Distinctly Montana Magazine

Heritage DEPARTMENT Hard-packed earth gave way to the archaeologists’ trowels as they exposed the weathered floorboards of a former Chi- nese laundry in Big Timber. Carefully working through the splintered threshold to the sandy soil underneath it, a trowel hit something that was not wood. Brushing dirt from the fragile piec- es, a mysterious find came to light. Beneath the wooden doorway, where it had been intentionally placed long ago, were the delicate remains of a domestic cat’s paw. Tales of Chinese terraces drew archae- ologist Christopher Merritt to a heavily timbered area in Sanders County in 2006. The site was unlike any other in Montana. The rock-lined terraces, moss-covered with age, spanned several hundred feet cut into a steep hillside. Forest Service archaeologists discovered the terraces in 1979, tucked away in an obscure drainage known as Poacher Gulch. Locals believed that Chinese min- ers built them. As the story went, Chinese workers laying tracks of the Northern Pacific Railroad along the Clark Fork River in 1883, underpaid and mistreated, left their jobs to search the hills for gold and silver. It was logical, and these terraces resembled terraces Chinese farmers constructed in Idaho’s Payette National Forest. Between 1979 and 2006, the Chi- nese terrace theory was so convincing that it nearly became fact. Archaeologist Christopher Merritt’s efforts to tell the story of Chinese pioneers have contributed much to a missing chapter of Montana’s history. Animal bones were found beneath an entry’s threshold. Research revealed the delicate bones were from the paw of a domestic cat. DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL Celebrate Chinese New Year with video and more archeaological pix Go to www.distinctlymontana.com/chinese112 Chris was beginning his doctoral work at the University of Montana and search- ing for a dissertation topic. The Chinese, and the lack of infor- mation about them, fascinated him. These important pioneers, almost exclusively male, contributed signifi- cantly to the settling of Montana, yet their story had almost entirely escaped the pages of the state’s written his- tory. By 1870, Chinese comprised ten percent of Montana’s popula- tion, but by the mid- 1950s, few remained. Their homes and busi- nesses fell victim to urban renewal programs. Time erased their remote mining and railroad camps. Traces of their culture disappeared, and their stories became the stuff of myth and legend. Archaeol- ogy could help unravel their mysterious legacy. Partnering with the Forest Service and archaeologist Milo McLeod, Chris and UM professor Dr. Kelly Dixon planned field investigations for summer 2007. They assumed they would discover evidence of 1880s Chinese occupation, when laborers were laying track along the Clark Fork. However, they found no evidence of Chinese. Instead, they found the cultivation of corn on the terraces, thousands of 80 DISTINCTLY MONTANA • SPRING 2011 Uncovering Montana’s Chinese Past BY ELLEN BAUMLER

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