Dallas--
I work for the California Department of Transportation and we have an online volume on the archaeology of agriculture, including ranching, of our state. The study covers contextual history, property types, and research themes/questions. Perhaps there's something helpful for you in that volume; you can find it at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/ser/guidance.htm#agstudy
 
Best of luck, Kimberly 
 

> Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:45:58 -0600
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Cowboy and Ranching Archaeology
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> Howdy Fellow HISTARCH listerv members,
> 
> My name is Dallas and I am a graduate student in Heritage Management
> at Texas Tech University. I work primarily in Historical Archaeology and
> am currently working on a west Texas cowboy site. I have two questions
> that hopefully some of you may be of assistance with.
> First, do any of you now of any papers or reports related to ranching
> or cowboy archaeology? I have only been able to locate a couple and this
> seems strange to me, am I just missing something or are publications of
> this sort just rare? I have the Fontanna - Johnny Ward's Ranch (1962), THC
> - Walker Ranch report by Scurlock (1973), and one from U of A McGuire -
> Rancho Punta de Agua (1979). I also have a CRM report out of Nevada but it
> was little help. If anyone could offer suggestions or assistance with
> sources I would greatly appreciate it.
> Second, the cowboy camp has a large quantity of 45 caliber cartridges
> without head stamps. Does this mean they are loading their own maybe at
> the headquarters? If so I have been unable to find a source in support of
> this theory.
> I greatly appreciate any help or insight. Unfortunately due to
> confidentiality issues I am unable to supply any pics or much of a
> description beyond the vague description of a cowboy camp, possibly a
> line-camp in western Texas dating to approximately 1890. Thanks in advance
> for your responses.
> 
> -Dallas Ward