well), and sole heir, John S. Candelario (1916-1993) inherited his grandfather’s estate and reopened the store in December 1938 telling the newspaper, “the policies will remain the same as those of my grandfather. Many items and famous collections will not be for sale, although we are glad to have our many friends and customers come in and view them.”

December 1938 ad for the Original Old Curio Store.

John was becoming a well-known photographer and left the day-to-day operations of the Original Old Curio Store in the hands of various managers. Shortly after the end of World War II a partial collapse of the roof necessitated extensive renovations, and the newspaper article announcing the reopening, dated April 4, 1946, also described additional business ventures that John was associated with:

Adjoining the store and offices is the workshop of Santa Fe Silversmiths, Inc., of which [William C.] Euler is president, John Candelario, vice president and Wiltz Harrison, secretary/treasurer in charge of design and production. At present eight Indian and several Spanish-Americans are employed. The Native boys are learning to work in copper since if work is defective then the metal can easily be reused. Two of these are veterans who were in the war, and will be able to learn the craft in cooperation with the rehabilitation service. Of the Indians there are three Navajos, two San Juans, a Domingo, an Isleta and a Cochiti woman. In concentrating on hand-made jewelry as against machined output Euler said the firm is using the initials “S.F.S.” as a hallmark. Candelario’s is also a member of the United Indian Traders Association which last month announced its code of standards for hand made Navajo and Pueblo jewelry as a protection to the public.

Santa Fe New Mexican, April 4, 1946

John must have grown weary of the curio business, on May 21, 1947 he sold the Original Old Curio Store to local merchants Dan Taichert and Al Thorwaldsen. The shop and property have passed through a number of hands since 1947, but continues in operation as the Original Trading Post, now displaying a metal carreta on the roof.

Photo courtesy Gloria Dollar.

Now, considering the hallmark on the back of Gloria Dollar’s pin that started this entire investigation. It is obvious that the cart depicted in the hallmark is the one used for Candelario’s Original Old Curio Shop. However, Jonathan Batkin, who has thoroughly researched the business records of J. S. Candelario, said via personal communication, that he “never found evidence that ‘Indian style’ jewelry was made while he [Candelario] ran the shop.” The style of the pin is typical of late 1930s Native American silver jewelry made for the tourist trade. That leads us to believe the mark was used between 1939-1946 during John Candelario’s ownership of the business. But, as always, our attribution is open to more research.

Much of the history about Jake Gold and J.S. Candelario is derived from Jonathan Batkin’s research, especially from his 2008 publication The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico, supplemented by personal communications and historic newspaper articles.

A Bracelet with a Story to Tell

We have often stated, and even wrote in our introduction to Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry, that sometimes more can be discerned from the back of a piece of antique American Indian jewelry than from the front.

Silver ridge bracelet ca. 1938. Courtesy Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, catalog number 2008.11.001, Gift of Thomas and Deborah Begner.

This modest ridge bracelet, now in the collection of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, is the epitome of that statement. The underside reveals a fascinating aspect of the establishment of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB) silver stamping program. For an overview of the program see our previous blog Indian Arts and Crafts Board Silver Stamping Program 1938-1943.

The underside of the bracelet reveals a multitude of hallmark stamps that were tested by Ambrose Roanhorse and Kenneth Chapman for the IACB silver stamping program. Courtesy Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, catalog number 2008.11.001, Gift of Thomas and Deborah Begner.

Kenneth M. Chapman of the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe was appointed as special consultant to the IACB and assumed responsibility for the silver stamping program. He was assigned the task of developing the inspection and identification criteria for finished Native American jewelry pieces that, after thorough examination, would be hallmarked to certify that the piece was hand made to strict standards set down by the government. His biggest challenge was to find a way to apply marks to finished jewelry pieces. Identification marks, or hallmarks, are typically applied by Native silversmiths while the jewelry piece is under construction to avoid damaging the finished product. 

