Letter from Anna Day to U.S. Employees Compensation Commission [constructed title] 1925

Abstract

CONTENT: Letter from Anna Day to Compensation Commission returning a check for her husband Sam Day, Sr. who had passed away. She also encloses a request for further compensation. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY: Sam Day, Sr. (1845-1925) arrived in Arizona in 1883 to survey extensions to eastern and southern boundaries of the Navajo reservation for the federal government. At the time his wife, Anna, and their three boys Sam, Jr. (1889-1944), Charles Day (1879-1918) and William remained in Colorado. The family joined Sam, Sr. in Arizona, where they staked out a homestead at Cienaga (Sinagee). He was elected to the Arizona Territorial Legislature in 1906 and served two terms in the Arizona House. From 1920 until his death in 1925 he held the post of United States Indian Commissioner. Sam, Sr., moved from Sinagee in 1901. His Sinagee ranch became part of the St. Michaels Mission. He joined son Charlie at Bill Meadows trading post, but eventually moved to the mouth of Canyon de Chelly and with his sons, Sam, Jr. and William, established what was to become the famous Thunderbird Trading Post.