Acknowledgments

This project began with excavations I conducted in 1976 at the two trash dumps in front of Bent's Old Fort. The first shard of historic ceramic was retrieved by Roxie Hoss, an energetic and altogether delightful local woman, who exclaimed, "Is this what we're looking for? My grandmother has some of this stuff!" We had a discussion about the importance of context at that point, one so intellectually provocative to me that I have been thinking about it for all of the intervening years. What did we—I, Roxie, any of us—expect to learn from material, oral, behavioral, and written manifestations of the past? What could and should we expect? Why did we care? My search for instructive context led me eventually to the ideas that give form to this book. Roxie went on to work many years for Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, so perhaps the excavation and our conversation were as provocative for her as for me.

I have been fortunate to have encountered many people who, like Roxie, have been very helpful, interesting, and intellectually stimulating. This book was, at a point in its history that now seems rather distant, a dissertation. Mary Corbin Sies, the chair of my committee, encouraged me then and has encouraged me since to refine my theoretical approach, particularly in regard to the problematic concept of cultural hegemony. Mark P. Leone has been gracious enough to meet with me many times to discuss, and sometimes debate, this approach. The intellectual excitement of my conversations with Mary and Mark, and their patience, I shall always recall with gratitude. Fred Nicklason generously shared his knowledge of Native American history and the trans-Mississippi West with me. John

Caughey tutored me in the methods of ethnographic fieldwork, and the achievements and approaches of the New Ethnology. I was guided by Myron Lounsbury's knowledge of poststructural and postmodern work.

Especially helpful to my research have been the staff of Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, including the current Superintendent, Donald Hill, and the Superintendent of the site when I did my archaeological fieldwork, John Patterson, as well as the current Chief of the Division of Interpretation and Resource Management, Alexandra Aldred, who was an administrative assistant there when I first came to the fort. Other park staff to whom I owe a debt include Steve Thede, Chief of Interpretation and Visitor Services; Ranger Interpreter Craig Moore; Volunteer Interpreter Betty Wesley; Curator Carol Maass; and Park Aide (and retired archaeologist) Gerald Dawson. I also thank Jack Wise, Executive Director, Bent's Old Fort Historical Association for several informative and enjoyable conversations.

Many libraries and archives have permitted me to examine their manuscript collections. I am grateful to the National Archives in Washington, D.C.; the Western History Room of the Denver Public Library; the Southwest Museum, Los Angeles, California; the Library of the Colorado State Historical Society, Denver, Colorado; the University of New Mexico Library, Albuquerque, New Mexico; and the Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Some individuals at several libraries and archives shared not only their manuscripts, but also their personal knowledge. I am especially appreciative of Peter J. Michel, Director of Library and Archives, Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Missouri; Thomas Chavez, Director of the Palace of the Governors Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Richard Salazar, Senior Archivist and Ronald Xavier Montoya, Archivist, State Records Center and Archives, Santa Fe, for the time they spent with me. I would like to convey a special thank you to the staff of the Technical Information Center of the National Park Service's Denver Service Center, especially Edie Ramey, Jody Notch, Barbara Harris, and Jolene Lindsey. Finally, I owe an enormous debt to Research Librarian Pat Herron at my "home" library at the College Park Campus of the University of Maryland.

A number of people shared their knowledge of the Santa Fe trade, the role of the Plains Indians in the fur trade, and the nineteenth-century history of the Southwest with me. Authors and historians Marc Simmons, Mark Gardner, David Lavender, and Jerry Greene suggested useful directions for my research. Susan Calafate Boyle, William Patrick O'Brien, and William Gwaltney, all of the National Park Service, were particularly infor-

mative in regard to the Santa Fe Trail: Susan about the Mexican end of the trade, Pat regarding Independence and St. Louis, and Bill about Bent's Old Fort's connection to the trail. Other National Park Service employees, archaeologist Douglas D. Scott and historian Jere Krakow, were kind enough to act as discussants in a symposium Pat O'Brien and I chaired at a Society, for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference, titled "Nineteenth-Century Trails and the Cultural Landscape." Their comments caused me to rework some of the points in this book. Two archaeologists discussed prehistoric trade in the Southwest with me and suggested pertinent literature: Douglas McFadden of the Bureau of Land Management office in Kenab, Utah, and Timothy Baugh, presently Chief of the Repatriation Office of the Smithsonian Institution. Charles E. Hanson, Jr. and the late Carlyle S. Smith advised me on nineteenth-century firearms. Louanna Lackey provided me with information about ceramic production and trade in Mexico.

Craig Moore, an interpreter at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, arranged several times for me to meet with members of the Southern Cheyenne. I spoke most frequently with Ann Shadlow, Mickey Pratt, and Henry Whiteshield. The story about the origin of the Big Dipper, which I relate in chapter 2, is as told by Mrs. Shadlow.

My wife, Elizabeth, has an enthusiasm and talent for living that I find energizing. I am sure that I could not have completed this project without her support, which was constant. An interest in somewhat arcane matters can be isolating, and I feel fortunate to be married to someone who understands both the excitement of research and the discomfort one inevitably encounters along the way. My very young children, Margaret and Jacob, suggested several aspects of the theoretical approach employed in what follows in ways that would require yet another book to describe, much less explain. The construction of reality is a collective affair accomplished by innumerable human transactions, most of them subtle and unnoticed, and so was the construction of this book.