Tacoma riot of 1885
On November 3, 1885, a mob that consisted of prominent businessmen, police, and political leaders descended on the Chinese community.
This organized action became known as the "Tacoma method", and despite national and international outcry, it was used as an example of how to forcibly remove Chinese residents from cities and towns throughout the American West.
[13] This gave them a connection to their homeland but it also provided them job opportunities, education, recreation, medical help, and assistance in settling disputes.
Denis Kearney, an Irish immigrant and one of California's most public anti-Chinese labor leaders, popularized the call of "The Chinese Must Go!"
[17] Racial animus and new economic opportunities led Chinese immigrants to other territories, moving to other parts of the American West and Pacific Northwest.
Local sentiment among anti-Chinese activists in the Washington Territory was that this legislation was not being enforced, and that Chinese migrants were entering primarily from British Columbia.
News of this event spread nationally and internationally and led to increased friction between the Chinese consulate and the United States government.
On September 7, 1885, in Squak Valley (present-day Issaquah, Washington), a group of white and Native American laborers fired into the tents of Chinese hop pickers and killed three of them.
[22][21] On September 19, 1885, in the coal mining community of Black Diamond, Washington Territory, white miners drove the Chinese out and injured nine of them.
In February 1885, Tacoma Mayor Jacob Weisbach (a German immigrant) met with a small group of men to discuss the Chinese question.
This was one of the earliest recorded instances of Tacoma citizens meeting to discuss taking direct action to expel Chinese residents.
[25][26] On February 21, 1885, Mayor Weisbach called a mass meeting at the Alpha Opera House to discuss methods of expelling the Chinese population of Tacoma.
[27] Weisbach roused the crowd with a closing speech, stating: "If the people are in earnest, if they are Free Americans in fact they will not yield up their homes and business to the filthy horde.
[32] The council passed an ordinance at the recommendation of Mayor Weisbach stating that all sleeping rooms needed to have 500 cubic feet of air per individual.
Tacoma's Mayor Weisbach presided over the congress, which proclaimed that all Chinese people must leave Western Washington by November 1 of that year.
The following day, November 2, those accused in the Squak Valley massacre were acquitted, leading to a feeling that those involved in anti-Chinese actions could act with relative impunity.
[41] The mob marched from Seventeenth Street to Old Tacoma, stopping at each Chinese residence and business to tell the people within to pack and be ready for a wagon to come at 1:30 PM that day to take them away.
[43] The mob acted methodically and militaristically in their action to expel the Chinese population of Tacoma, and many of the men were armed with either guns or clubs.
Lum May, a prominent merchant who had been in Tacoma since 1875, reported in a later deposition that the mob "broke forcibly into the houses, smashing in doors and breaking in windows.
"[49][50] At 1:30 pm, 150 to 200 members of the Chinese community were rounded up and forced to march 8 miles to the Lake View train station in a torrential downpour.
[53] Upon arriving at Lake View, the expelled Chinese people were forced to buy their own train tickets to Portland.
On November 4, three members of the Committee of Fifteen went to inspect Chinese property along the waterfront, and shortly after their departure the buildings were engulfed in flames.
"[59] On November 7, a ball was held by Tacoma Turnverein, the city's German society, to celebrate the actions of Mayor Weisbach and the Committee of Fifteen.
Immediately following the expulsion, Chinese consulates in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco pursued legal avenues to ensuring a just resolution.
On Yang Ming, the consul general in San Francisco, messaged Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard and noted that "Several hundred Chinese driven from Tacoma...No effort made by the governor or authorities to protect them.
"[57] The Chinese consulate continued to make the argument that the expulsion and related acts of anti-Chinese violence were a direct violation of the Burlingame Treaty.
[67] On October 1, 1888, Congress passed the Scott Act which permanently banned the immigration or return of Chinese laborers to the United States.
"[7] On November 30, 1993, the Tacoma City Council approved resolution number 32415 in order to formally apologize for the Chinese expulsion of 1885.
In doing so, the council recognized efforts of local citizens in promoting reconciliation and endorsed the construction of a Chinese commemorative park which would be located at the former national guard site on Commencement Bay.
The park consists of a waterfront trail, the String of Pearls Bridge, and a custom pavilion that was originally constructed in China.