The specifications for the stamps were set down on April 2, 1937 when Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes approved the “Regulations for Use of Government Mark on Navajo, Pueblo and Hopi Silver” which had been drafted by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board on March 10. Among the eight regulations were,

  • All dies used to mark silver will be provided by and owned by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board.
  • Dies are marked with name of tribe. A Navajo stamp will be used where the maker is a Navajo Indian; similarily, for Zuni, Hopi and Rio Grande Pueblo.
  • All dies will be numbered, and each wholesaler or dealer will be held responsible for any violation of standards in silver that bears his mark.

With these specifications in mind Chapman labored to design the marking dies. According to Chapman biographers Janet Chapman and Karen Barrie, “He naturally thought about the mark as a design element.” He considered including Native symbolism to the marks and, “toyed with a mini-squash blossom and crescent” for the Navajo stamp, but none of that transpired.

In early December 1937 Chapman received a shipment of steel dies to test in preparation for the beginning of the program. He visited the workshop of Navajo silversmith Ambrose Roanhorse—teacher at Santa Fe Indian School who would be enlisted to help stamp the approved pieces—to have Roanhorse experiment with the marking dies. Some of the dies broke and on the whole Chapman found them inferior and useless. On top of it all, the bracelet dies were too large, and the U.S. NAVAJO die damaged the bracelet they used for testing. 

Damage, circled in red, to the front of the bracelet caused by the first U.S. NAVAJO die. Courtesy Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, catalog number 2008.11.001, Gift of Thomas and Deborah Begner.
The large US NAVAJO stamp that damaged the front of the bracelet is shown in the center with the number 10 and an eagle design. Among other stamps that can be seen are various sizes of the same dies plus STERLING, and GA 23. It is unknown what GA 23 may have stood for. Courtesy Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, catalog number 2008.11.001, Gift of Thomas and Deborah Begner.
Close up of the eagle stamp that was applied at the end of U.S. NAVAJO 10. This design resembles the eagle used for the National Recovery Act, it was never used on government approved silver. Courtesy Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, catalog number 2008.11.001, Gift of Thomas and Deborah Begner.

Examining the markings on the test bracelet it can be seen that many different dies were experimented with. But in early March 1938 Rene d’Harnoncourt, general manager of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, ordered a new set of four flat punch dies from William A. Force Company in New York. The set consisted of U.S. NAVAJO, U.S. R.G. PUEBLO, U.S. ZUNI and U.S. HOPI along with ten number dies, from 1 to 0. A few weeks later the completed dies were mailed to Kenneth Chapman in Santa Fe.

The final versions of U.S. HOPI, U.S. ZUNI and U.S. NAVAJO stamps that were accepted for use on government approved Native American made silver. The stamp for Hopi was never used. Courtesy Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, catalog number 2008.11.001, Gift of Thomas and Deborah Begner.
Close up of U.S. R.G. PUEBLO stamp that was never used during the duration of the program. Courtesy Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, catalog number 2008.11.001, Gift of Thomas and Deborah Begner.

These were smaller dies that were ultimately approved and used during the life of the program, from April 5, 1938 when Ambrose Roanhorse marked the first inspected pieces of silver until sometime in 1943 when interest in the program waned. Even though dies were made for Navajo, Zuni, Hopi and Rio Grande Pueblo, Chapman only recorded that the Navajo and Zuni dies were ever applied to any government approved jewelry.

The path this bracelet took from Kenneth Chapman’s hands to the Wheelwright will never fully be known. But it was rescued from obscurity by Thomas and Deborah Begner, owners of Turkey Mountain Traders in Scottsdale, when they purchased it on eBay and donated it to the Wheelwright. In the end this important piece of history is now back in Santa Fe where it originated.

We are grateful to Jonathan Batkin, retired director of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian  for granting us permission to tell this story before his retirement. We also thank Karen Barrie for graciously sharing her research into Kenneth M. Chapman including documents she obtained from the National Archives.

All photographs are by the authors.

References

Jonathan Batkin, The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico, Wheelright Museum of the American Indian, 2008.

Jonathan Batkin, personal communication March 4, 2020.

Janet Chapman and Karen Barrie, Kenneth Milton Chapman: A Life Dedicated to Indian Arts and Artists, University of New Mexico, 2008.

Karen Barrie, personal communication, May 2010.

United States Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Reports and Documents Concerning the Activities of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, December 1, 1943.

Our Exciting New Project

In April 2020 we were approached by the Patania family to write a history of the Thunderbird Shops located in Santa Fe and Tucson. Not only are we honored to have been asked, we’re excited to take this on as our next project.

Having delved into a bit of the history of the Thunderbird Shop, especially the hallmarks used there, in Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry, we are somewhat familiar with the story we are tasked to tell.

But having access to Frank Jr, Sam and the family archives means we can convey the legacy of three generations of Patania artisans to its fullest.

Please excuse us during this time for the lack of new content here, but every spare minute is being devoted to photography, research and writing in an effort to have the Patania book in collector’s hands as soon as possible.

Indian Arts and Crafts Board Silver Stamping Program 1938-1943

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB), an agency of the Department of the Interior, was formally established in 1936 to aid in the revitalization and promotion of traditional Native American arts. The preservation of traditional southwest Indian silverwork was one of the most urgent issues to be addressed by the board.

Bracelets (1938–1943), all marked U.S.NAVAJO  by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. The designating numbers were 4 for Fred Harvey Company (top); 40 for Fort Wingate Indian School (far left and bottom right); and 2 for C. G. Wallace (second from left front and far right).

Competition from machine manufactured Indian-design jewelry, such as was made by Maisel’s, Bell Trading Post, H.H. Tammen, etc, was making it nearly impossible for individual Indian silversmiths to make a living. A series of meetings held by the board resulted in a program by which genuine handmade Navajo, Pueblo, and Hopi silver could obtain a stamp of authenticity from the government. An announcement, made in March 1937, set forth the standards by which jewelry could qualify for the stamp, and that the stamp “should be applied only to the finest quality of wholly genuine, truly hand-fashioned and authentic Indian silver and turquoise products.”

Two silver pins, both stamped with Indian Arts and Crafts Board mark U.S.NAVAJO 60, indicating they were made at the Santa Fe Indian School, 1938–1943.

The IACB silver stamping program has been examined at length by Jonathan Batkin in his excellent book The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico. Batkin explains how this program adopted hallmarks that were stamped on silver individually produced and entirely handmade (no power-driven machinery could be used) from silver slugs hammered to shape; the turquoise also had to be genuine, untreated, and cut and polished by hand.

Two silver bracelets and a small buckle, all stamped with Indian Arts and Crafts Board mark U.S.NAVAJO 40, indicating they were made at Fort Wingate Indian School, 1938–1943.

Only an agent of the IACB could determine which silver complied with the standards and therefore could receive the government mark. No jewelry with tourist-type designs, such as arrow stamps, were eligible to receive the hallmark. C. G. Wallace had a bracelet with such stamps rejected. But silver made by casting in an individual tufa mold was approved to receive the government stamp, as evidenced by a cast bracelet by Juan De Dios marked with U.S.ZUNI 1.

Four bracelets with Indian Arts and Crafts Board marks, 1938–1943. Top cast bracelet with mark U.S.ZUNI 1 assigned to C. G. Wallace; bottom left marked U.S.NAVAJO 5 for Kelsey Trading or Pueblo Indian Arts and Crafts; middle and far right U.S.NAVAJO 1 for Gallup Mercantile.

Kenneth Chapman, curator of the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe, and a respected authority on southwest Indian arts, assumed responsibility as special agent for the silver program. It was Chapman who developed the marking system for approved silver, spending months in research until he and Ambrose Roanhorse, a well-respected Navajo silversmith who taught at the Santa Fe Indian School, settled on the small dies that were eventually put into service.

