The Chinese in Nevada: A Turn For Fairness By Lucinda Parker all rights reserved. Cite as www.nevoldwest.com/History/chinese/chinese.html 2004. Parker, L. Despite poetic reflections of the west as a place where any man could succeed according to his
efforts, racism was violent and rampant in the far west, particularly against the Chinese, from the 1850s well into the twentieth century. The Gold Rush was the most influential nineteenth century event in the far western states of Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada. Gold for the picking created an economic democracy where every able bodied man could rise up to wealth according to his ability to dig, pan, wash and find gold. Farmers, businessmen, immigrant and emigrant worked side
by side along the streams of California, each pursuing his own dream of a better life. Over 100,000 people swarmed the American River and its tributaries in 1849. Among the foreigners who immigrated to California in the hopes of a better life were Chinese, primarily from the poor southern province of Guandong. During the mid 1800's, Taishan was the poorest and most populated of the four counties of Guandong. It is hilly, difficult to farm, and during the 1840s and 1850s a seat of
politically motivated gang type activity. Taishanese were among the first Chinese to sail to California. Some of the men fled Taishan to escape war and persecution. Others left simply to seek better opportunities. In 1852, serious crop failures in South China made a bad situation worse for many of the poor farming families in Taishan. According to records 20,026 Chinese passed through the San Francisco Customs House in 1852 . These immigrants worked the gold fields and labor jobs. It
was common for young men to borrow money for the cost of passage to the United States from their family and work whatever jobs they could once in California to send money home. Transporting Chinese from Hong Kong to California was big business from 1860 until 1882. Between 1860 and 1874, 112,362 Chinese left Hong Kong for San Francisco, resulting in over five and a half million dollars in fare money. Beginning in the 1850s, notices appeared in Hong Kong newspapers reporting " gold on the
streets of San Francisco." The enticement to immigrate to the US grew with the heavy advertising in Hong Kong papers of railroad building jobs, primarily the Central Pacific RR. These ads were paid for by both the steam ship companies operating between Hong Kong and San Francisco and the railroad builders in California and Nevada desperate for cheap labor. Although hundreds of thousands of men emigrated to California in the search of gold, a majority found only heartache and disappointment. By 1853, most of the placer gold along the rivers had been taken. Large companies were formed to pursue hydraulic mining, reducing the individual miners to mining company laborers. Dreams were dashed, and men discovered that what they had left their homes for was no better, and even worse. They began to place blame on others for their own misfortunes. Racism was rampant against all non- Anglos, particularly Native Americans, Mexicans and Chinese. Because of their sheer numbers and very different cultures, the Chinese were hated the most. The Chinese maintained their culture in the United States, eating traditional foods, keeping their hair long, speaking their own tongue and forming their own little Chinatowns wherever they lived. By all accounts, the Chinese were hard workers and endured conditions no one else would. They were not secretive about sending their wages back to China, sending the bodies of the dead back to China or of their own dreams to return to China as wealthy men in their hometowns. These characteristics, along with their non-violent nature, set them up for incredible violence and racism against their race. Even then, they persevered. The first large group of Chinese to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains into Nevada were workers hired by the Mormons to dig water ditches for irrigation in the
Carson Valley in the 1850s . Gold and silver were discovered in Nevada in 1859 at the Comstock Lode. There was only a small number of Chinese in Nevada prior to the massive mineral strike building the irrigation canals in the Valley below Mt. Davison. A few trekked up Gold Canyon in search of wealth, which prompted the first Nevada act of discrimination. In 1859, the first town rules for Gold Canyon, (Virginia City) were
drawn up. Among those original rules were a ban on gambling, a requirement to claim a stake with the town recorder and a ban on Chinese owning property or staking claims (Lord). The mines at the Comstock were wealthy and Virginia City rapidly grew to over 10,000 people by 1862. The Chinese ran laundries, cut and sold wood, and grew vegetables for sale. There are still two buildings standing on D Street in Virginia City from Chinatown. Their cemetery is still marked, located as it is,
far away from the Anglo cemeteries higher on the mountain. Perhaps another reason the Chinese were disliked was their fondness of opium, which they smoked in dark, small Joss houses. One of the displays in Virginia City states the Chinese would work 12 to 14 hour days, quietly eat their meal then spend the night in an opium induced stupor on one of the cots in the Joss Houses, only to wake the next morning and do it all over again. Perhaps a jealousy grew between the hard drinking and
fighting Cornish and Irish workers who would drink and gamble their salaries away, get drunk and not report to work the next day. Anglos made money from the drinking gambling white workers. The coolies stayed with their own, playing Fan-tan with their own and visiting only their fellow countrymen's Joss Houses. The first major display of racism occurred on the Comstock in 1869 when William Sharon employed a number of Chinese to build the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. In May of 1869, the
two miners' unions formally appealed to the working men of Nevada to send delegates to a convention to be held in Virginia City in July. The object of the meeting was to maintain wages at a satisfactory (to the workers) level and to "prevent the firm seating of Chinese labor in our midst." The convention was never held, but Sharon's hiring of Chinese to build the railroad resulted in 350 miners demonstrating in front of Sharon's Virginia City office. The miner's opposition to the Chinese was
