2012 SW Travel Destinations - GALLUP, NM and WINDOW ROCK, AZ

Travelling on down the road, towards home, we came to Gallup, New Mexico.  Gallup was founded in 1881 as a railhead for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad...something to consider if you are planning on stopping for the night - the train station is in the heart of town, next to most of the motels. 

Gallup is sometimes referred to as the "Indian Capital of the World", for its location in the heart of Native American lands, and the presence of Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, and other tribes.  A place to rest your weary travel feet, before heading on. 

Located about 27 miles northwest of Gallup, N.M., and just across the New Mexico-Arizona state line, on the Arizona side, looms Window Rock.  The administrative Capitol and center of the Navajo Nation, it takes its name from the hole in the 200 foot high sandstone hill located there.  Window Rock contains the Navajo Nation Council House, the Navajo Nation Museum, and the Navajo Nation WWII Memorial.

Ancient hand carved, "toe and hand holes" leading up the side of a sandstone rock...used to gain access to the top of this rock as a lookout spot.

"During the early months of WWII, Japanese intelligence experts broke every code the US forces devised. They were able to anticipate American actions at an alarming rate. With plenty of fluent English speakers at their disposal, they sabotaged messages and issued false commands to ambush Allied troops. To combat this, increasingly complex codes were initiated. At Guadalcanal, military leaders finally complained that sending and receiving these codes required hours of encryption and decryption—up to two and a half hours for a single message. They rightly argued the military needed a better way to communicate.

When Phillip Johnston, a civilian living in California learned of the crisis, he had the answer. As the son of a Protestant missionary, Johnston had grown up on the Navajo reservation and was one of less than 30 outsiders fluent in their difficult language. He realized that since it had no alphabet and was almost impossible to master without early exposure, the Navajo language had great potential as an indecipherable code. After an impressive demonstration to top commanders, he was given permission to begin a Navajo Code Talker test program.

Their elite unit was formed in early 1942 when the first 29 Navajo Code Talkers were recruited by Johnston. Although the code was modified and expanded throughout the war, this first group was the one to conceive it. Accordingly, they are often referred to reverently as the "original 29". Many of these enlistees were just boys; most had never been away from home before. Often lacking birth certificates, it was impossible to verify ages. After the war it was discovered that recruits as young as 15 and as old as 35 had enlisted. Age notwithstanding, they easily bore the rigors of basic training, thanks to their upbringing in the southwestern desert."...navajocodetalkers.org

For more information on the Memorial and the brave Navajo men that served our country, look here - NAVAJO CODE TALKERS ASSOCIATION.  A quick shout out to ALL our brave service men and women - thank you for all you do, or have done, to keep these beautiful lands of ours safe and free.

Next stop on the tour, the historic Hubbell Trading Post, in Ganado, AZ.