The marks included the letters “U.S.” and then the tribal identification, NAVAJO, ZUNI, HOPI, and RGPUEBLO (for Rio Grande Pueblo) followed by a number identifying the participating trader, wholesaler, or federal Indian school. Stamps were designed and made for HOPI and RGPUEBLO, but apparently never used, possibly because there were no interested traders who employed Pueblo or Hopi smiths.

Three pieces of silver made at Albuquerque Indian School and stamped with U.S. NAVAJO 50 exhibit additional stamped numbers not seen on other pieces stamped by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Each piece possesses a different number, suggesting the numbers were assigned to each student in the silversmithing class. The AS in front of two of the numbers (AS 195 and AS 40) could possibly designate “Albuquerque School.”

Chiseled ingot silver pin marked U.S. NAVAJO 50 made at Albuquerque Indian School includes the stamped number AS 195 on the reverse, likely indicating Albuquerque School and the student that made the piece. Courtesy Gloria Dollar.
US Navajo 50 pin with additional hallmark AS 40.
Fabricated pin with small turquoise setting marked U.S. NAVAJO 50 made at Albuquerque Indian School includes the stamped number AS 40 on the reverse, likely indicating Albuquerque School and the student that made the piece. Courtesy Gloria Dollar.
Cast bracelet marked U.S. NAVAJO 50 made at Albuquerque Indian School includes the stamped number 177 on the reverse, likely indicating the student that made the piece. Courtesy Gloria Dollar.

Ambrose Roanhorse was responsible for applying the stamp to approved pieces, and later Dooley Shorty, the silversmithing teacher at Fort Wingate Indian School, also did some marking of approved silver.

The first numbers were assigned and stamped under Chapman’s supervision on April 5, 1938, in Santa Fe. Chapman and Roanhorse then traveled throughout New Mexico to stamp the silver held in anticipation of the start of the program. After three weeks, Chapman estimated that 4,000 pieces were examined in the first batches of silver with 2,322 qualifying for the stamp.

Response to the program was mixed. C. G. Wallace was enthusiastic and sent many pieces of silver for marking during the life of the program. On the other hand, Herman Schweizer was cautious about the objectives of the program but still submitted some of the first articles stamped in April 1938, thinking the Harvey Company should be in on the ground floor.

These two silver pins were stamped by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board with U.S.NAVAJO 2, indicating they were made for C. G. Wallace, 1938–1943. Bottom pin also includes unknown artist’s hallmark of curved arrow.

Complaints arose quickly. Traders and silversmiths were concerned that the rules were too stringent. Even C. G. Wallace, the program’s biggest supporter, complained to Chapman that he had to put a man on the road to try to sell the stamped silver because his biggest clients, the Fred Harvey Company and the Gallup wholesale houses, had turned their backs on Wallace’s government-stamped jewelry.

Schweizer’s support of the program was short lived, and he quickly concluded it was a failure. He told Chapman the IACB had not advertised the program as promised, and the traveling public knew nothing about it. When tourists were shown the marked silver they became suspicious of the unmarked silver in the store. Schweizer ceased selling government-stamped silver by late 1938.

Two silver pins stamped with Indian Arts and Crafts Board mark U.S.NAVAJO 70, designating they were made for the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild, 1940–1943. This number was originally assigned by Chapman in March 1940.

