Consuming a Settler Colonial History: Frontier Authenticity and the Collective Memory of the Fort

Abstract

This paper explores the rhetoric of the Fort restaurant, located in Morrison, Colorado. The Fort conveys a rhetorical phenomenon I refer to as “frontier authenticity rhetoric” and embodies the rhetorical characteristics of a museum to (re)present a historical 1833 fur trading post, the Old Bent Fort. Using components of the frontier myth, authenticity, commodification, and Whiteness theory, I conduct an archival and spatial analysis of memory and material culture of the Fort’s rhetoric. I argue the Fort’s frontier authenticity rhetoric maintains collective memories of settler colonialism through origin seeking, essentialized frontier metaphors of an “ideal” American identity, and flawed senses of multicultural hospitality undercut by Whiteness.

Keywords:

• Authenticity
• Collective Memory
• Commodification
• Food
• Frontier Myth

Acknowledgments

First, I would like to thank Dr. Amy Johnson and the anonymous reviewers for their engaged feedback throughout the revision process. Second, I would like to thank Dr. Kit Hughes and Dr. Allison M. Prasch. The guidance you both provided in your archival methods course allowed this article to come to fruition. I would also like to thank Dr. Katie Gibson. Your advice and detailed feedback in academic writing was immensely helpful in moving this paper toward publication. Then, I want to thank my advisor Dr. Eric Aoki. During the final revisions of this project, your knowledge and perspective was vital in helping me finalize this project. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Greg Dickinson. Our one-on-one conversations about memory, authenticity, and rhetoric pushed me to think differently and helped find my authorial voice.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Manuscript History

This paper was accepted to the 2019 Rhetoric Society of America Conference in Portland, Oregon. *Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic.