Attitudes Toward Antiquities: Rhetorical Enchantments, Preservation Advocacy, and the American Southwest

ATTITUDES TOWARD ANTIQUITIES: RHETORICAL ENCHANTMENTS, PRESERVATION ADVOCACY, AND THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST Lucy Ann Burgchardt A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Communication in the College of Arts and Sciences Approved by: Carole Blair Bill Balthrop Sarah Dempsey Alicia McGill Neal Thomas © 2018 Lucy Ann Burgchardt ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Lucy Burgchardt: Attitudes Toward Antiquities: Rhetorical Enchantments, Preservation Advocacy, and the American Southwest (Under the direction of Carole Blair) My dissertation evaluates Anglo-American preservation advocacy on behalf of ancient indigenous places in the Southwestern United States, such as Mesa Verde, in southern Colorado, and Chaco Canyon, in northern New Mexico. My dissertation focuses on the rhetorical works of white adventurers, archaeologists, and advocates who were active in the American Southwest between the 1870s and the 1930s. It examines legislation that such social actors advanced during roughly the same historical period, and it also assesses four recent examples of preservation policy affecting Southwestern antiquities. Throughout this dissertation, I claim that the history and legacy of Anglo-American preservation advocacy on behalf of Southwestern antiquities demonstrate the communication patterns of rhetorical enchantment. I define rhetorical enchantment as an appeal to a cultural myth, often indicated or enhanced by the presence of poetic language. I develop the theory of rhetorical enchantment in relation to dramatism, finding evidence of the technological psychosis, frames of acceptance and rejection, and god terms alongside the myths that rhetors in my study expressed poetically. The main myths that rhetors in my dissertation prevailed upon were myths of modernity such as scientific rationality, the theory of cultural evolution, primitivism, and iii white superiority. These appeared alongside more literary myths, in which rhetors painted the American Southwest as a magical landscape, while they depicted the ancient structures that they found there as New World ruins. While these poetic myths often articulated to the myths of modernity that I critique throughout this dissertation, they undermined rhetors’ pretensions to scientific objectivity. Although scientific authority always has characterized Anglo- American engagement with ancient indigenous places in the Southwestern United States, this rhetorical history demonstrates that Anglo-American researchers, advocates, and policymakers always have exhibited a poetic attitude towards Southwestern antiquities. Unfortunately, these poetics typically translated into a fetishistic demeanor towards American Indian social actors, as well. Together, these rhetorical enchantments have naturalized Anglo-American involvement in the care of ancient indigenous places. Anthropological authority continues to dominate the federal management of indigenous heritage places. My dissertation historicizes and challenges this status quo, and the language that helped to constitute it. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I could not have completed my dissertation without the help and support of academic mentors, near and far. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Carole Blair, for her stalwart guidance. In working with me on this years-long project, Carole has taught me invaluable lessons in writing, research, and critical thinking. I will be grateful always. I would also like to thank the “marvelous” members of my doctoral committee for their insights, questions, and support over the past years. To Bill Balthrop, Sarah Dempsey, Alicia McGill, and Neal Thomas: Thank you for weighing my ideas, suggesting books, writing letters of recommendation, and performing all of the other work that goes into serving on a doctoral committee. I truly appreciate all that you have done for me, and the wonderful examples that all of you have set for me. As the daughter of a rhetorician, I have had the unusual experience of having a mentor within my own family, as well. