. . . Leaving at dawn, she noted that their first stop would be ‘at the windmill,’ for water. The party had arrived August 13. At a place she called Indian Traders (Hadley’s) she wrote that it was her first chance to write in her journals and to change into suitable attire for riding horseback, debating the issue of riding side saddle versus riding astride her horse. That evening because storm clouds threatened, Alice and Natalie shared a tent.

. . . At Ganado, Arizona, near Hubbell Trading Post (today a National Historical site), Miss Klauber enjoyed a camp surrounded by hogans. Pinion and Cedar trees added a sense of life to a seemingly lifeless landscape of cacti, flint rock and petrified wood. Her group rusticated in out-doors living with tents serving as dressing rooms. Native games, mostly races, they observed allowed them to see some six or seven hundred Navajos and a few Hopis.

. . . For Miss Klauber a tug of war was the most exciting, noting especially a chief on horseback urging on his side so intently that he saw no one and in the process “nearly running me down.” Douglas grabbed her from harm’s way and held her until the game was over. She must have accepted an apology from the chief since she noted his embarrassment, “but grinning fondly, a handsome fine specimen.”

. . . The group’s reception by the Navajo seemed favorable. The two must have endeared themselves and been given tribal names by the natives or by Natalie, for in a dedication in the front of a copy of Natalie’s book, the author uses: “To Noi-ya-hoi-nim (Alice Klauber) from the companion of her first visit to the Hopi people - Tawi-Mana, the Song Woman (Natalie) - Natalie Curtis. August 21st, 1913.” Natalie was singing their songs, much to their delight. Invitation to enter their hogans was a great privilege. Here Interior culture was of an absorbing interest for Miss Klauber who described skins, blankets, pots, pans, “plenty of children,” and dogs. Personal adornment such as silver buttons and jewelry, also, caught her attention. Her word description of the face and smile of one woman was compared to that of Madame Schumann-Heink when she was pleased. The Wagnerian diva, and San Diego resident from 1910, was among Miss Klauber’s circle of friends and acquaintances.

Unknown photographer, Miss Klauber and Native American rider at games, possibly the Chief
mentioned in the text, courtesy of the Klauber family.

. . . At Hubbell’s, the group got into a “Ford machine” for a thirty-seven mile, hot and dry, ride to Chinle, Arizona (or Navajo reservation). From here, with Ken Shelley, an Indian from Ft. Defiance, they drove into Canyon de Chelley (now a National Monument) and after ‘moonrise’ they ate. Out door accommodations were in order and Alice and Natalie spent the night in the “moonshade of a great bluff on a sand heap with a fine slope.” Grazing horses near by and “an Indian dog barking at Douglas who walked across the canyon at mid-night” interrupted their sleep. After a day trip through the canyon and an evening of restless sleep, they traveled to Keam Canyon (today a Hopi reservation). A cool and pleasant day soothed tempers by the time they reached “Perte’s store” and their next camping area. The two women shared “a whole wooded hill” among cedars and above a stream. At Keams Canyon, she had a beautiful view of a herd of goats on a hillside.” Shopping wasn’t totally ignored as she noted and purchasing Kachinas at the store and a “yellow hankie” that she traded a Navajo for some turquoise. That night the group was below First Mesa with “all cross and tired.”

. . . The following day Miss Klauber described the friendly reception by the people who were “wild about my navy blue scarf on my hat.” Many were house cleaning in anticipation of the Snake Dance visitors. The next day the group of scholars was at the Second and Third Mesas, that Miss Klauber found the most “picturesque and dirtiest.” In the morning they witnessed the Flute Ceremony. At day’s end, they slept in government accommodations at Oraibio, Third Mesa.

. . . On August 21, Miss Klauber climbed the Walpi Trail in time to see the end of one of the races. She met Theodore Roosevelt, who had been traveling in Arizona on horseback, and had a short conversation with him and “liked him immensely and thanked him for his work.” No following elaboration about the meeting has appeared in research to indicate mentioning it again. Miss Klauber met him one more time during the 1915 San Diego California Exposition, when the former President attended the Exposition. While he was in San Diego, he stayed at the home of Alice Lee, a cousin of Roosevelt’s first wife. Miss Klauber and Miss Lee knew one another as art and cultural activists in San Diego.

Unknown photographer, The members of the group.

. . . While Miss Klauber was writing in her journals, Natalie Curtis was engaged in conversation with Harry the “Snake Priest sitting in the shade and receiving shells.” Several days later, Alice Klauber was at the house of Hopi potter Nampeyo where the family was listening to Natalie singing. In the afternoon a man near Natalie was persuaded to sing. Schindler noted the music on score paper and a translator was nearby. Miss Klauber wrote with her usual vivid observations about native home life and activity that was relatively unknown to early twentieth century readers.

. . . Sketching occupied some of Miss Klauber’s time toward the end of the month at a camp south of Cottonwood Wash. She sketched Sanai, the two-domed peak, “one of the most tragic formations in all Arizona.” The week before the group had been at Second Mesa with a landscape that was “desolate, yet awesome.” At Second and Third Mesa, “Ted” photographed profusely. It has been suggested the “Ted” referred to Ted Whitaker, mentioned only later in her journal and then only after their dispersal. There are extant photos in the Klauber family collection that documents the first trip to the area of Miss Klauber. At journey’s end, Miss Klauber left Laguna at 11 p.m. for Los Angeles. Natalie had stayed on to continue her work and straighten out her notes. Miss Klauber expressed concerns “about leaving her alone,” in a somewhat unsure and unfamiliar part of the country. She departed in a pouring rain on September 4. She would return to the area again under different circumstances.

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