The Rock Springs incident

On the morning of September 2nd, 1885, Mr. Whitehouse and Mr. Jenkins entered mine No. 5 near Rock Springs, Wyoming, and found Chinese miners working their site. Their foreman, Mr. Evans, gave them permission to use the No. 5 or No. 11 mine the day before, and they picked the former. Evans also gave four rooms in this same mine to the Chinese. Whitehouse and Jenkins began working “the first rooms in the entry [of mine No. 5],” as the acting pit boss Dave Brookman ordered, and were unaware that the site was already given to the Chinese. Brookman assumed the Chinese had already started working their sites, and that the white miners would realize which areas were already taken. None of the rooms illustrated signs of work, so the white men started working in one of the Chinese rooms on September 1st. Whitehouse and Jenkins returned the next day; to find two Chinese miners working what they believed was their site. The press account states, “High words followed, then blows. The Chinese from other rooms came rushing in, as did the whites, and a fight ensued with picks, shovels, drills, and needles for weapons.”

Reports indicate the fight ended in favor of the white miners. After this incident, a group of about thirty white men gathered around the railroad tracks in front of the No. 6 mine. The town’s postmaster, O.C. Smith testified that, “About half of them had guns in their hands.” Before noon this group was seen marching through town. Ralph Zwicky, the manager of Rock Springs Store, mentions the Knights of Labor being among the group marching and shouting, “White men fall in.”

Recent labor conflicts at Rock Springs were starting to boil over. The white miners and the Knights of Labor were tired of the Chinese working “their mines,” and refusing to strike for better wages. They decided that the best solution would be to export the competition. By the early afternoon all the stores and saloons agreed to cease the sell of alcohol as tensions, gossip, and the gang grew. At about two o’clock a white mob, ranging from sixty to hundred-fifty, headed towards Chinatown. Some crossed at Bitter Creek, and others used the railroad bridge. Witnesses heard gunfire and later saw the Chinese running for their life. Lor Sun Kit was the first Chinamen shot, receiving a wound on the right side of his back. The Chinese started to desperately flee as Leo Dye Bah, Yip Ah Marn, and others were shot dead. By five o’clock smoke could be seen rising from Chinatown, and a part of the mob turned back towards town targeting a Chinese washhouse. There was a Chinamen with a revolver inside, but he was outnumbered and outgunned. He received a bullet in the back of his head, and the store was set ablaze.

After killing, burning, and looting the mob turned to deporting. The main targets, besides the Chinese themselves, were businessmen involved in hiring and/or working with the hated race. Individuals like W.H. O’Donnell and Mr. Evans, where forced to leave town or suffer the consequences. All cooperated with the mob and left as soon as possible. Once this act was complete the mob dispersed for supper, but it was far from over. The rioters just needed to get their energy back after such a busy morning. By nightfall the mob returned to finish the torching and looting of Chinatown.

While their homes burned, the Chinese fled desperately seeking a safe haven. By September 5th many found it at Evanston. There were twenty-eight Chinese, however, that did not make it, and at least fifteen were wounded. The victims came to Evanston by foot, but several arrived by train. The Union Pacific telegraphed its conductors to pick up any Chinese fleeing Rock Springs and take them to Evanston. Four days later the Chinese were escorted back to Rock Springs with federal troops for protection. The U.S. government arranged this with help from the Union Pacific Railroad Co. The railroad also gave addition aide to help the riot victims get back to work. The Chinese, however, were not anxious to return mining when they arrived back home to see little more than ashes. The Chinese Minister in New York, Huan Sih Chuen, quoted the property losses from the riot at $147,000, or $200 a person. Around seventy-nine homes were destroyed, along with Ah Lee’s laundry house outside of Chinatown. The survivor’s living quarters were set up in boxcars, and the federal troops remained to ensure the peace.

