Apr 20th, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Title
Idaho City and a Historic Chinese Placer Site: Beliefs and Land Use
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Lisa Brady
Information
The need for regional and local histories describing land use strategies are essential for understanding past and future initiatives related to environmental and economic sustainability. The Granite Creek placer site is a historic Chinese placer mining camp located in Idaho City, Idaho. Deemed significant to our national heritage by NHPA legislation, this site provides archaeological and documentary evidence of Chinese impacts upon Idaho City’s developing economy and local environment. Such a study is necessitated by the fact that previous studies of the Chinese have centered on urban settings, with little consideration given to the majority of the population, who lived in rural, work-oriented communities such as Idaho City. This study suggests that: 1) The Chinese population at Granite Creek contributed greatly to the environmental history of Idaho City, and 2) “Practical” Chinese notions of environment better equipped them as laborers and landscape architects.