Frank Yellowhorse

Navajo artist and businessman Frank Yellowhorse (1933-2020). Yellowhorse was a Korean War veteran, silversmith, and owner of the famed Chief Yellowhorse Trading Post on Route 66 in Lupton, Arizona. Although the trading post started in the 1950s, Frank and his brother learned to sell as kids, at their parents' roadside stand offering Navajo rugs and petrified wood. Today if you google "Frank Yellowhorse," chances are you will see a photo of him in traditional Navajo attire, including headband and gray hair in a ponytail bun, and you might even find a portrait of him painted by a fine artist who was smitten when stopping in at the trading post. And most likely you will see his name frequently mentioned in reference to having taught his award-winning son Alvin how to make jewelry. Alvin is a multiple blue-ribbon winner at Santa Fe Indian Market and is represented by major art galleries worldwide; Alvin's pieces regularly sell for upwards of $9000! Indeed, Alvin had an amazing teacher in father Frank, who was a renowned artist in his own right. While his jewelry doesn't command quite at the same prices as son Alvin, the elder Yellowhorse's works are highly collectible nonetheless.