50 Years Ago

The tension between Navajos and Hopis over Navajo cattle wandering onto the Hopi Reservation has increased substantially in the past few weeks.

Flags on the Navajo Reservation were flown at half-mast part of this week in connection with the tragic death of a young Navajo official.

Paul Jones has been a major political force on the Navajo Reservation from the late 1940’s to the mid-60s so his death on Nov. 8, 1971, was felt throughout the tribe. He was 71 years old at the time of his passing.

Navajo leaders in the Shiprock area have tried for almost a decade to get improvements to U. S. Highway 666 and were happy to learn in 1970 that the state government had approved more than $4 million to improve the road between Shiprock and Gallup as well as making improvements near the San Juan River bridge.