Hillerman writes in his autobiography, Seldom Disappointed (2001), that he created Jim Chee as an alternative to Leaphorn for the novel People of Darkness (1980) because the novel is set on the Checkerboard Reservation, and Hillerman felt that Leaphorn was too hardened to fit into the plot.
Jim Thorpe | Jim Carrey | Jim DeMint | Jim Morrison | Jim Jarmusch | Jim Jones | Jim Henson | Jim Dine | Jim Starlin | Jim Reeves | Jim Flaherty | Jim Cummings | Jim Bunning | According to Jim | Jim O'Rourke | Jim Nabors | Jim Bohannon | Jim Lovell | Jim Lauderdale | Jim Crow laws | Jim Clark | Jim O'Rourke (musician) | Jim Keltner | Jim Crockett Promotions | Jim Brown | Jim Brickman | Jim Lee | Jim Kelly | Jim Hall (musician) | Jim Doyle |
The dedication page reads "To Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee", two Navajo Tribal Police characters in detective stories by Tony Hillerman.