Franc Johnson Newcomb was born March 30, 1887 in Tunnel City, Wisconsin. Her father died when she was two and her mother when she was twelve, and she was then raised on her grandmother’s farm.
In 1912 she accepted a teaching position at the Navajo Reservation at Fort Defiance, Arizona earning $25 a month and living and taking meals with the students in a dormitory. The students taught her Navajo and it was then she because a successful teacher.
In 1914, at the end of the school year, Franc married Arthur Newcomb (AJ) who was a clerk at the Fort Defiance Trading Post. She assumed the typical role of a hard-working trader’s wife, and by the summer of 1915, their many invited, as well as uninvited visitors, created a need for additional rooms beyond their original quarters. Her responsibilities increased as she provided food and facilities for travelers, whether on horseback or in chauffeured touring cars. Over time, prominent guests such as European royalty and government officials visited the post. One such couple was Mr. and Mrs. King C. Gillette of the Gillette Razor Company who, with a group of friends en route to Mesa Verde National Park, dropped in between 1919-1920. When they saw the “Whirling Log” rug that Navajo leader Hosteen Klah was weaving, they immediately wished to purchase it. A.J. convinced them to wait several months so it could be displayed in the upcoming Navajo Ceremonial in Gallup. Mrs. Gillette was so pleased with the rug that she ordered two more. At another time, Newcomb received an unexpected visit from the Swedish Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf and Crown Princess Louisa in 1926. Franc was notified on morning by a reporter that the prince and his retinue of twenty would be at the post in two hours for lunch. Indicative of her ability to handle a difficult situation, she prepared a fine meal on short notice served on her best tableware. On yet another occasion, in response to a government request from officials in Washington, D.C., the Newcombs provided escort services to a Navajo ceremony, as well as sleeping accommodations for a British Lord and Lady. Busy working at the post and providing for the needs of guests, the energetic Newcomb gave birth to daughter Lynette in 1918, followed by Priscilla in 1923.
Franc and Hosteen Klah, a Navajo Medicine Man, became fast friends and he invited her to attend his healing ceremonies. At the completion of each ceremony Franc would paint sand paintings that she had committed to memory in an attempt to describe the symbols and their meanings, thus becoming the first white person to record Navajo symbolism.
During the flue epidemic of 1920 when one tenth of the Navajo population died, Franc used her knowledge of the Navajo religion and healing ceremonies and became an honored and respected medicine woman. She was inducted into he tribe, the first white woman to have such an honor bestowed upon her and given the name Atsay Ashon.
Franc wrote numerous books about the Navajo. She and her friend, Mary Wheelwright established the Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art in Santa Fe. She donated all of her watercolor re-creations of sand paintings, almost 1,000, plus her potter and basket collection to the Museum.
Following Arthur’s death in 1946 she lectured widely on Navajo religion, history and rites, writing poetry and books on the Navajo as well. Her final book, Navajo Bird Tales was published in August of 1970.
