Photo: Kirstin Roper, © NHMU

Steve and Barry Simpson

Steve and Barry Simpson were co-owners of Twin Rocks Trading Post from its inception in 1989 until Barry retired in 2019. Steve continues to run the trading post today. Twin Rocks is located in Bluff, Utah, near the northern border of the Navajo Nation. Barry and Steve grew up here. Their father owned a gas station in Bluff and later opened the Blue Mountain Trading Post in Blanding, Utah. For over 30 years Steve and Barry have actively promoted and supported the arts, culture, and traditions of indigenous people of the Colorado Plateau. Diné (Navajo) basketry, however, is their first love. They played a vital role in the Diné basket revolution from its early stages, providing the commercial framework that made basketry a successful enterprise for weavers and encouraging weavers to expand their sources of inspiration. Their passion and commitment made Twin Rocks Trading Post the center of the contemporary Diné basketry movement.