An event covering a botched investigation into a man often called the last real Indian trader to work at the historic Hubbell Trading Post in Arizona will take place Thursday at the Center of Southwest Studies.
The event is hosted by the San Juan Basin Archaeological Society in conjunction with the center and is titled “The Case of the Indian Trader: Billy Malone and the National Park Service Investigation at Hubbell Trading Post.”
It aims to cover a book of the same name authored by Paul Berkowitz and his experience as a Park Service criminal investigator, said Janice Sheftel, president of the archaeological society.
In his book, Berkowitz details how he took over the investigation into the operation of the J.L. Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, Arizona, where Malone worked as an Indian trader. In the course of his work, Berkowitz questions the integrity of the Park Service.
Because of confusion in the way Indian traders function in Navajo communities, Malone was accused of a list of crimes by the Park Service, which launched a full-scale investigation in 2004, Sheftel said. “It seems the Park Service didn’t understand what an Indian trader really did.”
Malone, who went to Durango High School and Fort Lewis College, lived for a number of years on the Navajo reservation, married a member of the tribe and speaks Navajo, she said.
He ran the trading post from 1981 until he lost his job in the course of the Park Service investigation in 2004. Federal charges brought against him later were dropped.
Berkowitz, who has left the Park Service, resides in Dolores.
“We have some local connection for these speakers,” she said.
The free event features a reception starting at 6 p.m., an interview with Malone at 7 p.m., followed by a presentation about the book by Berkowitz.
Sheftel said copies of the book will be sold during the event, and Berkowitz will be available to sign autographs.
Luke Perkins is a student at Fort Lewis College and an intern at The Durango Herald. He can be contacted at lukep@durangoherald.com.
