In late April 2023, representatives from the Center of the American West and the National Park Service traveled to Flagstaff and various sites around the Navajo Nation to meet with indigenous elders in regards to their connection with Zane Grey’s time in northern Arizona in the early 20th century. This photo gallery represents the highlights of our research trip, which became a road trip where the romanticized past blurred into present day ecological and political concerns for future generations.

Restoration Work in Tsegi Canyon

Outside Tsegi Canyon, site from one of Zane Grey’s novels, RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, a few miles outside Kayenta, Navajo Nation.
Martha Austin, Chairperson for School of Dine Studies and Education, pointing out the location where RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE took place and how it overlaps with her family’s historic sheep camp in Tsegi Canyon.
Map of Navajo National Monument, where Martha Austin took researchers to highlight more landscapes of Grey’s 20th c. novels and their overlap with 21st c. conservation efforts.
Heading towards the Betatakin lookout at Navajo National Monument.
Betatakin cliff dwelling in Navajo National Monument.

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