The Emancipation Proclamation as Celebrated in the 1870 Ukiah Newspaper

Excerpt from the Mendocino Herald, January 14th, 1870:

Celebration.-The sixth anniversary of

the Emancipation Proclamation was duly

celebrated by the colored people of California.

As we have no contrabands in this

valley to darken this democratic atmosphere,

of course we had no celebration. – A

few Diggers, who are fast dying’ off, and

three or four Chinamen, who have recently

set up a wash house, are all we have of the

inferior races; but as these latter are but

poorly patronized by our citizens, they will

soon shake the Ukiah dust from their wooden

shoes, wrap their tails around them, and

leave us unmolested in our superiority.

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Ernie's Place
Guest
13 years ago

From Wikipedia: “Chinese immigration to the U.S. consisted of three major waves, with the first beginning in the 19th century. Chinese immigrants in the 19th century worked as laborers, particularly on the transcontinental railroad, such as the Central Pacific Railroad. They also worked as laborers in the mining industry, and suffered racial discrimination. While industrial employers were eager to get this new and cheap labor, the ordinary white public was stirred to anger by the presence of this “yellow peril.” Despite the provisions for equal treatment of Chinese immigrants in the 1868 Burlingame Treaty, political and labor organizations rallied against the immigration of what they regarded as a degraded race and “cheap Chinese labor.” Newspapers condemned the policies of employers, and even church leaders denounced the entrance of these aliens into what was regarded as a land for whites only. So hostile was the opposition that in 1882 the United States Congress eventually passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited immigration from China for the next ten years. This law was then extended by the Geary Act in 1892. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the only U.S. law ever to prevent immigration and naturalization on the basis of race. These laws not only prevented new immigration but also brought additional suffering as they prevented the reunion of the families of thousands of Chinese men already living in the U.S. that had left China without their wives and children; anti-miscegenation laws in many states prohibited Chinese men from marrying white women.”

Then, there was the Redheaded Irish……

Ben Schill
Guest
Ben Schill
13 years ago

The billiant linguist, Li Fang Kue, came to Humboldt County to record the Hupa and Mattole languages in the late 1930s. He then went to Round Valley to record Wailaki. As he traveled, he was hidden in the back seat of the car so that locals would not see him. Hatred toward the Chinese was still a problem back then.
Ernie, I sure appreciate your post, you also Kym. This is a big story in Northern California history.

Ben Schill
Guest
Ben Schill
13 years ago

The billiant linguist, Li Fang Kue, came to Humboldt County to record the Hupa and Mattole languages in the late 1930s. He then went to Round Valley to record Wailaki. As he traveled, he was hidden in the back seat of the car so that locals would not see him. Hatred toward the Chinese was still a problem back then.
Ernie, I sure appreciate your post, you also Kym. This is a big story in Northern California history.

Matthew Meyer
Guest
Matthew Meyer
13 years ago

Ben, thanks for mentioning Li Fang-Kuei. As an anthropologist, I’m intrigued about this Boasian who did fieldwork in my own neck of the woods (broadly speaking; I was born in Willits), but whom I’ve never heard of.

olmanriver
Guest
olmanriver
13 years ago
Reply to  Matthew Meyer

The story of his work in Northern California is found here, starting at page 13.
While we are certainly indebted to Fang-Kuie Li for his work at such a young age, I wish he had taken the time to interview Joe Duncan who was too old to ride each day to see Li where he was staying. He would have gotten the myths. Linguists!

olmanriver
Guest
olmanriver
13 years ago
Reply to  olmanriver

sorry, the link.

Ben Schill
Guest
Ben Schill
13 years ago
Reply to  Matthew Meyer

Mqtthew.. The Mattole work was published by Cal. You can find it at anthrohub.com. The Wailaki exists only as untranscribed notes and is texts. Li’s student William Seaburg, now at Washington University, has the notes and has published two short stories with extensive linguistic references. We hope to transcribe the texts soon. We are working on Wailaki language restoration and have several Goddard texts transcribed. If you are interested, contact me at [email protected].

