Spirit of Santa Fe

Jake Atkinson was the middle brother of three boys. Making the trek up to New Mexico from Texas after the Great Depression, he was looking to start a new business that would unknowingly stand until the 21st century. He and his wife Maxine opened Rattle Snake Trading Post in 1945 along the historic Route 66 running through New Mexico. They would come to live with the Navajo people and find themselves to be two of the few non-native people in the region to speak the Navajo language. In order to attract travelers, Jake would tie burros to gas pumps for travelers to take pictures with and even park cars from the local junk yard out front in hopes of making the parking lot look full. He even went so far as to include live rattlesnakes in his marketing plan. Today, things aren’t quite as adventurous, a gallery full of southern Arizona’s largest collections of authentic Native American jewelry is all you will find. But, despite the phasing out of the extravagant marketing plans, the thing that has remained crucial to the business is the relationships cultivated with the artists for 75 years. These guarantee the quality ,craftsmanship and 100% authenticity of every piece. This is why each piece they sell has always been guaranteed for defects in craftsmanship for the life of the piece.