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

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