With a return of order to Rock Springs, the Chinese and U.S. governments both set up investigations involving the massacre. The U.S. sent three government directors, E.P. Alexander, M.A. Hanna, and James W. Savage to investigate the grievances of Rock Springs. On September 19th, the gentlemen came up with this conclusion:
We find such a condition of affairs here as in our opinion endangers the property of the road, jeopardizes the interests of the Government, and calls for prompt interference. We therefore deem it important that full authority should be given to the proper offices to afford ample assistance to the managers in their efforts to protect the property of the company and conduct the business of the road.
The main interests of these investigations were the condition of the businesses after the riot. They were more concerned about the Union Pacific Railroad and Beckwith, Quinn & Co., than the losses ensued by Hsu Chenog Hook, Chun Sing Wah, and other Chinese miners. In an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune on September 20th, 1885, the gentlemen gave more details about the punishment of the white rioters. About sixteen were arrested, forty-five were discharged, and none of the participants would be allowed to work for the Union Pacific without proving their innocence. They also stated that none of the rioters were American. They were of English, Welsh, Scotch, Irish, and Scandinavian decent. About a month late, on October 10th, the Alta-California newspaper from San Francisco reported that none of the parties involved with the massacre were convicted. The results of the Sweetwater County grand jury, and the U.S. investigation did not satisfy the Chinese representatives in Washington D.C., New York, and San Francisco.

The Chinese investigators consisted of the San Francisco Minister F.A. Bee, the New York Minister Huang Sih Chuen, and Mr. Tseng Hoy an interpreter. They were escorted by federal troops to Rock Springs, and made a detailed inquiry into the massacre. They collected information about property damage, lives lost, the U.S. investigation, newspaper accounts, and testimony from both Chinese and whites. They submitted a detailed list of each category to their superior in Washington D.C., Minister Cheng Tsao Ju. He than organized the report with other evidence, and presented his case for indemnity for the Chinese victims of the Rock Springs massacre to Secretary of State, T.F. Bayard. In particular, he paraphrases the treaty of 1868, Article VI, and the treaty of 1880, Article II; “Chinese subjects in the United States should be treated as those of the most favored nation.” The ambassador also mentions past incidents of hostility in China, where Americans were compensated for losses derived from violence. He even mentions a situation where the U.S. paid Spanish subjects for losses in a New Orleans riot. In short his argument was the golden rule; do on to others as you want done to you. Unfortunately, like the twenty-eight Chinese workers in Rock Springs, Chen Tsao Ju’s proposal was shot dead.

The U.S. government offered lip service as indemnity for the Rock Springs massacre. Both President Grover Cleveland and Secretary of State T.F. Bayard denied any responsibility on the part of the U.S. government to produce compensation for Chinese victims of the Rock Springs massacre. The President concludes, “[The] United States Government is under no obligation, whether by the express terms of its treaties with China or the principles of international law, to indemnify these Chinese subjects losses…” Mr. Bayard goes further stating that none of the attackers were American citizens, and there were no representatives of the two national governments. “There was, therefore, no official insult or wrong. Whatever occurred was between private individuals wholly devoid of official character… [the] assailants, equally with the assailed were strangers in our land.” The U.S. government is not unsympathetic, however, the President and Secretary of State suggested to Congress donating a generous gift to the affected parties. President Cleveland makes it clear, however, that this “action is in no wise to be held as a precedent, is wholly gratuitous, and is resorted to in a spirit of pure generosity toward those who are otherwise helpless.” Bayard also stresses that the government will increase their effort in the protection of Chinese individuals in U.S. territories. These promises, unfortunately, do nothing for the Chinese of the Rock Springs massacre.

The Rock Springs incident is just one case of many, in which white people attack another ethnicity and get away with it. Despite the best efforts of the Chinese government, the United States left these victims with little protection and no hope of reimbursement. The white rioters, however, can keep their stolen loot and blood stained hands without any form of major punishment. This period of American history is truly best suited for the white race.