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the joy of having the ability to consult with my father, Carl Burgchardt, as I came to know myself as a scholar. My father was often the first person with whom I discussed my ideas, as well as the only member in the audience at numerous conference presentations about this project. To my father: Thank you for believing in me. Thank you, also, for raising me in such close proximity to the Communication faculty at Colorado State University, who proved to be superlative mentors, as well. I would like to extend a special acknowledgement to Greg Dickinson, from whom I first learned about rhetoric while attending his graduate seminar in v Fort Collins, Colorado. I would also like to thank Eric Aoki, who introduced me to a number of key resources for going out “into the field,” and who has been generous with his time, as well. The Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill supported my dissertation research extensively. Thanks to an Off-Campus Research Fellowship, a Summer Research Fellowship, and the Sequoyah Dissertation Completion Fellowship, I was able to visit four archives, attend National Park Service “Interpretive Ranger” training, document public interpretive materials at Southwestern antiquities, and interview thirty heritage practitioners working at Southwestern antiquities. I would like to extend my special thanks to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Graduate School, the Royster Society of Fellows, Gigi Taylor and the Writing Center, and my home department, Communication, for the outstanding assistance that each has lent to my graduate career. I must also acknowledge the assistance of many talented archivists, librarians, and professionals within the heritage industry, all of whom enriched my dissertation through the time and energy that they shared with me. To begin with, all of the archivists with whom I worked seemed to have magical powers. To Jessy Randall and Amy Brooks of the Tutt Library Special Collections at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO; Brenna Lissoway of the Chaco Culture NHP archives in Albuquerque, NM; Tara Travis of the Mesa Verde NP archives in Cortez, CO; and Nikolai Kendziorski at the Fort Lewis College Center of Southwest Studies in Durango, CO: Thank you for all that you do to support inquisitive minds. To the NPS personnel at Mesa Verde National Park and Chaco Culture National Historical Park, I give my special thanks. Kristy Sholly and Nathan Hatfield, the Chiefs of vi Interpretation at Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, respectively, impressed me with both their knowledge and their dedication. I observed their fantastic leadership, and had the pleasure of getting to know their wonderful teams. Through their enthusiasm and warmth, they made me feel like running away to join the Park Service. The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center was another invaluable resource as I completed this project, and members of its staff were incredibly thoughtful in sharing insights and resources. Thanks, especially, to Deborah Gangloff, Sean Gantt, and Mark Varien. I would also like to acknowledge a number of important conversations that I had with Jim Bertolini, a dear friend and a historian for the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office who clued me into many of the institutional workings of the United States heritage industry. Peer mentoring also contributed significantly to the way my ideas for this dissertation ended up on the page. I would like to acknowledge, especially, the graduate students who sat next to me in coffee shops, at kitchen tables, and in libraries, as we each worked on our respective projects and tossed ideas back and forth. Thank you, Mary Domenico, Maggie Franz, Keiko Nishimura, Jing Jiang, and Nicole Castro, for tolerating my writing habits. To my “Grad Buddies” Chris Dahlie (and his wife Roz, who baked me a cake before she ever met me), Elizabeth Melton, Zac Parker, and Evan Jones, I am so glad that our department gave us an excuse to bond over scholarship and graduate education. I would also like to thank the following individuals for their friendship and advice over the course of finishing this dissertation: Bryan Behrenshausen, Emily Brennan, Andrew Davis, Amy Fallah, Jonathan Foland, Eileen Hammond, Ashley Mattheis, Robert McDonald, Alex McVey, Smita Misra, Ali Na, Julia Scatliff O’Grady, Jessica Rich, Wayne Rysavy, Carolin Suedkamp, Freya Thimsen, Megan Wood, Heather Woods, and Kurt Zemlicka. All these fellow UNC vii graduate students were always willing to share their own work and experiences as I tried to understand “how to get the thing done.” Countless other friends and colleagues informed my research and enriched my graduate experience, and I will never forget their support during these years. To all of my dear friends, thank you for your enduring laughter, sympathy, and wit, and forgive me for not mentioning all of you by name. Know that you helped make this process enjoyable, as well as enlightening! My family also provided tremendous support. To my mother, Jill, and my sister, Jane, thank you for bearing my distractions and concerns over the phone, these past six years. To Patrick Lang and Tombo the Corgi, thank you for the daily morale boosts. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the ancient indigenous places that lie at the center of this dissertation. While I critique Anglo-American

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