(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Montana author, historian chronicles the experiences, contributions of Chinese immigrants on state – Daily Montanan [1] ['Darrell Ehrlick', 'More From Author', '- July'] Date: 2022-07-12 Mark Johnson, a professor, researcher, historian and teacher in Helena, found what every historian dreams of, previously discounted documents that held secrets to what life was like for Chinese immigrants who toiled in Montana. Letters, stored at the Montana Historical Society archives, had been donated decades ago. At some point, the letters were evaluated by a Chinese translator but discounted because they were just “letters about home and family.” While not inaccurate, those letters about life, family and hardships gave key details to what the experiences of many Chinese immigrants experienced in Butte and other Montana mining communities like Virginia City. And they helped form the basis of Johnson’s new book, “The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana.” Montana’s experience with Chinese immigrants, communities and laborers is rich, but somewhat forgotten because of the economic and cultural forces, including attempts by local communities to ban or exclude Chinese as immigrants not even worthy of citizenship in America. However, mining, forestry, railroads and even food in Montana wouldn’t look the same without the contributions of the Chinese. The Western Experience The history of the opening of the West to European settlers cannot be told without simultaneously telling about the experiences of Chinese immigrants, who often migrated from impoverished areas of China, torn apart by trading inequities from Great Britain and factions of warlords. In search of making money to support families, men were largely sent to America to work in mines, on railroads and in laundries and restaurants. States in West, including California, Colorado and Wyoming had uprisings that killed Chinese immigrants, and Congress passed a series of “exclusion” acts that barred immigration and other legal protections. “While the Chinese were often characterized as unwilling to assimilate,” Johnson said, “the United States government didn’t give them a path to assimilation.” Many Chinese immigrants didn’t come to America with the intent of staying forever, their impermanence becoming part of the story of why their contributions remain somewhat forgotten. For example, most of their remains were sent back home for veneration, meaning even if they died in America, there is little record of their life and activities here. The Chinese experience in America and Montana was also largely a male dominated narrative until after the fall of the Empress Dowager Cixi in 1908. Some studies peg the ratios of Chinese males to female at 40-to-1, meaning that many of the immigrants who came did not have or start families here. Johnson and his wife both taught in China. They knew what it felt like to be from Montana and living in China. But Johnson’s new book focuses on the opposite. The two collections of letters that helped form Johnson’s book were from the late 1880s to 1920, and then letters from 1930s to the 1950s between two brothers in war-torn China. Because they primarily dealt with family affairs, a historical assessment done decades ago didn’t place much value on them. The Chinese experience The letters of De Quan outline the experiences of his family back in Guangdong Province in southern China, racked by a horrible earthquake, floods and civil instability. The letters speak of poor living conditions, of needing to send more money to China or missing family members and the importance of coming back to China to get married. The later group of letters, after China became a Republic, tell about life in America – working in mines, going to enjoy Montana’s outdoors, even buying a car. The letters of De Quan talk of going into debt just to send nearly every cent back home to China, even though his family there believed that he was a great businessman with “hands covered in gold and silver.” His brother, De Xiu, provides an interesting contrasting example of life in America and China. Xiu also came to America, but he didn’t send money home and came back to China, nearly penniless. What happens to Quan is unknown. He disappears from the record around 1923. Another part of Johnson’s book chronicles the struggles of Wing Hong Hom to get his brother, Wing Goon Hom, out of communist China in the early 1950s, even using the leverage of Mike Mansfield to help, albeit unsuccessfully. Like many Chinese living in America, after a revolution turned China into a short-lived Republic, the United States became an adopted homeland and Wing Hong Hom’s emphasis turned to getting other family members out of China. But like many similarly situated immigrants, Wing Hon would submit paperwork only to have rules and laws change and begin the process again. The two brothers, it appear, were never reunited. The Montana experience “You see that the Chinese tried to make a home here and wanted to do the same thing as all those who were allowed to come here and settle,” Johnson said. The Exclusionary Acts passed in Congress set a series of laws in motion that only allowed certain immigrants, usually those with financial means or education, to stay. It also curtailed the rights of immigrants to the justice system, leaving them second-class people – not even citizens – for decades. Wing Hon would eventually move to Seattle, and it appears the family all but gave up on the idea of bringing family from China. Even during his time in Montana, Wing Hon would be enjoying an American life that doesn’t look so different from that of today, including hunting white-tail deer and driving a new car. As more of the families that had once made Montana home moved to other places, especially after the Communists took over China, there became less interaction with Chinese immigrants, Johnson said, and more mythology built around their experiences in the Treasure State. “There was this exoticization of the culture from opium to the tongs to the secret societies and prostitution. There is a romanticization of what they went through,” Johnson said. Although there was violence in places like Rock Springs, Wyoming or Tacoma, Washington, movements to exclude or ban Chinese in Montana largely fizzled, including a failed city ordinance in Deer Lodge to ban Chinese merchants. “The fewer Chinese there were, the more we become sentimental and nostalgic for it,” Johnson said. For example, Choteau threw a going-away party for the last Chinese family who left in 1933. “At one point in time, Montana was wonderfully diverse,” Johnson said. “This book allows them to tell in their own words and own perspectives their experiences in the state.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2022/07/12/montana-author-historian-chronicles-the-experiences-contributions-of-chinese-immigrants-on-state/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/