"There is no place in America that better exemplifies the living link of past and present in the folklore of the Wild West than what still exists in the Four Corners.

Communities beckon the spirit; communities such as the American Indian bordertown of Farmington, the Navajo Nation reservation town of Shiprock, or the guarding landmarks that stand as mountains and rock pinnacles reaching skyward like majestic cathedrals pleading for a touch from the heavens above.

This is God's country, for those of us who see it that way, and while so many outsiders either agree or totally misunderstand us, author Tony Hillerman was one who tried his best to reveal the fascinating attraction that makes so many choose to call this region home.

From his book, Hunting Badger, Hillerman wrote: "He went out onto the front porch and sat, watching the sunset give the thunderclouds on the western horizon silver fringes and turn them into yellow flame and dark red, and fade away into darkness."

Gone, too, is Trader Tanner, or J.B. Tanner if you go by name.

Tanner is one of those real-life links of today and yesterday by having lived his 84 years in an Anglo family that ran trading posts and lived and breathed the life of the Navajo.

Tanner's life story is just as fascinating as any of Hillerman's novels."

Get the Story:
Troy Turner: These fellows were ours (The Farmington Daily Times 10/31)

Related Stories:
Appreciation: Tony Hillerman knew New Mexico (10/29)
J.B. Tanner, respected Indian trader, dies at 84 (10/29)
Navajos grateful for Hillerman's focus on culture (10/28)
Tony Hillerman, award-winning author, dies at 83 (10/27)