C. G. Wallace Trading Post, Zuni: History, Smiths & Stamps

The C. G. Wallace Trading Post was the Zuni business of trader Charles Garrett "C. G." Wallace (1898–1993; Hougart 2022, p. 373), who was "operating his own trading post in 1928, with a workshop in the back for native silversmiths" (Chambless & Ryan 2021, p. 185). Over his career Wallace "employed, or purchased products from, over 500 Zuni or Navajo artisans" (Hougart 2022, p. 373). He sold the Zuni store in 1958 and ceased all operations in 1964 (Hougart 2022, p. 373).

Founding

"Wallace had begun working for Charles Kelsey at Zuni in 1919" (Chambless & Ryan 2021, p. 185); Kelsey has his own page, Kelsey Trading Company. The first post ran on credit: "In 1928 The Charles Ilfeld Company bankrolled Wallace's first trading post at Zuni (The C. G. Wallace Trading Store) through a line of merchandise credit" (Hougart 2022, p. 373). The Heard Museum's name-authority record agrees: "Established 1928" (Heard NAARC 2024).

The business grew into a chain. Wallace "owned and operated retail and trading companies at Zuni, Gallup and Albuquerque, including trading posts in Sanders and Cedar Point, AZ" (Hougart 2022, p. 373). He and John Kennedy bought Cedar Point Trading Post, near Sanders, in 1945 (Hougart 2022, p. 355). He also reached back toward stone: Joseph Baldwin Tanner "leased his claim at Courtland to C.G. Wallace, probably in the early 1930s" (Chambless & Ryan 2021, p. 185).

How the post worked

Wallace "continued to provide turquoise, silver, and design suggestions to the artisans, and then marketed their finished products" (Chambless & Ryan 2021, p. 185). He "encouraged execution of numerous styles, including channel and mosaic inlay, needlepoint and cluster work" (Hougart 2022, p. 373).

Many pieces passed through two sets of hands. Zuni lapidary Dennis Edaakie remembered: "We sold to Vanderwagen and C. G. Wallace. But we didn't do the silver settings. They had Navajos do that" (Bahti 2007, p. 44). Navajo smiths Roger Skeet Sr. and Jr. "made the silver frames for bracelets for C. G. Wallace, who had Zuni artists inlay them with turquoise" (Bahti 2007, p. 167). Payment was not always cash. Of selling to "traders Vanderwagen or C. G. Wallace" in 1964, Edaakie said: "We got half cash and half due bill [trade credit]" (Bahti 2007, p. 46).

People

Makers tied to Wallace in our sources include Dennis Edaakie, Roger Skeet, and Leo Poblano, who "sold most of his work to the trader C. G. Wallace" (Hougart 2022, p. 252). Navajo smith Austin Wilson was a "Silversmith with a number of trading companies, including C. G. Wallace, Robert Wallace, John Kennedy, Sr., Kelsey Indian Trading Co. and George Rummage" (Hougart 2022, p. 339). Wallace also collected: Hosteen Goodluck made him a classic belt in 1929 (Turnbaugh 2007, p. 76).

Several artists share the Wallace surname. Our sources do not connect any of them to the trader.

Robert Wallace

C. G.'s brother traded at Zuni too. "Early in his career, Lee [Weebothee] worked for Robert Wallace, brother of trader C.G. Wallace" (Hougart 2020, p. 103). Lee Weebothee recalled being paid for seven rings: "He tried to pay me in cash, but I wanted something to eat. I took a slab of bacon instead. I was so proud" (Bahti 2007, p. 198). Robert's government stamps were US NAVAJO 6 and US ZUNI 6, under the name "Zuni Trading Post; Robert Wallace, Zuni, NM" (Hougart 2020, p. 130). Our sources do not record his dates or where his post stood.

Marks and what to look for

Hougart lists Wallace's marks as "U. S. ZUNI 1; U.S. NAVAJO 2 … UITA 2; a UITA label" (Hougart 2022, p. 373). The U.S. stamps came from the government's IACB program. In the first weeks of stamping in spring 1938, Wallace had 727 of 2,322 pieces stamped, second only to Gallup Mercantile (Hougart 2020, p. 129). "Except for C. G. Wallace, all those who were given numbers objected to number two, fearing that it might be mistaken by consumers as designating 'second grade'" (Hougart 2020, p. 131). The number was about the dealer, not the quality. Wallace was also among the UITA's directors, held UITA number 2, and had been using paper labels "for years before UITA's appeal to the IACB" (Hougart 2020, pp. 135, 138, 131).

Read these stamps for what they are. A U.S. ZUNI 1, U.S. NAVAJO 2 or UITA 2 mark names the dealer, not the person who made the piece. Hougart adds that U.S. NAVAJO 2 pieces were "likely" sold "at many other locations after passing though Wallace's wholesale operation" (Hougart 2020, p. 131). Even the smiths' own marks are unsettled: "The marks below were used by silversmiths working for Wallace and could have been used by Little Joe Begay, Charlie Bitsui, Austin Wilson, Little Joe Yazzie or any number of silversmiths" (Hougart 2022, p. 373). See Charlie Bitsui.

Attribution goes wrong even in print. Roger Skeet Jr. keeps "an old auction catalog of the C. G. Wallace collection," in which a belt his father made in 1940, inlaid by Zuni artist Lambert Homer, is "attributed to Roger Jr. and dated 1936" (Bahti 2007, p. 167). Hougart lists it as Sotheby Parke Bernet, The C. G. Wallace Collection of American Indian Art, 1975 (Hougart 2020, p. 124). Our sources do not record the sale's lots or prices.

How it ended

"In 1958 Wallace sold the Zuni store to trader Richard Vanderwagen, but continued to run his stores at Sanders and Cedar Point, and another outlet in Gallup, NM at 1st & 66th Ave. Wallace ceased all operations in 1964" (Hougart 2022, p. 373). Cedar Point ran until 1980 (Hougart 2022, p. 355), but those later years were not Wallace's.

Hougart calls Wallace "well known for his influence on design in Native American jewelry" (Hougart 2020, p. 8). Our sources do not record his life before 1919, the site of the Zuni store, or the dates of the Albuquerque outlet.

Sources

  1. Bahti, Mark. Silver + Stone: Profiles of American Indian Jewelers. 2007. pp. 44, 46, 167, 198.
  2. Chambless, Philip, and Mike Ryan II. Turquoise in America, Part One: The Great American Turquoise Rush, 1890–1910. 2021. p. 185.
  3. Heard Museum. Native American Artists Resource Collection name-authority list. 2024. Entry "C. G. Wallace Indian Arts & Crafts."
  4. Hougart, Bille. 100 Collectible Native American Silversmiths and Their Hallmarks. 2020. pp. 8, 103, 124, 129, 130, 131, 135, 138.
  5. Hougart, Bille. Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks, 5th ed. 2022. pp. 252, 339, 355, 373.
  6. Turnbaugh, William A., and Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh. Indian Jewelry of the American Southwest. 2007. p. 76.

Part of our Southwest Jewelry Business Directory.