Over the last few years, the Bureau of Land Management, State Historic Preservation Office, and other partners-together with the Chinese descendant community-have partnered to investigate the historical and archaeological legacy of the Transcontinental Railroad in northwestern Utah. Two years of archaeological investigations at an abandoned railroad ghost town’s Chinatown have uncovered significant archaeological information and helped to connect living descendant communities to this important story.
About The Presenter: Merritt received his Ph.D. from the University of Montana in Anthropology in 2010, focusing on the archaeological and historical investigations of the Overseas Chinese. Before that, he received a Master’s of Science in Industrial Archaeology from Michigan Technological University where he studied the trade and consumption of Mormon-produced pottery in Utah. Since 2004, Merritt has worked in a variety of professional archaeological settings including the United States Forest Service in Utah and Nevada, private archaeological contracting in Salt Lake City and finally as the State Historic Preservation Officer for the State of Utah. In addition to full time employment with the State of Utah, he is Adjunct Faculty at Salt Lake Community College and Weber State University where he teaches courses on Historical Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management.
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