Counselor Chapter is located in northwest New Mexico partly in Sandoval County and partly in San Juan County. It is also located in the northeastern part of the Navajo Nation Eastern Agency. The chapter house is located on U.S. 550, but the community is actually south of the highway. Counselor Chapter became certified in 1974.
Many stories are told about the history of the Counselor area. Stories are told about two mesas, Arrowhead Mesa and Devil Mesa, which are known for the great massacres and battles that are said to have taken place there during the 1800s. It is told that women and children fled to Arrowhead Mesa where they would be safe from the enemy, whose arrows could not reach the mesa's top. Devil Mesa is known for the tragic stories of women and children being thrown from the cliff or being starved to death by cavalries. Today, there is evidence of archeological sites, along with old stone watchtowers located within the mesa.
The Counselor community was named after Jim Counselor, a Kentucky trader who sold pelts and later opened a trading post in the community. Jim Counselor's trading post was successful in part because of the accounts he acquired from Sam Lybrook, brother of Will Lybrook. Will Lybrook established a home and then a business in an area just a few miles southwest of Counselor, which now has his name. After Will Lybrook died, his brother moved into the house, but sold the trading post accounts to Mr. Counselor. Jim Counselor and his wife Ann ran the trading post until the 1950s, when they sold the business to Leonard Taft and moved to Albuquerque. Taft later sold the trading post to Harold McDonald.
The Counselor Chapter conducts monthly meetings to keep residents informed; residents have a forum to express their opinions to their Navajo Nation Council Delegate or to decide on matters concerning their chapter.
"Servicing the Governmental Needs of the Counselor Chapter Residents."
Navajo Nation Goverment Link - - - -> http://www.navajo.org
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Chapter Officials
Samuel Sage
President
Harry Domingo Sr.
Vice President
Marlene Thomas
Secretary/Treasurer
(Vacant)
Community Services Coordinator
Martha Aragon
Office Specialist
Elizabeth Stoney
Land Board
Harry J. Willeto
Council Delegate
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