See, for instance, photographs of Catholic religious celebrations and Meal Day , which illustrate the diversity of people who settled the West. There are also photographs of artifacts left by Chinese immigrants who came to Nevada to work on the railroad and in the mining industry. Search on Native American , Basque , Chinese , Italian , or German to find pictures and audio recordings related to the different ethnic groups who settled Paradise Valley. The several videos and audios describing changes in haying technology and labor in the 1940s and 1980s tie into the subject of the modern American economy, particularly the impact of scientific and technological change on workplace and productivity and the changing composition of the American workforce. Many other examples of the old vs. new methods of doing things exist in the collection, and the combination of still photos and videos offer a chance to see, rather than just read about, items used by ranchers.
Students can look at the technology and listen to and read the special terms used by ranchers.
Use these materials to talk about how industrialization changed peoples's lives over the course of the twentieth century. The combination of primary and secondary sources available in this collection contribute to a teacher's ability to use Buckaroos in Paradise for classroom exercises in historical thinking. The in-depth research on one family and community in this collection make it a good resource for constructing narratives that establish temporal order, or how things change over time. The history of ranching culture in this part of the West can be traced, for instance, through this community's architecture. The adobe homesteads of the early immigrants, the elaborate bunkhouses constructed by Italian-American stonemasons, and the mobile homes and prefabricated houses built for workers and their families in more recent years all are examples of dwellings common to the region over the years.