Cedar Ridge Trading Post, Arizona

Established in 1920 by white settlers in Northern Arizona, this trading post is named after a nearby geologic feature by the same name. It is located on Highway 89, on the western side of the Navajo Indian Reservation. A trading post is an establishment where goods can be traded. It is also a social center where news and gossip are exchanged. Trading posts have been associated with American frontier culture since the seventeenth century. Over time, trading posts developed into a cultural institution at first funded and backed by empire, later by national interests, and most often by enterprising business men.