Access provided by Stanford University []
Browse Book and Journal Content on Project MUSE
OR
Browse > Area and Ethnic Studies > American Studies > Hispanic American Studies
title

On the Edge of Purgatory

An Archaeology of Place in Hispanic Colorado

Bonnie J. Clark

Publication Year: 2012

Southeastern Colorado was known as the northernmost boundary of New Spain in the sixteenth century. By the late 1800s, the region was U.S. territory, but the majority of settlers remained Hispanic families. They had a complex history of interaction with indigenous populations in the area and adopted many of the indigenous methods of survival in this difficult environment. Today their descendants compose a vocal part of the Hispanic population of Colorado.

Bonnie J. Clark investigates the unwritten history of this unique Hispanic population. Combining archaeological research, contemporary ethnography, and oral and documentary history, Clark examines the everyday lives of this population over time. Framing this discussion within the wider context of the changing economic and political processes at work, Clark looks at how changing and contesting ethnic and gender identities were experienced on a daily basis. Providing new insights into the construction of ethnic identity in the American West over hundreds of years, this study complicates and enriches our understanding of the role of Hispanic populations in the West.

Published by: University of Nebraska Press

Cover

pdf iconDownload PDF (1.9 MB)
 

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

pdf iconDownload PDF (50.8 KB)
 

Contents

pdf iconDownload PDF (18.6 KB)
pp. vii-

Illustrations

pdf iconDownload PDF (32.7 KB)
pp. ix-x

read more

Acknowledgments

pdf iconDownload PDF (38.0 KB)
pp. xi-xiv

Scholarly research is widely perceived as a solitary act. For archaeologists, whose work is broadly collaborative and often derived from field research, nothing could be further from the truth. Although this project began as my dissertation...

read more

Introduction: Finding Purgatory

pdf iconDownload PDF (1.1 MB)
pp. xv-xxvi

The identity of the Spanish-speaking explorer who named the Purgatoire River has been lost to time, but he chose well to evoke a kingdom that is neither heaven nor hell. The river flows through a region of southeastern Colorado that remains...

read more

1. Hispanic Colorado

pdf iconDownload PDF (2.2 MB)
pp. 1-18

If you find yourself driving south through Colorado, take a look around. You might notice the character of the state changing. Place names provide perhaps the most obvious clue. Colorado Springs gives way to Conejos, and Leadville to...

read more

2. Inhabiting the Lower Purgatory

pdf iconDownload PDF (6.7 MB)
pp. 19-55

The countryside of the Purgatoire River elicits a wide range of responses. On a clear day, someone standing on the broad steppes of the prairie above the river can see the Rocky Mountains many miles to the west. For many people the open...

read more

3. Making a Living and a Life

pdf iconDownload PDF (2.6 MB)
pp. 56-89

Perhaps the most enduring romantic figure in the history of the American West is the cowboy. As the myths portray him, the cowboy rides a beautiful mount through picturesque territory, and the close-up reveals a rugged, typically white...

read more

4. Plazas and Community

pdf iconDownload PDF (3.9 MB)
pp. 90-104

My work as an archaeologist has taken me to canyons, valleys, and prairies across the American West to investigate historic sites. Many of these sites were rural farms or ranches with a single dwelling, a few out-buildings...

read more

5. Lessons from the Landscape

pdf iconDownload PDF (759.1 KB)
pp. 105-116

One of the tools I most enjoy teaching my students is the concept of the cultural landscape. When recast as cultural landscape, the world around them is an artifact, a document written and rewritten by generations who came before...

read more

Conclusion: The Archaeology of Places

pdf iconDownload PDF (57.5 KB)
pp. 117-128

At some level, all sites are evidence of human investment in the landscape. Working for the most part on historic sites in the western United States, I have seen my fair share of places where people did only the minimum to shelter...

References Cited

pdf iconDownload PDF (84.2 KB)
pp. 129-144

Index

pdf iconDownload PDF (38.6 KB)
pp. 145-148

In the Historical Archaeology of the American West series

pdf iconDownload PDF (19.6 KB)
 


E-ISBN-13: 9780803262751
E-ISBN-10: 0803262752
Print-ISBN-13: 9780803213722
Print-ISBN-10: 0803213727

Page Count: 176
Illustrations: 26 illustrations, 6 maps, 6 tables
Publication Year: 2012

Series Title: Historical Archaeology of the American W

Research Areas

Recommend

UPCC logo

Subject Headings

  • Colorado -- Antiquities.
  • Colorado -- History, Local.
  • Colorado -- Social life and customs.
  • Ethnoarchaeology -- Colorado.
  • Hispanic Americans -- Colorado -- Social life and customs.
  • Archaeology and history -- Colorado.
  • Hispanic Americans -- Colorado -- History.
  • Hispanic Americans -- Colorado -- Antiquities.
  • You have access to this content
  • Free sample
  • Open Access
  • Restricted Access

Welcome to Project MUSE

Use the Search box at the top of the page to find book and journal content. Refine results with the filtering options on the left side of the results page. Use the Browse box to browse a selection of books and journals.

Connect with Project MUSE

Project MUSE | 2715 North Charles Street | Baltimore, Maryland USA 21218 | (410) 516-6989 | About | Contact | Help | Tools | Order

©2013 Project MUSE. Produced by The Johns Hopkins University Press in collaboration with The Milton S. Eisenhower Library.