The Southwest was similar.  El Paso, Texas, and all of New Mexico was very
isolated from any shipping point.  In El Paso, for example, most things were brought
from Mexico City by carreta prior to the US occupation (after 1848) when goods were
brought by wagon from Austin and San Antonio.  Glass items were unusual or even
rare.  Early stories tell of using tin cans as reflectord for candles because there were
no lamps or glass lanterns.  Windows were bare.

A great glass avalanch arrived in 1881 with the railroad (1880 in much of New
Mexico).  Sudddenly there was beer, liquor, and a variety of medicines.  The level
where glass begins to be found can sometimes be used as a dating device.
(Historical Archaeology did not like the idea, but I published it locally.)

Bill Lockhart

> _When_ did they start shipping whiskey in bottles, for that matter?
> And _who_? I was just reading about 'spirits' for the normal working
> joe being shipped in barrels in the 19th C. to Russian America.
> However, they were getting most supplies from the HBC after 1839.  I
> was also reading a thesis that posed the idea that glass was not
> preferred for shipping because it broke easily (during overland trips,
> especially). He took it further, stating that the presence of bottle
> glass would therefore be an indicator of a post Alaska purchase (1867)
> occupation. What do you think of that?
>
> Margan Allyn Grover