A view of Two Grey Hills on the New Mexico portion of the Navajo Nation. Photo by Chuck Coker
Writer Johnny Rustywire, a member of the Navajo Nation, shares a story about Burnham Junction, a gathering place for Navajos in search of commerce, car washes and camaraderie:
Burnham Junction was dry; there had been no water all summer. The sagebrush was a dull gray; the sun had baked the color of straw out of it. It was a long walk heading down the road, a single lane paved road that led from the junction back down the road west sixteen miles to the small place called Toadlena where the road intersected with the highway running from Shiprock south to Gallup. The sun was hot and there was not a single breeze. The ground next to the road was parched, dry and cracked like an overdone chocolate chip cookie. It was hard to the touch and it crunched when you walked on it. Walking, walking down the road, walking to the mountain; the sound of horses stirring far off across the valley was the only sound that came through the still air. When it’s this hot, the Navajo Car Wash would have been a good place to rest, just off the road Northwest of Burnham Junction. A spring had been tapped as a water well with a pipe running up like a gallows. It looked like a straight seven with a rubber hose attached at the end so water haulers could fill their empty barrels when they came to fill up with their wagons or pickup trucks. A small switch at the base allowed you to turn it on with your foot. Standing there, you can hear the water as it comes up---making gurgling sounds---and slowly it begins to flow out, slowly at first and then gushing and spilling all over the ground. The water, clean and cool, splashes every which way. The sound of that water gushing out could make a horse turn his head a mile away as the overflow ran to a water trough nearby.Get the Story:
Johnny Rustywire: The Well at Burnham Junction (Indian Country Today 8/2)
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