Number Designations for IACB Hallmarks

No.      Trader or School                               Location

U.S.Navajo

1          Gallup Mercantile Company              Gallup, NM

2          C. G. Wallace                                      Zuni, NM

3          Berton I. Staples, Crafts del Navajo   Coolidge, NM

4          Fred Harvey Company                        Albuquerque, NM

5*        Kelsey Trading Company                           Zuni, NM

            Pueblo Indian Arts & Craft Market      Albuquerque, NM

6          Zuni Trading Post (Robert Wallace)   Zuni, NM

10        Tuba City Indian School                     Tuba City, AZ

11        Drolet’s Trading Post (J. M. Drolet)   Naschitti, NM

20        Shiprock Indian School                      Shiprock, AZ

30        Crownpoint Indian School                  Crownpoint, NM

40        Fort Wingate Indian School               Fort Wingate, NM

50        Albuquerque Indian School                Albuquerque, NM

60        Santa Fe Indian School                       Santa Fe, NM

70        Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild             Fort Wingate, NM

U.S.Zuni

1          C. G. Wallace                                      Zuni, NM

4          Fred Harvey Company                        Albuquerque, NM

5*        Kelsey Trading Company                   Zuni, NM

            Pueblo Indian Arts & Craft Market    Albuquerque, NM

6          Zuni Trading Post (Robert Wallace)   Zuni, NM

11        Gallup Mercantile Company              Gallup, NM

*It appears the numbers U.S.NAVAJO 5 and U.S.ZUNI 5 were reassigned in 1941. Kelsey Trading Company in Zuni was originally assigned those numbers and had 170 pieces stamped in April 1938. Kelsey must have stepped away from the program because Chapman notes on June 10, 1941, that he marked 36 pieces U.S.ZUNI 5 and thirteen pieces U.S.NAVAJO 5 received from the Pueblo Indian Arts & Crafts Market.

A Unique Souvenir: Gypsum Carvings Made at Garden of the Gods

From the beginning of Garden of the Gods, a recreational area in Colorado Springs that became a city park in 1909, entrepreneurs found ways to profit from the park. Semi-permanent refreshment stands popped up near the Gateway Rocks and itinerant curio dealers set up tripod stands or tents to sell souvenirs. 

Gateway to Garden of the Gods with White Rock in view.
White Rock is the first large formation encountered when entering Garden of the Gods from the eastern entrance.

A unique form of souvenir evolved from the natural rock formations in the Garden of the Gods. As early as 1879 gypsum, a soft white stone, was mined from the formation called White Rock. A variety of artists carved the gypsum into pocket-sized figures, including books, crosses, and tree stump toothpick holders, as well as larger carved animal figures. The phrase “Garden of the Gods” was carved into the soft stone while the date of purchase was added later.  

Three gypsum tree stump toothpick holders made by unknown carvers.
Tree stump toothpick or match stick holders, possibly carved by the same artist as the lettering is consistent, all upper case with distinctive letters, especially the G, E and D, on each. Each piece was dated when it was purchased, from left to right, July 30, 1913, 1906 and May 10, 1914.
Three gypsum books made by unknown carvers.
Books were also popular souvenirs carved from gypsum, possibly representing bibles. These could have been carved by two different artists. The left, dated June 18, 1908, and the right Sept 1, 1908 have the same lettering style. The middle one dated 1912 appears to be by a different carver.
Gypsum bear and Billiken souvenir carvings.
On the bottom of the bear carving is the date Apr 13, 1913. The Billiken figure has “GOOD LUCK” carved across his feet and is dated Oct 25, 1910 on the bottom.

No one knows exactly when the practice started, but one carver that has been identified is Alva Weeks, who sold gypsum souvenirs in the park between 1904 and 1911. See Poppa and the Petrified Indian, written in 1973 by John Thomas included on a website hosted by Patricia Hennessy Weeks. The “petrified Indian” that Alva Weeks is said to have carved is likely not the one that was on display until 1979 at Garden of the Gods Trading Post. 

A ten-year old Charles Strausenback sells his gypsum carvings from a tripod stand.
Charles Strausenback as a ten-year old boy proudly selling his gypsum carvings from a tripod stand in Garden of the Gods. Courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post. 

