Odd Old News: The 1906 Chinese Expulsion

Cannery at Port Kenyon [Crop of an image from the Palmquist Collection in the Humboldt Room of HSU]

The 1885 and 1906 expulsions of Chinese people from Humboldt County have been the subject of many published articles, with far more written about the 1885 event. Odd Old News previously covered some of the issues that preceded the 1885 expulsion sparked by the inadvertent shooting death of Eureka councilman David C. Kendall. The 1885 incident is described in greater depth here and more context is shared in an AVA article Island of Strangers. Thanks to a featured display at the Clarke Museum in February, 2020, additional attention has been drawn to Humboldt County’s history of racial prejudice against the Chinese.

This week Odd Old News will view the lesser known 1906 expulsion of the Chinese through the lens of local and distant newspaper accounts.

On September 29, 1906, sixteen years after the 1890 Humboldt County Business Directory boasted of being “The only county in the state containing no Chinamen”, twenty-seven Chinese working men were secretly snuck back into the county to work at the Starbuck-Tallant cannery at Port Kenyon at the mouth of the Eel River. “Coolie labor” was back. Protest was instant with labor organizations leading the way.

CHINESE AGAIN IN HUMBOLDT Twenty-Seven Celestials Brought to Eureka on Roanoke For Cannery at Port Kenyon.

After being free from the foot of a celestial for twenty odd years, and for so long a time being known far and wide as a place absolutely free from coolie labor, Humboldt county saw the return of Chinese within her borders yesterday noon with the arrival of the steamer Roanoke, when the Starbuck-Tallant Company, of Port Kenyon, imported twenty-seven Chinese to work in its cannery on Eel River. The Chinese were kept aboard the steamer until shortly before 4 o’clock when a Santa Fe engine backed a box car on the sidetrack alongside the warehouse and the pigtails, bag and baggage, were dumped in, the door shut, and the engine returned with the forbidden fruit, to the train, hooked onto the passenger coaches and pulled out for the valley.

WHY THEY CAME It will be remembered that several months ago the management of the cannery applied to the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce for permission to bring the Chinese to Port Kenyon to work during the fishing season, and to be exported at the close of the same. The Chamber of Commerce made the concession. When it was learned what action members of the Ferndale organization had taken, the Humboldt chamber took the matter under consideration and condemned the bringing of Chinese labor into the county under any conditions whatsoever.

Practically all labor organizations passed forceful resolutions, objecting to the importation of Chinese, declaring that the first batch would be but a wedge for more… It is said that even in China Humboldt county is a place looked upon with horror and as a place to give wide berth. Even mothers tell children of the stories of what they do to Chinamen in Humboldt and instill fear in their youthfull breasts by saying unless they are good they will be shipped to Humboldt (Humboldt Times, 9/30).

An explosion of organized labor, Chamber of Commerce, and Board of Supervisor meetings promptly ensued, committees were formed, and resolutions passed as public outrage grew:

’THE CHINESE MUST GO!’ SUCH WAS THE UNANIMOUS SENTIMENT AT MASS MEETING LAST NIGHT Citizens Indignant that Unwritten Law of Humboldt Should Be Violated by Ferndale Business Men and Port Kenyon Cannery

Mr. Ricks was of the opinion that when the management of the enterprise is made to realize that the strongest law in Humboldt is that unwritten law for the past twenty-one years held sacred by every loyal Humboldter and recently ignored and trampled under foot by a fishing industry from Astoria and a few members sufficient to form a quorum of the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce, a change of sentiment on the part of the management of the cannery would take place. Mr. Ricks was of the opinion that the gentlemen operating the cannery little realize the feeling aroused and the indignation kindled in the breasts of the men, women and children of Humboldt county(HT, 10/2/1906).

The threat of another forceful expulsion as had happened in 1885 loomed in the background as 1000 woodsmen and citizens were prepared to take matters into their hands.

