Beef, Beer, Lamb, and Liquor—A Glimpse into the 1883 Santa Fe Tertio-Millennial Expo: Monitoring of Refuse Deposits at the El Castillo / La Secoya Retirement Community, City of Santa Fe, New Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The establishment of the City of Santa Fe as a premier destination for tourism and New Mexico as a territory rich in resources and prime for investment is often traced to one singular historical event, the peculiarly named Santa Fe Tertio-Millennial Celebration and Exposition, held for 45 days in the summer of 1883. Devised by wealthy Santa Fe businessmen in cooperation with the Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe Railroad, who had just established a line to Santa Fe in 1880, the objective of the event was to attract the attention of people from the eastern states of the union and showcase the economic opportunities and diverse culture of the New Mexico territory. This expo featured parades, horseraces, mining and minerals exhibits, Native American tribal wares and dances, and samples of New Mexican cuisine. During 2023 archaeological monitoring of cistern construction at the El Castillo/La Secoya property in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico, SWCA archaeologists documented a dense refuse deposit associated with this expo, providing archaeologists with a unique opportunity to investigate a specific event in history with an emphasis on the cuisine, libations, and mercurial delights associated with this event.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 54077