Growing from tradition
Farming coming back to Ganado

A scarecrow stands guard over the spacious fields of the Hubbel Trading Post in Ganado on Wednesday. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Adron Gardner

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

GANADO — When John Lorenzo Hubbell started a trading post in Ganado in 1878, it was more than just a store. As the trading business grew, he turned to freighting, which required mules and horses that liked to eat — so much so that in 1902, to save on feed, he leveled 110 acres and began to grow alfalfa.

With men from the local community, Hubbell built an irrigation system more than 2 miles long that ran from Ganado Lake to a holding pond near his fields, according to the National Park Service. The hay grown in the fields was used to feed his 45 mules and horses while the surplus was sold commercially.

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