Resume

• 2006

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD

  Anthropology

  University of Montana

• 2004

  Master of Science - MS

  Industrial Archaeology

  Michigan Technological University

• 2000

  Bachelor of Arts - BA

  Anthropology

  University of Montana

• Cultural Resource Management

  Historic Sites

  Section 106

  Archival Research

  Industrial Archaeology

  Nhpa

  Historical Archaeology

  Artifact Analysis

  The Coming Man from Canton: Chinese Experience in Montana

  1862-1943

  In The Coming Man from Canton Christopher W. Merritt mines the historical and archaeological record of the Chinese immigrant experience in Montana to explore new questions and perspectives. During the 1860s Chinese immigrants arrived by the thousands

  moving into the Rocky Mountain West and tenaciously searching for prosperity in the face of resistance

  restriction

  racism

  and armed hostility from virtually every ethnic group in American society. As second-class citizens

  Chinese immigrants remained largely insular and formed their own internal governments as well as labor and trade networks

  typically establishing communities apart from the main towns. Chinese miners

  launderers

  restaurant keepers

  gardeners

  railroad laborers

  and other workers became a separate but integral part of the American experience in the Intermountain West.\n\nAlthough Chinese immigrants constituted more than 10 percent of the Montana Territory’s total population by 1870

  the historical records provide a biased and narrow perspective

  as they were generally written by European American community members. Merritt uses the statewide Montana context to show the diversity of Chinese settlements that has often been neglected by archival studies. His research highlights how the legacy of the Chinese in Montana is

  or is not

  reflected in modern Montana identity and how scholars

  educators

  professionals

  and the public can alter the existing perception of this population as the “other” and perceive it instead an integral part of Montana’s past. \n

  The Coming Man from Canton: Chinese Experience in Montana

  1862-1943

  Chris

  Merritt

  Utah Division of State History

  P-III Associates

  Weber State University

  Salt Lake Community College

  U.S. Forest Service

  Greater Salt Lake City Area

  Project Archaeologist

  P-III Associates

  300 S. Rio Grande St.

  Salt Lake City

  Utah

  Utah Division of State History

  U.S. Forest Service

  Greater Salt Lake City Area

  Archeological Technician

  Taylorsville

  Utah

  Adjunct Faculty

  Salt Lake Community College

  Ogden

  Adjunct Faculty

  Weber State University