Editing Shiprock, New Mexico (section)

==History ==
[[File:Shiprock.snodgrass3.jpg|thumb|The nearby [[Shiprock|rock formation]] that gives Shiprock its name]]

Shiprock was founded on September 11, 1903, by San Juan Agency superintendent William Taylor Shelton after being assigned to the northern Navajo by the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]]. A former U.S. government instructor in agriculture at the Cherokee School in Yellow Hill, North Carolina (now [[Cherokee, North Carolina|Cherokee, NC]]), Shelton had moved up through [[Bureau of Indian Affairs|BIA]] ranks to be given the appointment to open an [[Indian agent|Indian agency]] and boarding school. He founded Shiprock Indian School and administrative agency with a staff of three white and three Navajo employees. Shiprock Indian Boarding School remained until the [[American Indian boarding schools|American Indian boarding school system]] was phased out in the early 1980s.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://fgcquaker.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Gathering_Shelton_Navajo_2015.pdf |title= William Taylor Shelton and the Navajo Collectionat the Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts at the Shelton House|website=fgcquaker.org |access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>

The settlement encompassed land originally belonging to Tséheya Begay. According to one of Shelton's early reports, Navajo had been [[Irrigation|irrigating]] the land for many years, with 275 farms drawing water from approximately 25 ditches between the Shiprock area and [[Farmington, New Mexico|Farmington]]. Under Shelton, the agency expanded the irrigation system and developed a dairy herd as part of its agricultural program; a [[sawmill]] near [[Sanostee, New Mexico|Sanostee]] and [[Coal mining|coal mine]] in the Hogback area were also developed. Early buildings in Shiprock were constructed of log and [[adobe]], but brick replaced these materials after the disastrous flood of 1912. The superintendent was known as a disciplinarian who was ruthless in his prosecution of “moral lapses,” but is said to have been generally respected throughout the region, particularly for his efforts in adding the [[Grand Valley (Colorado-Utah)|Utah-Colorado]] extension to the main [[Navajo Nation|Navajo Reservation]].<ref name="auto"/>

[[Navajo Corrections]] operated the Shiprock District Department of Corrections jail facility in Shiprock.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.corrections.navajo-nsn.gov/Districts/Shiprock-District|title=Shiprock District|publisher=[[Navajo Corrections]]|accessdate=2021-07-25|quote=Mailing Information: Shiprock District Department of Corrections P.O. Box 3686 North East Corner of US 64 & SR 491, Building # 2651 Shiprock, New Mexico 87420}}</ref> It had a capacity of twelve, and after being cited for mold complaints, closed in 2021.<ref>{{cite web|last=Becenti|first=Arlyssa|url=https://navajotimes.com/reznews/shiprock-jail-abruptly-closed/|title=Shiprock jail abruptly closed |work=[[Navajo Times]]|date=2021-03-29|accessdate=2021-07-25}}</ref>