Matthew Meyer
Guest
Matthew Meyer
13 years ago

Ben, thanks for mentioning Li Fang-Kuei. As an anthropologist, I’m intrigued about this Boasian who did fieldwork in my own neck of the woods (broadly speaking; I was born in Willits), but whom I’ve never heard of.

olmanriver
Guest
olmanriver
13 years ago
Reply to  Matthew Meyer

The story of his work in Northern California is found here, starting at page 13.
While we are certainly indebted to Fang-Kuie Li for his work at such a young age, I wish he had taken the time to interview Joe Duncan who was too old to ride each day to see Li where he was staying. He would have gotten the myths. Linguists!

olmanriver
Guest
olmanriver
13 years ago
Reply to  olmanriver

sorry, the link.

Ben Schill
Guest
Ben Schill
13 years ago
Reply to  Matthew Meyer

Mqtthew.. The Mattole work was published by Cal. You can find it at anthrohub.com. The Wailaki exists only as untranscribed notes and is texts. Li’s student William Seaburg, now at Washington University, has the notes and has published two short stories with extensive linguistic references. We hope to transcribe the texts soon. We are working on Wailaki language restoration and have several Goddard texts transcribed. If you are interested, contact me at [email protected].

Staff
Member
13 years ago

I’d never heard of Li Fang Kue, either! What a wonderful albeit horrible story! I often think of Western scholars in the past seeking to learn about other cultures but, of course, it must have been a two way street!

Staff
Member
13 years ago

I’d never heard of Li Fang Kue, either! What a wonderful albeit horrible story! I often think of Western scholars in the past seeking to learn about other cultures but, of course, it must have been a two way street!

Random Guy
Guest
Random Guy
13 years ago

What’s this new race I keep hearing about around here, supposedly all over california…the “cartels”…I hear they work along side yet another race that might be from another planet because everybody calls them Aliens. I’d hate to be in their shoes, the media really sticks it to em, even worse than the…”Diggers”?

I’m curious how this area responded to the draft of 1860-ish? Scholastic history paints nothing short of a monumentally favorable portrait of Abraham Lincoln, but to this day they don’t even teach kids that he was a real sunnuvabich who started the draft. In fact, you have to persue that knowledge on your own even after K-12. Pretend you’re a highschool student doing a report on the draft…pick any search engine and see how long it takes for Abraham Lincoln’s name to come up related to the draft….let alone the fact that he ordered the military to mow down anybody who resisted. He sends the army door to door dragging out anybody who’s of age by force, yet even history books say the draft riots started before his army started kicking down doors. Simply typing things like “when was the first draft in the united states?” won’t do it at all…it’s like you already have to know he was a shady mofo to learn more about it.

What a disgusting history the government of the good ol’ USA has…and is continuing to make for itself. Good read!

Random Guy
Guest
Random Guy
13 years ago

What’s this new race I keep hearing about around here, supposedly all over california…the “cartels”…I hear they work along side yet another race that might be from another planet because everybody calls them Aliens. I’d hate to be in their shoes, the media really sticks it to em, even worse than the…”Diggers”?

I’m curious how this area responded to the draft of 1860-ish? Scholastic history paints nothing short of a monumentally favorable portrait of Abraham Lincoln, but to this day they don’t even teach kids that he was a real sunnuvabich who started the draft. In fact, you have to persue that knowledge on your own even after K-12. Pretend you’re a highschool student doing a report on the draft…pick any search engine and see how long it takes for Abraham Lincoln’s name to come up related to the draft….let alone the fact that he ordered the military to mow down anybody who resisted. He sends the army door to door dragging out anybody who’s of age by force, yet even history books say the draft riots started before his army started kicking down doors. Simply typing things like “when was the first draft in the united states?” won’t do it at all…it’s like you already have to know he was a shady mofo to learn more about it.

What a disgusting history the government of the good ol’ USA has…and is continuing to make for itself. Good read!