THE STORM CLOUD IS FAST GATHERING
WOODSMEN OF COUNTY WAITING FOR SIGNAL TO TAKE HAND / COMMITTEES FROM ALL OVER COUNTY TO MEET TODAY AT FORTUNA SUGGESTED THAT SUPERVISORS PASS ORDINANCE TO STOP FISHING

A thousand or more woodsmen are ready to flock to Fortuna from every nook and corner of the county, and hundreds of citizens in various walks of life, at the call of the committee of the Fortuna citizenry, to eject the Chinese at Port Kenyon, from Humboldt county, and give the Starbuck-Tallant Canning Company to understand that it or any one else cannot import Mongolians into this county(HT,10/3/1906).

The decision to expel the Chinese was made, forced by the implied threat of mob action was made at the large citizen’s meeting in Fortuna.

EUREKA, Oct. 3.—The Starbuck-Tallent Fishery company agreed today to immediately deport twenty-five Chinese from Humboldt county and not again attempt to bring Chinese labor into the county. Five hundred woodsmen convened at Fortuna this morning and demanded a guarantee be given that by 5 o’clock the Chinese would be deported(Sacramento Union, 10/4/1906).

Over the protests of local company stockholders, it was decided to remove the Chinese to Gunther Island until they could be shipped out of the area. The restraint of the woodsmen was noted:

Although a large crowd of determined men was at Fortuna, there was no boisterousness or demonstrations of rowdyism”(HT, 10/4/1906).

Fortuna bars had been closed as a preventative measure. A vigilant watch was to be maintained over potential future Asian arrivals:

The citizens of Fortuna and woodsmen of the county are quite orderly. All the saloons in Fortuna have been closed. The committee of Eureka citizens has appointed a vigilance committee to turn in a general fire alarm when a vessel enters Humboldt bay with Chinese passengers for this port. This action is to prevent any more attempts to bring Chinese or Japanese here”(Sacramento Union, 10/4/1906).

Officials appealed for good behavior during the process of expulsion:

It is the duty of every citizen to see that the Chinese are in no way molested. The Chinese themselves are not to blame for their being shipped to the forbidden land, and as chairman of the Anti-Chinese Committee I request that every citizen see that the Chinese suffer no molestation whatsoever while they are in the hands of the public” (Blue Lake Advocate, 10/6/1906).

Credit for the peaceful proceeding was given to the County Sheriff and District attorney:

CHINAMEN ARE COMING TO EUREKA TODAY
Will Be Housed and Fed on Gunther’s Island Until Sunday When They Will Be Shipped to Astoria–Great Credit Due District Attorney Gregor and Sheriff Lindsay for Settlement of the Difficulty.
On this afternoon’s train twenty-three Chinamen, the entire number of Mongolians taken to Port Kenyon by the Starbuck-Tallant-Canning Company, will be brought to Eureka by Sheriff George Lindsay, and taken to Gunther’s Island, where they will be housed and cared for properly until the sailing of the steamer Roanoke on Sunday for Astoria, where they will be shipped, bag and baggage. In that all has now been settled relative to the deportation of the Chinese, the gentlemen who have been Instrumental in ejecting them, who by the way, number some 800 or 700, feel that all is well. A gentleman was heard to remark last evening that the task had been accomplished in a most creditable manner; in a manner that reflects credit to the country at large; in a manner that all the Pacific slope realizes that Chinese will not be permitted in Humboldt county, and in a way that the people of the states of California, Oregon and Washington realize that the stand taken by the county some twenty-one years ago still holds good here. The fact that the Chinese are to go peaceably, of their own accord, and with the consent of the people who brought them here, is a far better circumstance than should they be escorted to the county seat and shipped, as in 1885. Nevertheless, had not the men who undertook the ejectment of the Chinese, been conservative, calm and considerate, the past event would doubtless have been repeated. There is much credit due District Attorney Otto C. Gregor and Sheriff X. G. Lindsay. These gentlemen were placed in a peculiar position. Neither of them wished the Chinese here any more than any man in the county. In fact, Mr. Lindsay escorted the 1885 Chinese to San Francisco on the steamer City of Chester, and Mr. Gregor can remember the day they were ejected. However, as officials, it was their duty to keep the peace, and see that the law was not violated. As officials, such was their duty, and as citizens, they knew only too well that the public, of which they are servants, demanded the removal of the Chinese. The gentlemen did their duty as officers, and also as citizens. Had it not been for Mr. Gregor and Mr. Lindsay, it is quite probable that it would have been necessary to repeat the event of 1885. The District Attorney and the Sheriff merely laid bare the facts to both the Chinese boss and to the directors of the cannery. The facts were that if the Mongolians were not removed by the management peaceably, they would have been removed by the people, and no one, two, or a dozen officials, not even a company of soldiers, could have stopped them, although everything would have been done to uphold the law, even if in vain”(HT, 10/4/1906).

