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John Bradford Moore

JB Moore was a trader who established a trading post at Crystal, New Mexico at the western end of the Narbona Pass.  His mission was to buy anything and everything the Navajo had to sell and to sell the Navajo everything they needed.

Around the turn of the century there was great demand for oriental rugs.  Moore understood what the market in the eastern United States would value.  During the winter months, Moore employed Navajo weavers to make rugs.  He ensured that the wool and the weaving was good quality and created his own designs with oriental elements.  He quickly gaining a reputation as a source of good quality rugs. 

Moore's business flourished, and in 1903 and in 1911 he published mail-order catalogs, drawing business from across the United States.  In his 1903 catalog, Moore made much of the authenticity of his products. The catalog included photographs of the interior and exterior of the trading post and the land around it, and of Navajo people, outdoor looms and hogans. He said: "While this booklet makes no claim of being a pioneer in its field, I think it may claim to be the first of its kind published and distributed from the very center of the Navajo Indian Reservation, by an Indian trader living among and dealing directly with the Indians who makes the goods which it illustrates and describes."

Southwest Book: JB Moore Catalog - Adobe Gallery, Santa Fe

 

 

 

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