Santa Rita del Cobre: A Copper Mining Community in New Mexico (Mining the American West) - Hardcover

Huggard, Christopher J.; Humble, Terrence M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1607321521 ISBN 13: 9781607321521

Publisher: University Press of Colorado, 2012

Synopsis

The Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans successively mined copper for 200 years at Santa Rita, New Mexico. Starting in 1799 with the Spanish discovery of native copper, the Chino Mines followed industry developments first as a network of underground mines and ultimately as part of the multinational Kennecott Copper Corporation's international open-pit mining operations -- operations that would overtake Santa Rita, the town that grew up around them, by 1970. Huggard and Humble detail the story of these developments, with in-depth explanations of mining technology, and describe the effects on and consequences for the workers, the community, and the natural environment. Evolving from mining-military camp to presidio, to company town, and eventually to independent community, Santa Rita developed rich family, educational, religious, social, and labour traditions before its demise. Extensive archival photographs, many taken by officials of the Kennecott Copper Corporation, accompany the text, providing an important visual and historical record of a town swallowed up by the industry that created it. The book is for students, scholars, and laypersons interested in mining history, mining technology, Western history, Chicano studies, regional history of the Southwest, labour history, or environmental studies.

About this title

About the Author

Christopher J. Huggard is a professor of history at NorthWest Arkansas Community College and has published extensively on the history of mining and the environment in the American West. Terrence M. Humble was born in Santa Rita and retired from Chino Mines as a diesel mechanic and foreman in 2001. He has been recording histories, saving documents, and participating in local preservation of Santa Rita since 1967, publishing several journal articles on his hometown's history.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of Colorado
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1607321521
• ISBN 13: 9781607321521
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 252