Historical Archaeology in the Cortez Mining District: Under the Nevada Giant

by Erich Obermayr, Robert W. McQueen

Overview

The Cortez Hills Expansion Project archaeological excavations uncovered a wealth of information about the Cortez Mining District, from its beginning in 1863 to the government-mandated end to the mining of precious metals in the district during World War II. Obermayr and McQueen use archaeological data as a foundation to tell the story of life in one of Nevada’s most intriguing, long-lived mining districts. Archaeologists excavate and analyze many thousands of artifacts, uncovering the homes and workplaces—and even trash dumps—of prospectors and miners, mill workers, charcoal burners, brickmakers, blacksmiths, teamsters, and families. They present an archaeological view of everyday life: how Cortez was populated by a variety of ethnic groups, how they lived, what products they bought or consumed, what their social status was, and how, even in this remote location, they created their own version of lives exemplifying the era’s Victorian ideals. Readers interested in the archaeology of the West, mining history, and the history of Nevada will find this book fascinating.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781943859221
Publisher:	University of Nevada Press
Publication date:	11/15/2016
Series:	Mining and Society Series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Erich Obermayr received a BA in anthropology and creative writing from the University of Arizona. He has many years’ experience in archaeology as an itinerant field technician, crew chief, project manager, and principal investigator. He currently owns a firm specializing in historical and archaeological public interpretation. Obermayr lives in Silver City, Nevada.
 
Robert W. McQueen received his MS in industrial archaeology from Michigan Technological University. He is Principal Investigator with Summit Envirosolutions, Inc., an environmental and cultural resources consulting firm in Reno, Nevada. McQueen has spent the last decade actively surveying and researching the Cortez District and directed the archaeological excavations that led to the publication of this book.
 

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction xvii

Chapter 1 The Place 3

Chapter 2 One Story 11

Chapter 3 A Mining History of the Cortez District 20

Chapter 4 Unlocking the Silver 42

Chapter 5 A Ton of Work for an Ounce of Silver 47

Chapter 6 Many fives, Many Stories 73

Chapter 7 Beyond Food, Clothing, and Shelter 116

Chapter 8 Archaeology and Memory 125

Chapter 9 Return to Mill Canyon 133

Chapter 10 The Silver Never Failed 142

Bibliography 145

Index 153

Editorial Reviews

"Their [Obermayr and McQueen's] book is well written and I recommend it to anybody that has an interest in Great Basin archaeology, geography, the development and history of mining in central Nevada and the Cortez area in particular, or just has a curiosity about what life was like in a remote Nevada mining camp from the mid-nineteenth century to the early decades of the twentieth."
—Nevada in the West


“Provides a valuable record of fragile finite historic resources (archaeological sites and features) and related historic landscapes for one of Nevada’s ‘hidden’ treasures.”
—Eugene M. Hattori, Nevada State Museum Curator of Anthropology, Carson City

From the Publisher

Provides a valuable record of fragile finite historic resources (archaeological sites and features) and related historic landscapes for one of Nevada’s ‘hidden’ treasures.” —Eugene M. Hattori, Nevada State Museum Curator of Anthropology, Carson City

Eugene M. Hattori