powerful enough that Sharon signed an agreement with the mining unions guaranteeing that Chinese would not be employed within the limits of Virginia City and Gold hill .The anti Chinese sentiment continued and in 1871 the union strength forced the legislature to pass a resolution banning the use of Chinese labor on public grounds and work projects in the state. Unions throughout the United States were gaining strength in the late 1860s, Immigrant labor was a union target throughout the
country. In the east in heavily industrial cities like Troy, NY, New York City and North Adams, Mass., union members cried out loudly against the importation of immigrant workers. The Iron Molder's International Union, the Cigar Makers' Int'l Union and the National Labor Bureau of Colored Men all affirmed planks of pro-immigration and anti-importation. Although prompted by KKK sponsored violence in the south, the Civil Rights Act of 1870 was the most momentous legislation on behalf of the
Chinese in the nineteenth century. Originally worded to protect black voting rights as allowed under the Fifteenth Amendment, Senator William Stewart (R- Nevada) added language prior to passage that provided "all persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have…full and equal benefit of all laws." Senator Stewart explained his clause would "protect Chinese aliens…It is as solemn a duty as can be devolved upon this Congress to see that those people are protected, to see that
they have the legal protection of the laws…They, or any other aliens, who may come here are entitled to that protection." He further argued that for the past twenty years "the Chinese immigrants had been subjected to barbarous and cruel laws," and their fundamental rights violated. Stewart had sponsored the Civil Rights Act of 1870, and he said he had added the language to strengthen the Burlingame Treaty of 1868 because "Justice and humanity and common decency require it." (Gyory,
1998, p.54). The anti Chinese sentiment seemed to quiet down on the Comstock and in other areas of Nevada until the crash of 1873. The Comstock mines were already producing less, and the crash resulted in several mines closing. Labor groups again began attacking the Chinese and those who hired them. As the good mining jobs began to disappear, the Anglos complained the imported Chinese were taking their jobs. In 1875, the Nevada legislature passed a resolution requesting the Nevada
Congressional representatives to support actions to prevent the importation of contractual Chinese labor. While most of the Chinese in Nevada were located in Carson City- Reno area, small numbers of Chinese did move to other areas of the sparsely settled state. California and Nevada differed on their political approach to the Chinese situation. California pushed hard for exclusion of all Chinese, and within the state, anti Chinese riots and violence were often committed with no punishment. In Nevada, where in 1870 only a little over five percent of the population was Chinese, politicians urged for open immigration and full rights, although Nevadans were openly against indentured
importation of laborers. By 1880, the Chinese population in California was 75,132, in Oregon, 9,510 and in Nevada 5,416. (US Bureau of Census, June 1, 1880). But as the economy of Nevada's mines continued to slide, the anti Chinese sentiment grew, fueled by labor union propaganda. Anti-Chinese societies were formed in Tuscarora and Carson City between 1876 and 1878. A number of anti-Chinese riots occurred throughout the northern section of Nevada. A fire, which broke out in Reno's Chinatown
on August 4, 1878 was typical of the actions of the day. A group of Reno citizens used the fire as an excuse to order the Chinese to leave the city within 48 hours. Rioting followed the delivery of the ultimatum, with some whites siding with the Chinese. Order was restored by the Sheriff and the Chinese were allowed to stay, although most of their Chinatown had burned down. Popular outcry against the Chinese in Nevada continued to grow throughout the 1870s, fueled in part by the intense
hatred in California and Oregon. Nevada governor Bradley listed his grievances against the Chinese in his public biennial message to the Nevada legislature in 1877. "In every instance where public opinion has permitted the Chinese to labor, they have driven out and supplanted white labor, both male and female" (Gyory, 1998, p.167). In 1878, the Republican and Democratic parties included anti-Chinese planks in their platforms. The Republicans were particularly strong, not only opposing all
Asiatic immigration, but also advocating the use of "just and peaceful" methods to deport the Chinese already in Nevada. The issue was made even more inflammatory by Senator John P. Jones, who in a reelection speech in Carson City in November, 1878, summarized the evils of Oriental immigration, concentrating on the Chinese as a threat to American labor and industry (Gyory, 1998, .p. 167). As the Comstock mines began to seriously decline in 1878, the anti Chinese sentiment increased in
intensity. By the 1880 general election, Nevadans were expressing their anti-Chinese views on the ballot. California had adopted their constitution in 1879, which forbade Chinese from working on public works projects and prohibited them from voting. Nevadans were close behind. The 1879 Nevada legislature passed a number of anti Chinese acts, including a ballot initiative that allowed Nevadans to vote in 1880 as to whether to allow the continued admittance of Chinese. A second legislative
act attempted to prevent Chinese immigration into Nevada on the grounds that the Chinese were coming as indentured servants, as slaves, and therefore against state law. This act also prevented companies from paying wages to persons in involuntary servitude or slavery. A third legislative act authorized aliens and nonresidents to own property in Nevada, but specifically excluded people from the Chinese Empire. Lastly, the legislature passed resolutions asking the Nevada Congressional
