Prior to the white mans push into the western Unites States, Native Americans would use animal hides for much of their clothing and to protect themselves from the elements. Some time in the 17th century the Navajo began producing wool textiles for wearing themselves and trading to other Native Am...

While there exists no known written record of the emergence of native silversmithing in the US southwest it is generally believed to have been sometime after 1850. In 1854 at Fort Defiance, agent Dodge hired George Carter, a blacksmith, and Juan Anaya as an assistant, a Mexican silversmith t...