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In her 2014 article, “Historical Archaeologies of the American West,” Kelly J. Dixon establishes a well-written and thoroughly researched historiography detailing various means of archaeology and how they pertain to the American west. She argues that the rich research underscores the American west’s dynamic cultural heritage, and that this research can fit into a four-part conceptual framework consisting of themes. These four themes are colonialism and postcolonialism, landscape transformation, migration and diaspora, and industrial capitalism (Dixon, 177). Dixon then proceeds to divide her article into four parts, with each part focusing on one of her themes along with relevant works that support her assertion. Dixon acknowledges the breadth of the topic she is tackling, but nonetheless is successful in providing key information regarding the scholarship concerning historical archaeologies throughout American west history. She states that scholarship can be divided into works by “old” Western historians, with Frederick Jackson Turner being the apogee of these historians, and “new” Western historians, which are made up of historians working after the cultural revolutions of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Dixon shows how much of early Western history was overtly influenced by myths, dime novels, and propaganda. She then brings to light the major works that combatted these views and brought a more scientific study to the history of the American west (Dixon, 178).
The first part of Dixon’s article deals with archaeologies that relate to colonialism and postcolonialism. The entirety of the article takes a bottom-up approach, with Dixon focusing heavily on indigenous populations and the effect that Western encroachment had on them. For instance, Dixon looks at the founding of the Spanish colony of New Mexico in 1598 as a prime example of her colonial and postcolonial theme. She states that after eighty years of living under Spanish control, the Pueblo people of the area launched a series of attacks on Spanish civil and religious institutions, an event now called the Pueblo Revolt. The Spanish responded with more troops, indigenous allies, and more colonists, but the Spanish recognized Pueblo land rights and allowed Pueblo religious rites (Dixon, 185). Dixon then continues to state that archaeological evidence, Pueblo oral traditions, and written records support the claim that the Pueblo were never actually conquered, and were successfully able to resist Spanish encroachment. In using the Pueblo Revolt as an example of her “colonialism and postcolonialism theme,” Dixon is able to place a number of traditional historical archaeologies within her larger conceptual framework. The archeologies of battlefields, forts, missions, mortuary behavior, and memory fit neatly into both the revolt and in terms of attempted Spanish colonialism.
Dixon’s two sections, “Landscape Transformation” and “Industrial Capitalism” have the most in common with Samuel Truett’s book Fugitive Landscapes. Dixon defines landscape transformation as “ecological and biological transformation that accompanied colonization” (Dixon, 188). She states that although indigenous people suffered in many ways as a result of a shared experience between native peoples and colonizing powers, some American Indian groups experienced an ethnogenesis. This was due in large part to the adoption of European livestock, such as cattle and horses. Europeans, however, largely struggled due in large part to their ignorance in managing and living in new terrains in the west (Dixon, 190). This sentiment is echoed in Truett’s book when he states that Spanish authorities found Mexico in ruins due to their ancestors’ inability to cope with living in such an area (Truett, 28). Truett also discusses the changing of landscapes, particularly in his discussion of the changing of the frontier into an industrialized frontier. This is illustrated in Phelps Dodge’s implementation of the railroad, which physically changed the landscape of the Arizona borderlands, but also resulted in the changing of the cultures of those involved in the area, as well as creating an anchor for a new vast industrial landscape (Truett, 83). These aspects of Truett’s book fit perfectly within Dixon’s “landscape transformation” theme of historical archaeologies, and Truett could very well be implemented as an example in Dixon’s historiography.
Dixon’s final portion of her article details the implementation of industrialization and capitalism in the American west. Dixon begins this portion by discussing the fur trade in the 18th century as an early form of industrialized capitalism in the west, and finishes the portion with a discussion of mining ventures as being the culmination of capitalism in the region. Although Truett focuses intently on mining ventures in the southwest United States and northern Mexico, Dixon opts to focus on mining ventures in Alaska and the Colorado region. However, there is a great deal of similarity in their two pieces. Dixon states that the mining ventures were carried out by capitalist “colonizers” throughout the western United States following the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Fort in California in 1848 (Dixon, 201). This in turn led to an influx of migrants to work the mines from all over the United States, ultimately resulting in the widespread displacement of native groups. Other groups, however, such as the northern Paiute Indians of Nevada created urban cosmopolitan ethnic groups when faced with displacement (Dixon, 202). This idea is central to Truett’s book. Truett details the modernization of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands through the interaction between the groups living and operating in those lands. Although the two scholars are discussing two separate areas of the American west, and have ultimately different goals for their works, they hit upon the similar themes that modernization in the American west came about as a means of industrialization, that it often resulted in displaced natives, and this often resulted in the blending of culture groups as a means of self-preservation.
A final reason for picking this article as my supplementary reading was because it is a fine piece of argumentative historiography. Considering this class requires us to submit an historiography of our own, Dixon’s piece can serve as a fine model or example. Of particular note, Dixon concludes the work with a statement on how the scholarship of the topic at hand can be furthered in future study. Dixon states that further work involving archaeologies of the American west should integrate the four themes put forth in her article. Dixon continues to say that these themes can be used to transcend the nature-culture divide among various peoples sharing a border or a history as a means to understand the modern world (Dixon, 207). In this sense, Dixon and Truett end on similar notes. Truett ends his book by stating that in the modern world, we tend to see borderlands as competing models of authority and power. However, the history of these areas go beyond such dichotomies, and by focusing on smaller aspects, such as his “fugitive landscapes,” we can learn what truly makes up the borderlands (Truett, 184).
Works Cited:
Dixon, Kelly J. “Archaeological Histories of the American West.” Journal of Archaeological Research 22, no. 3 (September, 2014): 177-252.
Truett, Samuel. Fugitive Landscapes: The Forgotten History of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.