A Historical Geography of Mahogany in Honduras Craig Stephen Revels Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2002 Timber, trade, and transformation: a historical geography of mahogany in Honduras Craig Stephen Revels Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Revels, Craig Stephen, "Timber, trade, and transformation: a historical geography of mahogany in Honduras" (2002). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1285. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1285 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. TIMBER, TRADE, AND TRANSFORMATION: A HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF MAHOGANY IN HONDURAS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Craig Stephen Revels B.A., University of Colorado, Boulder, 1984 M.A., Portland State University, 1998 May 2002 ©Copyright 2002 Craig Stephen Revels All rights reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Profound thanks are due to Dr. William V. Davidson for his enthusiasm and support for this project. Not only did he introduce me to field and archival work in Honduras, but he also unselfishly shared his passion for and deep knowledge of Honduras throughout my graduate program. With his present wife Sharon, he generously provided a refuge to complete this dissertation, and their hospitality, kindness, and friendship has been invaluable. Dr. Miles Richardson has been inspirational and supportive throughout my stay at LSU. His courses encouraged me to think differently about the world, and I have enjoyed many pleasant exchanges with him over the last four years. Dr. Kent Mathewson also provided enthusiastic support for this project over many conversations and social events, and provided numerous ideas and suggestions to place my work in a broader context. Drs. Paul Hoffman and John Wrenn each provided perceptive commentary on the draft of this dissertation, and welcome suggestions for additional research and publication. The many friends and colleagues I have met during my time at LSU have been an invaluable source of fellowship and support. I am particularly indebted to the ideas and conversations I have shared with Jennifer Speights-Binet, Bill Fagan, Dr. Andrew Curtis, and Toni Alexander, although many fine times have been shared with others too numerous to list here. Dr. Scott Brady, Joby Bass, and Dr. Ricky Samson have taught me much about fieldwork in general, and shared many libations, questionable foodstuffs, and good times in Honduras. Dr. Taylor Mack shared his perspectives on archival research, iii as well as a trip down the Río Patuca with the rest of the usual suspects. I thank all of my fellow travelers for sharing the path with me. Early research for this dissertation was funded in part by two Robert C. West Graduate Field Research Grants from the Department of Geography and Anthropology at LSU. Additional financial support was provided through a Dissertation Writing Fellowship from the LSU Graduate School. The Department of Geography at Portland State University generously offered a one-year instructorship while I was still researching this dissertation, a remunerative offer financially as well as professionally. I also wish to thank the staff of the Great Britain Public Record Office at Kew. The PRO is a marvel of efficiency, and the staff's professionalism and courtesy make research there a pleasure. In Honduras, Carlos Maldonado and his staff at the Archivo Nacional de Honduras were essential to the completion of this work. I thank them for their patience with my conversational Spanish, countless trips to get documents, and willingness to answer questions about the archives. Mario Argueta's enthusiasm for the history of Honduras is infectious, and I wish to thank him also for providing early suggestions for the project and sharing several citations with me. Jóse Batres contributed greatly to the final field observations in this study by volunteering to spend his free time driving a bunch of geographers around Olancho and the north coast, and his family graciously provided hospitality upon our return. Thanks also to my family for their unflagging support through my years of wandering, and for their generosity, encouragement, and patience with my chosen path. Finally, Deb Tolman has seen this dissertation through from beginning to end with iv patience, good humor, and fierce dedication to the big picture. Thank you for everything you have given me - I hope it was worth it. v PREFACE Early in my graduate career at LSU, Dr. William V. Davidson and I had a prolonged discussion about potential dissertation topics. It was my first real taste of the dynamism and generation of intriguing research topics that similar conversations continue to produce, with him as well as my colleagues who also study Honduras and Central America. This dissertation, though a scholarly undertaking, is offered in the spirit of enthusiasm and fun that I believe should be a part of the geographic enterprise. Through many trips to the archives and into the field, I have thoroughly enjoyed this project, and the final form of this dissertation is an attempt to convey some of that enthusiasm to the reader. Thus the heavy emphasis on visual representation, and the narrative flavor of the text itself. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. iii PREFACE ........................................................................................................................ vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 Mahogany in the Americas ..................................................................... 3 The North Coast of Honduras ............................................................... 12 On Historical Geography ...................................................................... 18 Sourcing the Mahogany Trade .............................................................. 19 A Note on Maps .................................................................................... 22 Topics of Consideration ........................................................................ 28 2 MAHOGANY EXTRACTION IN NINETEENTH-CENTRURY HONDURAS ........................................................................................... 32 Scouting the Forest ............................................................................... 33 The Mahogany Gang ............................................................................. 34 The Mahogany Works ........................................................................... 37 Felling the Timber ................................................................................. 39 Timber Haulage .................................................................................... 43 Moving the Timber ............................................................................... 49 Perspective ............................................................................................ 50 3 BANKS AND BOOM IN THE MID-DAY SUN: ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEGACIES OF THE MAHOGANY TRADE ON THE NORTH COAST ............................................................................. 55 Creeks ................................................................................................... 56 Banks ..................................................................................................... 58 Booms ................................................................................................... 60 Other Toponymic Legacies ................................................................... 61 Perspective ............................................................................................ 64 4 CONSIDERING THE MAHOGANY LANDSCAPE ............................ 65 Settlement Landscapes .......................................................................... 66 Physical Landscapes ............................................................................. 71 Locations ............................................................................................... 75 Perspective ............................................................................................ 85 vii 5 THE EARLY TRADE: ON THE MARGINS OF EMPIRE ................... 94 Belize and Logwood in the Eighteenth Century ................................... 94 The British Settlement at Black River .................................................. 96 Spanish Colonization on the Miskito Shore ........................................ 101 From Isolation to Independence