representatives to support and vote for the anti Chinese legislation facing Congress. Congress did pass the Chinese Exclusion Act but not until 1882, primarily because of continuing pressure from California, Oregon, Nevada and other western states. According to Gyory, in Closing the Gate " Politicians, not public opinion fueled the engine of exclusion. The anti-Chinese question attracts interest mainly because it is supposed to be a means of carrying California, Oregon
and Nevada next fall." The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 read as follows: "An Act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese. "Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof: Therefore, "Be it
enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this act, and until the expiration of ten years next after the passage of this act, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States be, and the same is hereby, suspended; and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborer to come, or, having so come after the expiration of said ninety
days, to remain within the United States." (From the appendix, Gyory, 1998) The Chinese Exclusion Act was renewed each decade without lapse until December 13, 1943 when it was finally repealed. It would be naďve to believe this act ceased all Chinese immigration or calmed the violence and racism in the west. On February 7, 1886, one of the most violent acts against the Chinese began in
Seattle. Chinatown was burned to the ground, Chinese were rounded up at gunpoint, loaded on ships, and sent out to sea. President Cleveland declared a state of emergency on February 9, 1886 and ordered Federal troops to quell the episode (Seattle/King Co. HistoryLink.org). In Nevada, both political parties continued to include anti-Chinese planks in their platforms, and the agitation continued in riots and boycotts. Boycotts against the Chinese increased after 1885, illustrating the change
in the attack against the Chinese from political to economic. Mining continued to decline in Nevada as did railroad construction. Without work, the Chinese left Nevada returning to California or Washington to join their brethren in the Chinatowns of the larger urban areas. The threat to Nevada white labor was lessened and the issue quieted down until another gold rush hit Nevada in 1900. Gold was discovered in central Nevada at Tonopah in 1900. History repeated itself, and almost overnight,
Tonopah was a booming city. The Chinese were among the thousands that flocked to Tonopah. This gold strike was short lived, and as jobs and opportunity dwindled, the labor unions were quick to respond. The story is best quoted from Sue Fawn Chung's article, "The anti-Chinese riot in Tonopah, Nevada, 1903. "On the night of September 15, 1903, several members of the Labor Union marched into Tonopah's Chinatown and ordered the Chinese residents to leave. Sixty-six-year-old Zhang Bingliang, a
laundry owner, who had lived in the United States for more that thirty years, was too old to move quickly from his wash house- residence, so the mob, led by E. M. "Al" Arandall, a rival laundryman and president of the Tonopah Labor Union N. 224, robbed him, severely beat him with two pistols and a hatchet, drove him out of town, beat him further, and left him in the desert. Two days later, the deputy constable found his badly bruised body. His skull had been smashed and an artery severed."
The same night, others involved in the mob broke into every Chinese house, ransacked them and demanded the Chinese leave immediately. Many were beaten and terrorized. The citizens of Tonopah reacted differently than the Labor Union had anticipated. The citizens met on September 16, 1903, and a committee was formed to adopt resolutions denouncing the actions of the mob, and demanding justice. In addition, a strong anti union sentiment blossomed in Tonopah and the surrounding area. One
newspaper began calling loudly for the dissolution of the labor union. Seventeen men were arrested for the riot. Hearings began September 26, 1903. Three were charged with murder. The rest were charged with assault and rioting. A trial was held in December in Belmont, the County seat. More than forty witnesses were called, half of them Chinese. Despite the strength of the case, the power of racism at the time won out. The jury declared all of the accused were "Not Guilty." This lead
others to believing they could do the same, including an attack against the Chinese and Japanese in Goldfield on December 18, 1904. That event prevented Asian workers from entering the town. The Panic of 1907 settled the Nevada anti-Chinese question. The mines closed and the Tonopah Labor Union folded. The agitators moved on to other areas. Many of the Chinese remained and were treated fairly. Tonopah still has a stable Chinese population, although it is less than ten percent of the 6,000
people who remain there. The State of Nevada officially recognized the Chinese in 1979 with Nevada Historical Marker 29 in the City of Sparks. "Erected to honor the heroism and hardihood of the thousands of Chinese who played a major role in the history of Nevada." Reference List Chung, S. F., Rusco, E. (2003) The Anti-Chinese Riot in Tonopah, Nevada 1903. Chinese America: History and Perspectives: p. 1-36.
Elliott, R. (1987) History of Nevada. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, NE. Gyory, A. (1998) Closing the Gate: Race, Politics, and the Chinese Exclusion Act. University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill, NC. Hsu, M. (2000) Dreaming of Gold, Dreaming of Home: Migration and Transnationalism Between the United States and South China, 1882-1943. Stanford University Press: CA Steigner, P. (2002) The Wild West. San Diego: Tehabi Books.
U. S. Bureau of the Census. (June 1, 1880) Extended Tables of the Population of the States, Counties and Minor Civil Division. Washington D. C. Nevada State Railroad Museum, Carson City, NV Central Nevada Museum, Tonopah, NV White Pine County Historical Society, Ely, NV http://www.historylink.org/_output.CFM?file_ID=1057. Seattle/King County Anti-Chinese Activism. December 31, 2003. |
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" A land founded on gambling, guns and greed. "