In 1926, Santa Fe and Fred Harvey began operating bus trips from New Mexico and Arizona stations on the Santa Fe line. Although these tours visited national parks such as Carlsbad Caverns and Grand Canyon, so many focused on Native American pueblos, villages, and abandoned villages that the tours were collectively called “Indian Detours.” The tours were guided by “Harvey couriers,” college-educated women who spoke Spanish and usually another foreign language in addition to English.
Click image to download a 31.1-MB PDF of this 68-page booklet.
This heavy booklet describes more than a dozen tours offered in 1930, most of them starting from Santa Fe or Winslow, AZ. Most of the tours used seven-passenger Packard “Harveycars” (illustrated on page 6). This booklet says the rate for one three-day tour was $75 (more than $1,000 in today’s money). In general, the booklet says, the charge for four or more people was $25 (about $350 today) per person per day including food and accommodations.
The above thunderbird image, taken from the back of this booklet, was the logo of the Indian Detours, and was used on the Harveycars and the uniforms of the Harvey couriers and drivers. More information about the Indian detours is available in Diane Thomas’ book, The Southwestern Indian Detours.
Drat! The link to the booklet doesn’t work!
Jim
Fixed. Sorry.