Beginning at just ten years of age in 1900 Charles Strausenback spent his summers painting western designs on rock slabs and carving figures from gypsum that he found in the area of the Garden of the Gods. These he sold from a tripod stand at the side of the carriage road leading through Gateway rocks.  

1909 Charles Strausenback sells his gypsum carvings by a wood kiosk.
By 1909 Strausenback had progressed from a tripod stand with a few carvings to a larger display. He sits, wearing a boater hat, near Gateway Rocks with his carvings for sale, to the left of a wood kiosk. Courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post.
About 1912 Strausenback sells his gypsum carvings from a stand next to a building on the east side of Gateway Rocks.
About 1912 Strausenback moved his sales stand next to a building on the east side of the Gateway Rocks. He may have rented space from Charles H. Wyman, who managed a curio shop outside the park. This location marks the first appearance of the iconic sign, “Free See the Petrified Body Inside” which became an integral part of Strausenback’s business. Courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post.
1917 wood building where Charles Strausenback operated his business Garden of the Gods Curio Company.
In 1917 Charles Strausenback leased a wood building east of the Gateway Rocks where in 1912 he had previously had his sales stand at the side of the building. Here Strausenback likely operated his curio business for the first time from a permanent structure.
The Hidden Inn on opening day July 1, 1915.
The newly completed Hidden Inn in Garden of the Gods park, seen here on opening day, July 1, 1915, was a three-story structure. A curio store was on the first floor, a tea room and dance hall on the second floor, and an observatory on the third floor.

Upon the opening of the Hidden Inn in the Garden of The Gods in 1915, Strausenback became associated with concessionaire Carl Balcomb and was given a corner of the curio room to display and sell his gypsum carvings. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette on July 11, 1915, 

Associated with Mr. Balcomb in the concession of the inn is Charles E. Strausenback, sculptor, who has charge of the gypsum departments. He has been a resident of the Garden of the Gods each year since 1900 and has spent practically all his summers there since he was a mere boy. His art objects are carved from material found near the gateway rocks and are much in demand by tourists. 

Gypsum book carved by Charles Strausenback dated July 1915.
Gypsum carved souvenir book by Charles Strausenback, was intended to be sold during July 1915, the month the Hidden Inn opened. Note Charles’ use of upper and lower case letters in his carvings.
Charles Strausenback in 1915.
Charles Strausenback in 1915 at the time Hidden Inn opened. Courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post.
Strausenback's gypsum carvings on display in Garden of the Gods Trading Post June 2019.
An unfinished buffalo carving, some scrap gypsum pieces, a tree stump and two books by Charles Strausenback were on display at Garden of the Gods Trading Post in June 2019.
Two gypsum souvenirs carved by Charles Strausenback, note his use of upper and lower case letters.
Two gypsum souvenirs carved by Charles Strausenback, note his use of upper and lower case letters.

One of the main attractions for Strausenback’s curio businesses was a “petrified Indian” that was heavily advertised on store signage and business cards. Various signs on a number of tourist attractions that Strausenback was associated with (as early as 1913) proclaimed either, “Free See the Petrified Body Inside” or, “Free See the Petrified Indian Inside.”  

Charles Strausenback likely carved his “Petrified Indian.”
Charles Strausenback likely carved his “Petrified Indian.”

A number of curio stores in the Manitou and Colorado Springs area advertised petrified Indians on display (as disrespectful to American Indians as that is, it was not considered to be so at the time), and it appears there were three or four different versions. One was “Princess Moonbeam” who was displayed at the Totem Pole curio shop on Beckers Lane. But, according to the current owners of Garden of the Gods Trading Post, the one Strausenback displayed was not a mummified corpse at all, but a rock carved statue, with a breach cloth covering the private area, which probably was carved by Strausenback himself. It was small, about the size of a baby, and was on display until 1979 when Esther Strausenback, the widow of Charles, retired. 

The foregoing was derived from our book Garden of the Gods Trading Post. 

Published September 8, 2019.