Arizona Tribes in Zane Grey's Novels

Zane Grey wrote 57 Western romance novels.  Twenty-four of these works were set entirely or partially in Arizona. Several include Native American themes and characters.  This presentation features six novels with such themes.  Included in this exhibit are:

• 30,000 on the Hoof (Apache)
• The Heritage of the Desert (Navajo, Kaibab Band of the Southern Paiute)
• The Rainbow Trail (Navajo, Paiute)
• The Vanishing American (Navajo, Hopi, San Juan Band of Southern Paiute)
• Tappan's Burro and Other Stories (Yaqui)
• Blue Feather (Navajo, Anasazi)

Four of the novels indicated above include Navajo characters.  Zane Grey was a friend of John and Louisa Wetherill, traders on the Navajo Reservation. He visited them several times.  It is not surprising that the Navajo people he met and the stories he was told by the Wetherills are reflected in many of his novels. 

The following map provides geographic reference that will help reader's orient the tribes with their location in the State of Arizona.