Eldorado!: The Archaeology of Gold Mining in the Far North (Historical Archaeology of the American West) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080321099X ISBN 13: 9780803210998

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, 2011

Synopsis

When gold was discovered in the far northern regions of Alaska and the Yukon in the late nineteenth century, thousands of individuals headed north to strike it rich. This massive movement required a vast network of supplies and services and brought even more people north to manage and fulfill those needs. In this volume, archaeologists, historians, and ethnologists discuss their interlinking studies of the towns, trails, and mining districts that figured in the northern gold rushes, including the first sustained account of the archaeology of twentieth-century gold mining sites in Alaska or the Yukon.
The authors explore various parts of this extensive settlement and supply system: coastal towns that funneled goods inland from ships; the famous Chilkoot Trail, over which tens of thousands of gold-seekers trod; a host of retail-oriented sites that supported prospectors and transferred goods through the system; and actual camps on the creeks where gold was extracted from the ground. Discussing individual cases in terms of settlement patterns and archaeological assemblages, the essays shed light on issues of interest to students of gender, transience, and site abandonment behavior. Further commentary places the archaeology of the Far North within the larger context of early twentieth-century industrialized European American society.

About this title

About the Author:

Catherine Holder Spude is a retired archaeologist with the National Park Service. She is the author of Sin and Grace: The True Story of Skagway's Underworld and has published articles in the Journal of Historical Archaeology, Arctic, and Alaska History. Robin O. Mills is an archaeologist with the Bureau of Land Management in the Fairbanks District Office. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Historical Archaeology and Arctic Anthropology. Karl Gurcke is a historian with the National Park Service at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. He is the author of Bricks and Brickmaking: A Handbook for Historical Archaeology. The late Roderick Sprague was professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Idaho, Moscow. He was the author of Burial Terminology: A Guide for Researchers.

Review:

"Like the gold rushers, this volume is ambitious and monumental. ... Each case study in the volume provides rich data and interpretations. The journey leads to settlements not in most Americans' consciousness but that nonetheless serve as symbols of American ingenuity and ongoing relationships with the material past." Laura L. Scheiber, Western History Quarterly.

"Eldorado! is simply great history and well worth the time ... The editors have put together a well-crafted book filled with valuable insights. Western historians will profit by having this book in their collections." -- Ronald M. James, Pacific Historical Review.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 080321099X
• ISBN 13: 9780803210998
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 376
• Editor: Spude Catherine Holder, Mills Robin O., Gurcke Karl, Sprague Roderick