Andrew Vander Wagen, born in northern Holland in 1868, married Effa Hofma in Grand Rapids Michigan in September 1896, they arrived in Zuni on October 11, 1897,
An accomplished horseman, Andrew came west as a scout and missionary for the Christian Reformed Church. Effa, a trained nurse, endeared herself to the Zuni people by saving numerous lives during the smallpox epidemic of 1898.
Andrew and Effa opened their first trading post in 1903
Andrew and Effa raised nine children in Zuni. Bernard J. Vander Wagen, the eighth child of Andrew and Effa Vander Wagen, became a second generation trader in the early 1930s. In 1942 they started the Pinehaven Trading Post, and then in 1944 built the White Water Trading Post and Post Office.
Pat Murphy is now a fourth generation trader with JEM Trading Post in VanderWagen NM.
Come by and view and shop our Gift Shop at the Trading Post.