Working the receiving alley is Norman Wolf, retired San Juan County agriculture agent with NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service. Still remembered as a trusted adviser to the Navajo people, he is there to meet them, record their animals' tag numbers and send them on to the scale. When he left his reservation post at Shiprock 15 years later to serve as San Juan County agent until 1997, he left with a greater cultural understanding. The sale is a good place to see what the Four Corners experience can mean. Much of it is about family, Wolf says.
Some trailers carry the cattle of several family members.
Nearby, three children watch with their mother as the cattle are tagged and sent to the scale. An older sister, father and grandmother arrive as their four calves are sent on to the scales. Grandpa is parking the truck. They watch to see how their calves are numbered and rush away to make sure the animals reach the next stage of their journey safely. There is a lot of visiting.