Seattle riot of 1886
The dispute arose when a mob affiliated with a local Knights of Labor chapter formed small committees to carry out a forcible expulsion of all Chinese from the city.
The incident resulted in the removal of over 200 Chinese civilians from Seattle and left two militia men and five rioters seriously injured, with one later dying from his injuries.
[2] After the Gold Rush, many Chinese people moved into the northwest territories of Oregon, Washington, and Montana in search of work, especially with the new mining opportunities and railroad expansion.
In the 1870s, the Union Pacific coal mines began firing white strikers and replacing its previously all-white work force with cheaper Chinese laborers.
A mob destroyed and set aflame many Chinese homes, causing an estimated $140,000 of damage, killing 28, injuring 14, and sending the remaining immigrants fleeing into the surrounding area.
Later, Governor Francis Warren telegraphed President Cleveland requesting federal military assistance, due to a report that had surfaced that the Chinese, who had fled the town earlier, had now regrouped in nearby Evanston and had armed themselves.
Officially, troops were deployed to Rock Springs to "prevent any disruption to the United States mail or the routes over which they are received."
Eventually, diplomatic pressure from the Burlingame Treaty prompted President Cleveland to issue a new order to protect Chinese laborers "at points of threatened or actual violence" now that troops had been committed.
This set a precedent for sending federal troops to protect the Chinese immigrants from frequent violence in the area, though the Cleveland administration evaded responsibility for the incident.
[4] Federal forces remained in the area for another 14 years after the massacre, and, for the most part, union influence disappeared in the wake of the riot.
[1] After forming local coordinating committees, Cronin stepped away from his post as Knights leader and left the Chinese expulsion, largely, to other individuals.
The meeting was presided over by Tacoma's mayor, Jacob Weisbach, and the assembled men concluded they must rid the area of "Chinese slave labor".
They intended to speak to employers about their discharge, and thus formed local committees to enforce the expulsion if all Chinese were not removed from the town by November 1.
This prompted territorial Governor Watson Squire to telegraph President Cleveland for troops, and he received soldiers under the command of Brig.
On February 6, 1886, the Knights again met and charged a six-man committee with delivering an ultimatum to the Chinese that they must leave Seattle or be forcibly removed.
Thus, Squire called for the local "Seattle Rifles" militia and requested the aid of federal troops to assist McGraw.
At midnight, McGraw along with local militia blocked two attempts by the mob to lead the remaining 253 Chinese to a train to Tacoma.
As McGraw, his deputies, and the militiamen tried to lead the Chinese back to their homes, a new mob formed, incensed at the arrest of their leaders.
[7] Neither Greene nor Squire believed that McGraw and his combined militia force would be able to enforce martial law in the territory, and federal troops arrived in Seattle on February 10 and found it "devoid of traces...of the rioting".
[5] There was considerable property loss because of their forced and hasty expulsion[3] The Qing government could only seek to secure indemnities for the Seattle riot, knowing that the guilty parties would likely never be brought to answer for their crimes.
This was because federal and territorial authorities had been largely unwilling to assist in declaring martial law and arresting the criminals.
This prompted Seattle Mayor William Devin to promote a new name for the neighborhood, the "International District," in 1951, though this still rankles some in the Chinese community.
