Investigation of faunal remains and social perspectives on natural resource use in an 1867 Wyoming gold mining town

Abstract

This project is an investigation into the role of wild game in the subsistence modes of the miners of the 1867 Wyoming Gold Rush. It is a preliminary step toward understanding both the dynamics of food procurement during the settlement of the American West and the place of those dynamics in a larger model of the history of American relations to and use of natural resources. Three faunal assemblages from different locales within the historic gold-mining town of South Pass City, Wyoming are analyzed and compared in terms of the presence and use of wild and domestic taxa. Historical sources are assessed for evidence of game procurement and perceptions of natural resources. Although the studied assemblages do not empirically represent the wild game depletion suggested by documentary sources, they do reflect cultural preferences of the time, and may represent a situation of depletion and ultimately a shift in utilized game resources.