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Bruchman Trading Post Collection, 1880s-1990s

NAU.MS.475; NAU.PH.2012.33

Biographical Note

Richard Max Bruchman was born on November 29, 1882 in London, England. His parents, Otto and Louise Bruchman, were German immigrants. When Richard Bruchman was only ten days old his family immigrated to the United States through Baltimore, Maryland. They settled down permanently in a German community in Ripon, Wisconsin. His brother Oscar was born in London and his brothers Arthur and William were born in Ripon. Bruchman’s parents insisted they attend a local parochial school where only German was spoken. The children begged to be allowed to attend public school in order to learn to speak English. When he was in sixth grade, Bruchman was allowed to attend public school. He started in the first grade but within two months was enrolled in the fourth grade. He finished his education in public school after the sixth grade as a young teen.

In 1899 a businessman from the Becker Mercantile Company came to Ripon on a hiring trip. Bruchman became excited about going out West and took a train to Magdalena, New Mexico, where he worked as a clerk at Becker’s Mercantile. He worked here for a year and a half and it was during this time he became fluent in Spanish. He then moved to the small mining community at Clarkville near Gallup, New Mexico. It was here that he met Corrine Bocklett, commonly referred to as Cora. However, Bruchman soon became homesick and moved back to Wisconsin. Only two days after returning to Ripon he received a telegram from Babbitt Brothers offering him a job as a clerk at their store in Winslow, Arizona. Bruchman accepted the offer and arrived in Winslow in 1902 where he worked for Babbitt Brothers Mercantile at their store on the corner of First and Kinsley Street. In 1903 Bruchman bought the “old” George McAdams Trading Post, located near the old Hopi Crossing of the Little Colorado River about ten miles northwest of Winslow.

In 1906 Bruchman travelled back to Gallup and married Cora. They had six children, but four of them did not survive infancy. Their son George lived for only two hours, William for ten days, Ann Louise for six months, and Robert Richard died of pneumonia before his second birthday. Bruchman and Cora moved to Winslow in 1921, most likely due to these severe losses they had experienced living at the Trading Post. Cora died in 1924 of pneumonia and their son Clark died in 1927 when a horse he was riding fell and crushed him. Bruchman devoted the majority of his time after this to running his business and to his one remaining son, Donald. Donald helped him with the business and was working the cash register when he finished high school. Donald married Hazel Carmack in 1938 and continued to help his father with the curio shop and with building the Bruchman Building on Williamson. Donald passed away at the age of 45 in 1962 in a car crash. One of the few close friends Bruchman had after his immediate family had passed away was his brother-in-law, Tracy Clark. When Bruchman went on vacation for the first time at age 80, Tracy accompanied him on his travels to Hawaii and Europe.

Bruchman ran the trading post northwest of Winslow for about 18 years. Every day he would ride to Winslow in a horse drawn wagon in order to get supplies from the railroad. He would then ride across the reservation to Navajo camps to trade the supplies he had picked up. It was during these frequent trips that Bruchman became well acquainted with the Navajo. He held a great deal of respect for their culture and art and learned to speak Navajo. The Navajo respected Bruchman as well because he could speak Spanish and Navajo and because he provided them with essential goods and supplies, such as Pendleton blankets starting in 1910. The Navajo called Bruchman ‘Nakai Yazhi’, which means ‘Little Mexican’ in the Navajo language. When Bruchman moved to Winslow in 1921 he opened a curio shop, a new type of store at the time. The store was known for the hand-woven Navajo blankets and handmade Navajo jewelry it sold. His curio shop even had customers from the eastern United States through advertisements in national magazines. Bruchman was active in the Winslow community, serving on the town council from 1922 to 1924, serving as town police judge for seven years during prohibition, and serving as the Winslow Rotary Club president in 1930. Bruchman continued to run his curio shop for over 50 years, making it the longest running business in Winslow. Richard Bruchman passed away at the age of 104 in 1986.

Scope and Content

This collection is comprised of the materials collected by Richard Bruchman and the Bruchman family. The materials offer an insight into the Bruchman Trading Post and Curios Shop in Winslow, Arizona. The collection has a broad time period starting in the early 1920s when the shop in Winslow was first opened all the way to the 1990s shortly after Bruchman passed away.

The collection was donated by the grandchildren of Richard Bruchman. It is separated into four series that emerged naturally as the collection was processed. These series are: Personal Documents, Business Records and Ledgers, Trading Post Business Information, and Bruchman Investment Co. and R.M. Bruchman & Son Enterprises, Inc. The first series is related to the personal history and life of Richard Bruchman and the role he played in the Winslow and Navajo communities. The latter three series pertain directly to the Trading Post business and its history.

This collection is valuable source of information about Winslow history as Bruchman was one of its longest residents and his business one of the longest running. Because of the connection Bruchman had with the Navajo, there is information about Navajo culture and interactions around Winslow during this time as well.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for Northern Arizona University, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Bruchman Trading Post, NAU.MS.475. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Bruchman Trading Post, NAU.PH.2012.33. Special Collections and Archives. Northern Arizona University. Cline Library. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Acquisition Information

Collection was donated to Cline Library, Special Collections and Archives, by Ms. Dona Bruchman Harris in December 2012.

Processing Information

Processed in September of 2013

Container List