Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 39 BEGINNING IN THE 1850S, many enterpris- ing Chinese workers emigrated from China to the United States. Spurred on by a recent dramatic increase in the Chinese popula- tion, and destabilized by the collapse of the Qing dynasty, thousands sought better opportunities in a younger land, one so seemingly overrun with resourc- es that they didn't have enough labor to get them out of the ground. So they headed east, to the American West, which they called "Gold Mountain." Like the rest of the world, the Chinese felt the lure of the possibility of an easy fortune at the striking of the Califor- nia gold rush. Soon, however, that gold rush had dried up, and the Chinese who had settled in California moved into other careers or other sections of the West. And when Montana experienced its own gold rush, many Chinese came to Bannack and Virginia City to seek their fortunes; the first mention of Chinese arriving in the area was in an 1865 issue of the Virginia City newspaper The Montana Post, which groused at the arrival of a small group of gold-seeking Chinese workers. In 1870 they were numerous enough to prompt a study performed by the federal government, which reported that: "The Chinese work their own plac- er claims, either tak- ing up abandoned ground or purchas- ing claims too low in yield to be worked profitably by white labor. The ground thus obtained some- times turns out to be very valuable, but usually they work or rework only what would otherwise remain untouched... They are frugal, skillful, and ex- tremely industrious. Frequently maltreat- ed by evil-disposed whites, they rarely, if ever retaliate." The Works Progress Administration authors of Copper Camp: The Lusty Story of Butte, Montana, the Richest Hill on Earth again reinforce their hard work and determina- tion as miners, saying that "there was a deep-born spirit of adventure in the early Chinese, who had, seemingly, an inherent urge to find out what was on the other side of the mountain... Here, as elsewhere, they were content with the leavings of the white miners. They panned the overlooked sandbars, dumps and other neglected places, and as was usually the case, in the end made more of a success out of their gleanings than did the original locators." But some workers adopted a xenophobic view, saying that the Chinese were taking jobs and claims from Amer- ican workers, and in 1872 the territory passed the brief- words and photos by SHERMAN CAHILL SILVER BOW ARCHIVES

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