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Zachary Family
History
In nineteen hundred
and thirty-two (in the midst of the Great Depression) J.C. and Laura
Zachary, headed west from New Castle, Indiana (towing along the first
half of their brood). At St. Louis, Missouri they got on the fabled
Route 66 and began their westward adventure, heading for California.
And, what a unique adventure it was.
They soon found that much of Route 66 was not yet paved and their first
thunderstorm found them digging out of the mud. And, when they got past
Tucumcari into the "hills" of New Mexico, the poor old car just
couldn't get up them---so, Dad had to turn it around and go up in
reverse. It's the only gear that was low enough to make it to the top.
When they got through the Sandia Mountains by way of Tijeras Canyon
their car was about to give up the ghost.
Emerging from the canyon they saw a sign "Albuquerque 9 miles". Well,
so much for California. The small oasis of Albuquerque, situated along
the Rio Grande River, was to be the end of their journey.
It wasn't long after settling in what was then the outskirts of
Albuquerque that J. C. & Laura landed jobs managing the "Hogan
Trading Post" located on US Hwy 85 north. Having to repair jewelry for
their customers, J. C. began his career in lapidary by teaching himself
stone cutting in order to perform these repairs. He also taught himself
to silversmith with an old-fashioned blowtorch, thus enabling him to
complete the jobs properly.
It wasn't long before J. C. was known throughout the trade as the
premier stonecutter in the business. He soon began selling stones to
the better jewelry manufacturers including the Navajo Arts &
Crafts Guild. Mine owners such as the Godbers, the Browns and the
Edgars began bringing their very best grades of turquoise to
Albuquerque for him to cut. J. C., Laura and their sons cut many
hundreds of pounds of #8, Godber, Blue Gem, Morenci and other stones
for them.
Their fame for their quality work is largely the cause of Albuquerque
becoming the turquoise cutting capital of the United States of America.
Within a few years, the family moved to Villa Grove, Colorado when J.
C. began operating and managing the turquoise mine located there. After
the birth of their sixth child (Jack Eugene), J. C. & Laura
moved the family back to Albuquerque to resume cutting turquoise and
petrified wood. And, I might add, give birth to their last four
children. Phillip Zachary (One
of seven sons and three daughters.) was born on leapyear in 1940 to
Jesse Cordell & Laura Zachary. J. C. and Laura went west
(health reasons) from Indiana in 1930. Heading to Phoenix (The Valley
Of the Sun) to recover from TB they and their young family lingered in
Albuquerque, New Mexico for a spell and decided to stay. Recovering
from TB, JC went to work in a hardware store on N.4th
Street next to Halls Indian trading Post. Mr. Hall liked the way My Dad
worked and offered him a job in The Indian trading post. In the course
of operating the trading post JC would have to re-solder and repair or
re-cut a stone for someone’s ring, necklace or bracelet, JC
learned the basics of turquoise cutting.
In 1934 Mr. Hall
asked JC & Laura and family to move to Villa Grove, Colorado to
operate the his very famous turquoise Villa Grove Turquoise mine there.
J C & Laura mined and cut the turquoise for Mr. Hall.
When the opportunity
appeared, because of the popularity of the Fred Harvey’s
train depots and Grand Canyon Turquoise Jewelry Stores, JC &
Laura setup a successful turquoise stone cutting shop. They supplied a
good majority of the stones used in the Tourist Indian jewelry boom in
the 1930’s and 1940’s. JC &
Laura’s reputation grew until every turquoise miner in
Nevada, Arizona and Colorado beat a path to their door.
Phillip began cutting
stones when he was 12 years old. I remember one of the first orders my
father received was for thousands of agatized Petrified Wood (one of
the hardest stone). Grinding these arrowhead shapes, I developed
forearms so as I could beat most anyone in school at arm wrestling.
Phillip Zachary In
1963 married Patricia (Patty) Hendrix Zachary. 
In 1960 I went in to
business with my father, JC Zachary. We cut turquoise stones and sold
and traded for Indian handmade jewelry, with the Gallup NM Indian
traders. I cut the stones and JC had a route with retail Indian Stores
in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado.
In 1963 my older brother and mentor Donald Zachary bought my
Fathers half of the business. Working day and night Phillip & Donald
built Zachary Turquoise Inc., with innovative designs and quality
high grade famous mine turquoises, into the Cadillac of all
Navajo Indian Jewelry Manufacturing Companies.
We
manufactured jewelry using silversmiths we trained from mostly Alamo, Canyoncito, Crown Point chapters of the Navajo Reservation. We sold,
for almost 20 years, handmade turquoise jewelry to almost every major
gallery in the West and Southwest along with many East Coast galleries.
Tiring of the hustle and bustle of road life we moved to Branson,
Missouri in 1986. We opened our retail gallery in the Engler Block High
grade craftsman mall. Phillip Zachary's Turquoise and Silver
Gallery Inc has been located in the Grand Village Shops since 1998.
Patty Zachary passed away on July 15 2000.
Phillip remarried
in 2002 to Emma Golden Phillips.
Starting in 2003 Phillip Zachary has
been specializing in Australian opal hand cut by Phillip to display the
unique opal fire lying hidden in each magnificent rough piece.
Traditional Designs with A
Modern Flair
50
Years of Quality And Trust
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