Dominquez Archaeological Research Group's work with historic sites has focused on enriching the stories of western settlement. To that end, DARG has strived to expand the current research domains relating to the migration of people west and identifying the cultural affiliation and ethnicity of those who occupy historical sites. A review of the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) Compass database indicates that categories of culture and ethnicity are frequently used in an arbitrary manner. The most common ethnicity associated with historic sites is Euro-American.
Railroad sites frequently hosted a wide variety of ethnically diverse occupants. This can be attributed to active recruitment by railroad company agents in foreign countries and the relative ease of utilizing recent immigrants that have not established ties to communities. William G. Buckles reported on his investigations of the historic communities in Tenmile Canyon, he indicates labor contractors were employed in recruiting foreign born ethnic or religious minorities and other labor crews for railroad construction and these brought many workers to Colorado, including Mormons, “negroes” from the southern United States and Milanese Italians. In 1890, the Rio Grande Southern recruited Swedes, Mormons, Mexicans, Italians, and Irish; however, by 1891, Italians and Irish were hired exclusively because they were considered the best workers. Buckles goes on to state that Italians and Irish were the dominant members of the Denver and Rio Grande construction crews in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and appear to have been favored elsewhere for railroad construction. In the Denver South Park and Pacific construction in Tenmile Canyon, at least 200 Italians were hired to work throughout the winter of 1883-1884. Mary P. Rossillon, in her report on the Curecanti Archaeological Project: The Archaeology of Marion, an Historic Railroad Camp in Curecanti National Recreation Area, Colorado, identified evidence of Italian occupants.
DARG's research has not only included a focus on identifying artifacts and features that suggest the ethnicity of those living and working on historic sites but has also attempted to enrich the historic record with a deeper understanding of how and why individuals and families migrated from outside the area to live and work in Western Colorado.
An Archaeological Assessment of Roan Creek Toll Road (5ME924) and Associated Sites in Mesa County, Colorado. Prepared by Carl E. Conner, Principal Investigator and Nicole (Darnell) Inman for the History Colorado State Historic Fund (Project No. 16-AS-004), November 2016.
Abstract: State Historical Fund (16-AS-004), conducted a site assessment of the Roan Creek Toll Road site (5ME924), located in DeBeque Canyon for the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office (BLM GJFO). Fieldwork was conducted from May 5 to July 20, 2016 under BLM Antiquities Permit No. C-67009. Carl Conner served as Principal Investigator and Nicole (Darnell) Inman served as Project Director.
Overall, the project recorded 2.5 miles of toll road. Two segments (5ME924.8 and 5ME924.9) were documented; however, each of those are comprised of non-contiguous roadway structures. Within those two segments, non extant portions have either been obliterated by railroad construction or the passage of time. Private lands, which were not examined, are located between the two segments. In addition to the toll road segments, related sites were also recorded. These included two previously recorded sites: a homestead (5ME931) and 3 new segments of transmission line (5ME16695), and a newly recorded large historic sheltered camp (5ME21641).
A surprising discovery during the field work was the presence of site 5ME21641, a historic sheltered camp. It appears, based on the field survey, that this site was a grading/blasting camp occupied by Italian railroad workers. This site is remarkable due to the numerous ethnically defined cultural features, specifically, bread ovens. In Colorado, during the site’s period of significance, 1890-1915, very few cultural groups were known to be associated with the construction of bread ovens: Italians and Italian-Americans (railroad construction sites in the Lake Fork Valley, including 5GN1664; Cherry Creek Construction Camp, 5LP1915, and The Hook, 5LP1921), Greeks (Carbonera 5GF1562), and German and German-Americans (The Stitz Place 5ME6826).
The project report, edited for general release, is available here.
An Archaeological Assessment of Tunnel Siding and Station, 5ME21489 in Mesa County, Colorado. Prepared by Carl E. Conner, Principal Investigator, and Nicole Inman for the History Colorado State Historical Fund (Project No. 2016-AS-003), December 2016.
Abstract: Dominquez Archaeological Research Group (DARG), by means of a grant from the Colorado State Historical Fund (2016-AS-003), conducted a site assessment of the Tunnel Siding and Station (5ME21489) and an associated historic dugout (5ME4349) located in De Beque Canyon for the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office (BLM GJFO). Carl Conner served as Principal Investigator and Nicole (Darnell) Inman served as Project Director.
The project recorded Tunnel Siding and Station, which was first mentioned as a part of the Roan Creek Toll Road, 5ME924. During the course of the investigations, it was found that historic dugout, 5ME4349, was located along a trail loop that is associated with the Tunnel Siding and Station. As a result, a reevaluation was made of this site and it was included as part of this report. Because no definitive proof could determine a clear association between the toll road and the extant structures located at Tunnel Siding and Station, a unique site number was assigned and it was included as part of the railroad siding.
An Archaeological Assessment of Bridgeport Tunnel, 5ME21645, in Mesa County, Colorado. Prepared by Carl E. Conner, Principal Investigator and Nicole Inman, Project Director, for the History Colorado State Historical Fund (Project No. 2017-AS-004), Mar 2018.
Abstract: Dominquez Archaeological Research Group (DARG), by means of a grant from the Colorado State Historical Fund (2017-AS-004), conducted a site assessment of the Bridgeport Tunnel railway site 5ME21645) located above the Gunnison River in Mesa County, Colorado for the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office (BLM GJFO). Carl Conner served as Principal Investigator and Nicole Inman served as Project Director.
The project recorded the construction site for Bridgeport Tunnel. The construction of the tunnel took place between October 1883 and April 1884. Overall, the project recorded the 12 acre site and 8 features within its bounds. All of the work took place on federal lands. The work identified the construction site for the tunnel, but due to railroad regulations, did not include an evaluation of the tunnel itself.
