Gallup Solar Rick Kruis and Chuck Van Drunen

CHICKEN PULL involvement in reality. Gallup had fallen on hard times with the passage of prohibition, since alcohol was one of its main sources of revenue.

That same year a mining strike led to the city of Gallup being put under martial law ordered by the Governor of New Mexico because of the arrival of strike breakers to end the coal strikes. There are photos of soldiers with machine guns in downtown Gallup. Not a propitious year for a shindig.

Coincidentally the country was in a deep recession, and though tourist travel through Gallup had increased to twenty cars a day, the highway across the country (later Route 66) was not even paved. Local trader Bill Richardson says they could tell when the “Yellow Bus” was arriving in town by the big plume of dust to the West.

In 1922 the county agricultural agent, Homer Powers, had put on a pretty successful county fair with lots of Indians in attendance so he liked the idea. He was in the arena horseback in the early years, announcing events with a huge megaphone.

S. P. “Steve” Vidal was mayor at the time. Vidal was half brother to Dominic Rollie so he was on board, too. He was also the secretary of Kiwanis. Glenn Emmons, a local banker, jumped in with his support. Emmons would later be Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Some people give credit to S.F. Stacher, the Crownpoint Indian Agent, for the idea of starting the Ceremonial, but he already had his own event every year in Eastern Navajo Country. It was well attended, but it didn’t boast all the events and exhibits. The long-running Navajo Fair in Shiprock is never mentioned.

The businessmen took all the credit for having the original idea and creating the Ceremonial, but it was the behind-thescenes characters who did most of the work. There is almost no mention of the group from Ramah, NM, who took care of the arena and all that entailed. The only name mentioned is Evon Z. Vogt, who was a character himself. Vogt was a Ramah pioneer who became the largest sheepman in the state. He once lost four thousand head of sheep at Atarque, south of Zuni, in a single snow storm. He was also the founder of the Gallup Gazette, the newspaper which became the Gallup Independent, and Vogt was the first custodian of the El Morro National Monument.

He was the voice of Ceremonial for many years as the Master of Ceremonies. Vogt’s Ramah friends supplied much of the sweat for the first two decades or more, taking care of the grounds, the arena, moving the stock for the rodeos, and getting all the participants lined up for the parade, the Grand Entry, and the order of performers. Joe Tanner says of his grandfather, the original J. B. Tanner and top promoter of the early ceremonial, that he and the other traders—Howard Wilson, Ray Aldrige, and Ramon Hubble, among others—were just having a good time. One writer said they treated it as a party. Tanner bought the herd of buffalo that were a big part of the show in the early days. Roman Hubbell, scion of the famous Hubbell family, was one of several men who were promoting tourism by acting as guides. As tourist agents they had to provide an exciting time for their visitors or lose their trade. Zuni artist Teddy Weahkee and Gallup character Dick Mattox (a friend of Will Rogers) were also part of the tourist business. It was the traders and tour guides who provided the Indians for the big show and they were and still are the essential ingredient.

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- ernie@buffalomedicine.com