Christmas Party -- Heflin's, December 21, 1946, Navajo women inside trading post. Reuben Heflin Trades in Navajo rugs

Color photograph of Navajo women standing on one side of the counter at the trade store. They are trading a rug. Cans and other goods are on the shelves in the back and a man is holding the rug and talking to the women. Reuben Heflin trades in Navajo rugs. Some information about the trade store follows. Originally built in 1921, "the subsequent history of Oljato (trading post) has been molded by a long list of interrelated or well-acquainted Indian traders. Heffernan kept the Oljato post until 1936 when he sold it to John Taylor who kept it for two years more and then moved on to the trading post at Red Lake, Arizona (also known as Tonalea). George Pearson owned the Oljato post from 1936 to 1938, after which he sold it to Reuben Heflin, brother-in-law to the present owner, Mrs. Virginia Smith. Heflin had already been trading for a number of years, including a stint at the Shonto Trading Post in northeastern Arizona. In 1944 he was succeeded by Fred Carson who was joined by his cousin, O.J. Carson, in 1948." -- National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, viewed on internet on June 5, 2012