Wilson and Carol Begay were raised at Manulito, not far from Gallup. Carol went to school at the Navajo Bible Mission, which is run by the Catholic Church there. One of her earliest memories of Wilson was when he and a group of boys would come to the school to play basketball.
Carol's mother always told her not to hang around with those boys and to come home if they were down at the school. Obviously, after being together for 59 years, that didn't work.
Carol's parents were Angela and Allen Chee, who worked in Zuni making jewelry for the famed dealer C.G. Wallace. They were both sand cast artists. They also did "piece work," making individual jewelry pieces on order for Mike Kirk, who had a store 26 miles west of Gallup near Lupton. Her youngest brother, Robert Chee, was also a well-known silversmith.
On Wilson's side, his father, Luke Begay, was an accomplished silversmith. When John Adair came west to write a report on Indian silversmithing for the Smithsonian, he met Luke and learned how to make sand-cast jewelry. His report ultimately led to one of the earliest and best books on the art form, Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths. Luke worked for Dean Kirk, Mike Kirk, John Kennedy, Cousin's Trading Post, Perry Null at Richardson's Trading, and Phil Woodard. He is also remembered for making silver tips for cowboy boots.
As Carol explains, "Dean Kirk was adopted by Mike Kirk. They needed silversmiths, and Dean traveled to Chinle and other places to recruit people to work for them. There was a shortage of silversmiths." Wilson lived in the back of Dean Kirk's place, first with Luke and later with Carol. She thinks they paid $50 a month for the small home.
One of Carol's bad choices ended up working out for her. She ditched high school once (she says!), and her sister, Helen, a school teacher, told her, "I'm not letting you run around," and sent her to a boarding school in Flagstaff. Carol flourished at the school, and when she graduated, she received a scholarship to a business college in Phoenix.
"I wanted to go, but Helen wouldn't take me to Tuba City to catch the bus. She was worried about me leaving and told me I needed to help babysit her kids while she was teaching."
In the meantime, Wilson got a job with the Office of Economic Opportunity as a school bus driver for the Manulito Head Start Program. He had been set to graduate from high school when he discovered he was half of a credit short. His biology teacher would not pass him because, in keeping with his Navajo beliefs, he refused to dissect a frog. "If I did that, it would affect me for a long time," he says.
Wilson wasn't making much money and had reunited with Carol, so he bought a truck to haul with. "It was hard making a living, and the truck was repossessed three times! The payment was $48.00," Carol said with a laugh.
Luke told Wilson to "make jewelry, you will make more money," and Wilson took his advice. "Tobe Turpin gave him a couple hundred ounces to cast," says Carol.
"He used Luke's samples and was good at it."
In the art form of sand-casting, a "sample piece" has to be used to make an impression in the sand and form a mold for the molten silver to be poured. These samples are made by carving the pattern in tufa stone and casting the original silver sample."
We sold jewelry to Ruth Cousins, Leon Ingram, Tobe Turpin, your dad, the Navajo Arts and Crafts, Hubbell's, Ed Foutz, and Craig Blanchard. Everyone was buying! Leon Ingram taught me how to pick stones and quote prices. He used to tell me, "Get out of your shyness. Look people in the eye!" said Carol.
Wilson and Carol have had a good life. They have raised three wonderful daughters, and the house is usually full of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Today, they make the same quality silver jewelry they always have, but not as often. "Every once in a while, I have to tell Wilson, "We need to go to work!"
Carol is fascinated with turquoise and is always looking for great stones. She sets most of the stones in their jewelry; both are great designers.
Wilson has also been involved in some interesting things besides silversmithing. He was an extra in three movies: Distant Trumpet with Troy Donahue, Hallelujah Trail with Burt Lancaster, and Carnival with Kirk Douglas. When the Olympic torch came through Gallup on the way to Los Angeles, Wilson was chosen as one of the people to carry it. And for 17 years, he was a feared pitcher in Gallup's fast-pitch softball leagues. He played for several years on a team with Perry Null.
Wilson and Carol also had the opportunity to meet former president Gerald Ford.
Carol hand-selected the stones used in this special selection of Bolo. She also braided the straps! "I used to do that when I was a kid." The stamp on the back is a traditional flat-brimmed Navajo hat with the initials WB.
These are great people and wonderful friends who are part of having made being in this business very special.
