Herman Wolf

Herman Wolf
When the Navajo tribal roundup of 1864 began, many Navajo families fled into Canyon Diablo and its many caves to avoid being discovered by U.S. troops. Eight-thousand Navajo were eventually imprisoned at Fort Sumner, New Mexico for four years. Their livestock and land were taken by the cavalry. The Civil War halted settlement for some years, but after that war, the cavalry returned to battle the Indians, the first at Canyon Diablo being on April 18, 1867. Herman Wolf, a beaver trader for many years in this area, was setting up a large stockade picket post on the river downstream from the mouth of Canyon Diablo. He and the U.S. Army were both engaged in fighting renegade Indians. But when most of the Navajo were released from Fort Sumner and returned to their homes in 1868, many of them traveled down the Little Colorado basin, perhaps thinking that the mere presence of a white man at Wolf Post afforded them protection. From there they moved south into their old hunting grounds along both sides of Canyon Diablo. Herman Wolf ‘s Treasure- Due the many robberies during the 1800s, one owner of an Indian trading post named Herman Wolf, got in the habit of burying his profits in cans and jars around the fences on his property. Operating the trading post for thirty years on the Little Colorado River between 1869-1899, his highly profitable business brought him tens of thousands of gold and silver coins over the years. These treasure troves are said to have numbered in the hundreds of thousands and his thirty year accumulation estimated at $250,000. In 1901 twenty U.S. gold coins were found, and in 1966, a bucket of Mexican silver was discovered at the site. However, these two finds are but a small percentage of what was buried and the main cache remains to be found. The old store was located on the Little Colorado River just off the California-Santa Fe Trail near Canyon Diablo. Not much specific information can be found about Herman Wolf, especially how he died at Canyon Diablo when his Trading Post was on the Little Colorado across from Tolchico.

When the Navajo tribal roundup of 1864 began, many Navajo families fled into Canyon Diablo and its many caves to avoid being discovered by U.S. troops. Eight-thousand Navajo were eventually imprisoned at Fort Sumner, New Mexico for four years. Their livestock and land were taken by the cavalry. The Civil War halted settlement for some years, but after that war, the cavalry returned to battle the Indians, the first at Canyon Diablo being on April 18, 1867. Herman Wolf, a beaver trader for many years in this area, was setting up a large stockade picket post on the river downstream from the mouth of Canyon Diablo. He and the U.S. Army were both engaged in fighting renegade Indians. But when most of the Navajo were released from Fort Sumner and returned to their homes in 1868, many of them traveled down the Little Colorado basin, perhaps thinking that the mere presence of a white man at Wolf Post afforded them protection. From there they moved south into their old hunting grounds along both sides of Canyon Diablo.

Herman Wolf ‘s Treasure- Due the many robberies during the 1800s, one owner of an Indian trading post named Herman Wolf, got in the habit of burying his profits in cans and jars around the fences on his property. Operating the trading post for thirty years on the Little Colorado River between 1869-1899, his highly profitable business brought him tens of thousands of gold and silver coins over the years. These treasure troves are said to have numbered in the hundreds of thousands and his thirty year accumulation estimated at $250,000.

In 1901 twenty U.S. gold coins were found, and in 1966, a bucket of Mexican silver was discovered at the site. However, these two finds are but a small percentage of what was buried and the main cache remains to be found. The old store was located on the Little Colorado River just off the California-Santa Fe Trail near Canyon Diablo.

Not much specific information can be found about Herman Wolf, especially how he died at Canyon Diablo when his Trading Post was on the Little Colorado across from Tolchico.

Return to top of page

Return to Arizona Photographs page