LOUISA WETHERILL HACIENDA

In October 1924, John and Louisa Wetherill arrived to La Osa. The couple and their children lived in remote trading posts among the Navajo people for over 25 years, becoming an authority on Navajo culture and speaking the language. In the 1910s the Wetherills operated a trading post and lodge in Kayenta, Arizona, where they welcomed visitors like Theodore Roosevelt and Zane Grey. The Wetherills made trips to Mexico to investigate claims Navajo clans had migrated south in pre-Columbian times. In their travels, they found La Osa and decided it was an ideal place to house winter guests and create a dude ranch. It opened to guests as Hacienda de la Osa on Thanksgiving, 1924. Louisa was elected to the AZ Women’s Hall of Fame in 1985.