Current research domains and questions have been developed relating to ethnicity of the occupants of historical sites. A review of the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) Compass database indicates that categories of ethnicity are frequently used in an arbitrary manner. The most common ethnicity associated with historic sites is Euro- American. Railroad sites, however, had a wide variety of ethnic occupants. This can be attributed to active recruitment by railroad company agents in foreign countries and the relative ease of utilizing recent immigrants that have not established ties to communities. Recent research along the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad revealed evidence of Italian workman used for tunnel construction (Conner and Inman 2016). Historic railroad camps in the Curecanti National Recreation Area have also presented evidence of Italian occupants (Rossillon 1984). A railroad siding along an abandoned siding west of Fruita, Colorado has evidence of Chinese occupants (Conner and Darnell 2012). Part of the purpose of the proposed study was the investigation of the site with particular interest in evaluating the remains for evidence of occupation by ethnic minorities.
The project report, edited for general release, is available here.
Archaeological Investigation of Site 5ME7351.1 Excelsior Train Station, Mesa County, Colorado. Prepared by Carl E. Conner, Principal Investigator, and Nicole Darnell, Project Director, for the History Colorado State Historical Fund (Project No. 2010-AS-006) and the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office, April 2012.
Abstract: Dominquez Archaeological Research Group (DARG) conducted an Archaeological Assessment of site 5ME7351.1, the Excelsior Train Station, in Mesa County, Colorado in conjunction with the Colorado Historical Society (CHS) and the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office (BLM-GJFO).
Excelsior Train Station was initially recorded by Brian O’Neil with Grand River Institute during a fire rehabilitation project in November 1994. Indications at the time led investigators to suspect that the site would likely yield additional significant information concerning the working and living conditions of nineteenth-century railroad workers. Trash scatters and depressions suggested the location of several possible structures. A vandal’s pit was identified in one of the depression containing a refuse scatter during an alleged vandalism investigation by the BLM. No reference to this incident is present in the site record, but recovered artifacts from this investigation are curated at the Museum of Western Colorado (MWC).
The goal of this project was to conduct extensive surface mapping, collection of diagnostic artifacts, metal detection, and subsequent subsurface testing using hand tools to determine the vertical and horizontal extent of the site. Additionally, an effort was made to identify whether any ethnic minorities might have been present. The results of this assessment have demonstrated the vertical extent of cultural material adjacent to Feature 4, within the Chinese artifact locus, and within Feature 5. Conclusive artifactual material depicts a Chinese presence on the site despite the lack of historical literature to substantiate this claim. The information gleaned from this study shows that this site has and will likely continue to contribute significant information about the early railroad period in Colorado and ethnic workers.
This work was added to Stanford University's Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project's publically accessible online database. (Read more...)
Cultural Resources Inventory of 128 Miles of Open Drains in Mesa County, Colorado, for Grand Valley Drainage District. Prepared by Carl E. Conner, Principal Investigator and Nicole Darnell, Project Historian for the US Army Corps of Engineers.
At the request of Grand Valley Drainage District (GVDD), Dominquez Archaeological Research Group (DARG) conducted a Class III (intensive) cultural resources inventory of 128 miles of open drain features on private land in Mesa County, Colorado. The proposed project will benefit residents of Mesa County, directly and indirectly, by simplifying the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) permitting process as it relates to projects involving the GVDD. The findings of this project will be used in the creation of a Programmatic Agreement (PA) with the USACE and the Colorado State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO). The PA would address all construction (routine and non-routine), operation and maintenance activities required for future operations of the GVDD. The project was conducted by Carl E. Conner (Principal Investigator) and Nicole Darnell. The purpose of this project was to settle questions of impact to significant drainage ditch features by identifying those portions that should be preserved and those portions that may be cut through by construction. A cultural resource management plan to implement the PA will eliminate the need for future surveys as prescribed for Section 106 compliance. As a result, this project will serve numerous residents applying for land use permits in Mesa County, and for the ultimate consumers by reducing the costs for facilities construction, and allowing faster approval of valuable developments. As a result of the fieldwork, this inventory recorded 128 miles of a historic open drainage system and provided an opportunity to expand the present data base related to the water history in the Grand Valley. The project area lies within the Grand Valley which has been utilized historically for a variety of purposes. The drainage system played an integral part in the water distribution network. Water is drawn from its source, the Colorado River, into the canal system, and conveyed from the east end of the Grand Valley, to the west. This water is distributed to individual farms via ditch laterals and is applied to crops through furrows or sprinkler systems. At the end of an individual field, the water empties into a waste ditch, is carried to the drainage system, which in turn carries water to natural drains and then back to the Colorado River. Along with irrigation water, the drains return seep from the canal systems, groundwater, surface water, and urban storm water back to the natural drainage system. Without the drainage system, flooding and salinity caused crop failure.
Research Resources
Below, please find links to helpful research resources.
A service of the Colorado State Library, the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) currently includes more than 1.7 million digitized pages, representing more than 400 individual newspaper titles published in Colorado from 1859 up to 2019. Due to copyright restrictions, the CHNC does not always include newspapers published after 1924, but the CHNC can digitize beyond 1924 if publisher permission can be secured. And best of all the CHNC can be browsed and searched for free! Click here to learn more.
These interviews were conducted in 1933-1934 and cover a wide variety of subjects on Colorado history. The interviewees were people who had lived in selected areas of the state over a long period of time and could provide insight into life in Colorado from a personal point of view. The Hart Research Library also holds a card file index of the collection, bound volumes of the original interview typescripts, and microfilm of selected volumes. Click here to go to their website for PDF scans of the CWA Pioneer Interviews available to view online.
