Archaeologic site reveals much about black life on the Comstock

Artifacts excavated during an archaeologic dig in Virginia City are spinning an intricate and seductive tale of life at the Boston Saloon.

The findings are subtle, but they tell a powerful story, said State Historic Preservation Officer Ron James.

A meeting place for Virginia City's black population when Comstock Lode mining was at its peak, the site was excavated in 2000, and the lab work was recently completed.

For the first time, hypodermic needles from Chinatown and the pipe from the Boston Saloon, both excavated in 2000, reveal important information about their users through DNA analysis.

As a result, experts are changing their retrieval methods.

"Ultraviolet radiation is deadly to DNA," said James. "Now we keep the artifacts in the shade and bag them with gloves, to preserve any DNA -- we used to let them cheerfully cook in the sun."

Clay smoking pipes known as Glasgow pipes were found together with a rarer type of red-clay pipe. The latter were favored by blacks in the South.

A woman's DNA was found on one pipe mouthpiece, its surface etched by her teeth marks.

"Because buccal, or cheek cells, contain high concentrations of DNA, this pipe stem's contact with the inside of the mouth made it an excellent candidate for harboring 130- or 140-year-old DNA," said archaeologist Dr. Kelly Dixon.

"Female DNA on a tobacco pipe provides evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that women, and likely African-American women, were among this saloon's patrons. Their presence gives us an incentive for rethinking the male-dominated stereotype of the Western saloon."

It is thought the copper environment destroyed any DNA evidence on an old brass mouthpiece for a musical instrument. The saloon had a brass combo.

Shards of fine crystal and china, bones from the finest cuts of meat and quality light fixtures indicate the Boston Saloon was an upscale establishment.

"Archaeology is a pathway to the past that is independent of written accounts or personal reminiscences," said Dr. Don Hardesty, anthropology professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. "It makes it possible for people whose lives are otherwise poorly known, ignored, or erroneously portrayed to speak to us through the things they leave behind."

"This was a refined establishment," James said. "That tells us these people were trying to project an image."

Pepper sauce laced with amino acids were splashed on an ornate piece of decorated trim. Amino acids are protein building blocks and, it is thought, the sauce was a marinade.

Punctured and cut coins, found beneath the floorboards where the old saloon stood, hint at a tradition that came to America on slave ships. The African practice is supposed to offer protection. James said the coins speak volumes about the human spirit.

"These people were exposed to one of the most dehumanizing experiences possible," he said. "They were removed from their families and shipped to America under the most inhumane conditions, many of them dying along the way. Then they were sold into slavery. Despite the experience, their humanity survived. They held onto their culture."

In the summer of 2000, Dixon led archaeologists, students and volunteers as they excavated nearly 30,000 artifacts from the location. It is now a D Street parking lot.

BACKGROUND

A free-born native of Massachusetts, William A. G. Brown arrived in Virginia City about 1863, working first as a bootblack, or shoe polisher.

He founded the Boston Saloon, then located on North B Street, in 1864, and within two years, moved it to the corner of D and Union streets.

D Street was home to the Comstock's finest opera houses and theaters during the 1860s.

Brown operated other Comstock saloons catering to a black clientele and sold Boston Saloon just before it was destroyed in the great fire of 1875. He apparently left Virginia City and his property in 1880.

BACKGROUND

For the first time, hypodermic needles from the Chinatown excavation and the pipe from the Boston Saloon, both excavations in Virginia City during the summer of 2000, revealed important information about their users through DNA analysis.

As a result, experts are changing their retrieval methods.

"Ultraviolet radiation is deadly to DNA," said Ron James, state historic preservation officer. "Now we keep the artifacts in the shade and bag them with gloves, to preserve any DNA -- we used to let them cheerfully cook in the sun."