When the Chinese were sent back to Eureka from Port Kenyon, a large number of people gathered in Eureka to see the curious sight of “the almond-eyed Celestials with swinging pigtails”. Tensions grew.

“In witnessing their arrival, between 500 and 1000 people being assembled around the depot. Many of these crowded down the tracks, and to avoid accident the trainmen slackened the speed and came into the station at a snail’s pace. The crowd was greatly excited and cries of “Kill them!” “Throw them overboard!” were frequent. With the crowd in this state of mind it was determined unsafe to bring the Chinese through the streets of the city, and had the sheriff done so. In all probability a riot would have ensued. Afterwards arrangements were entered into whereby the Chinese were conveyed by means of a gasoline launch to Gunther Island…”(San Diego Union, 10/5/1906).

Chinese leaving Eureka-Group of People on Barge- Yacht club in background [Image from the Palmquist Collection in the Humboldt Room of HSU]

“The Chinese are quite comfortably housed on Gunther’s Island, eating, smoking, jabbering and taking life easy. Although banished to Gunther Island for a short time, the banishment is not wearing upon their nerves in the least. H. L. Ricks has put in a stove for them, and they are living higher now than perhaps they will again for many a day. Today and tonight will be the end of the Oriental’s sojourn In Humboldt, the land which Chinese have not seen for many years, and which they will probably never see again. On Sunday’s steamer Roanoke they will shake Humboldt dust from their sandals, satisfied that the county is a fine place, but no place for Chinamen, and such is the report they will carry to their friends. No one is allowed on the Island while the ‘Chinks’ remain there, so there is no danger of their being molested”(HT, 10/6/1906).

Excitement of Chinese Expulsion [Image from the Palmquist Collection in the Humboldt Room of HSU]

“…. Yesterday afternoon about 2 o’clock the Mongolians were brought on a scow from Gunther Island, with their baggage, and landed at Railroad wharf. They remained on the wharf one hour, until their luggage could be taken aboard, and then they fled into their quarters. Quite a number of people gathered to see the almond-eyed Celestials with swinging pigtails, and they seemed to enjoy the curiosity they excited. NOT MUCH FOR BOSS. Lee Eeso, the boss Chinaman, said before going on board the steamer, that the trip to Humboldt Eureka muchee good for Chinamen, but not muchee good for boss Chinaman. Tallant pay one-halp; agree for 12,000 cases at 45 cent—pay 6,000 cases, good for Chinamen—money, no work —bad for boss Chinaman.” Lee Eeso admitted that he enjoyed the trip down the coast, and that he enjoyed the distinction of seeing Humboldt—a land barred to Chinese —and that after all, he was very well satisfied”(HT, 10/9/1906).

On October 8th, eighteen of the Chinese workers left to return to Astoria on the steamer Roanoke that had brought them 10 days before there, five stayed another day to take a boat to San Francisco, their preferred destination.
Though it was widely thought that it was impossible to compete financially with other canneries on Pacific coast that employed the Chinese, local canneries were amenable to employing a white labor force:

“The financial loss to the gentlemen who own the cannery is estimated to be about 15,000. Herein lies the opportunity for these gentlemen. Let them put up the salmon from Eel river under a special brand, ‘Put up by white labor… and then advertise the fact largely and charge more for the product'(HT, 10/10/1906).

With the departure of the last five Chinese workers on October 10th, the Humboldt Times gloated about the return of “the happy condition” of once again being free from “Celestials”:

“THE USE 0F THE CHINESE
Now that the Chinese are gone, the citizens having in charge their ejection feel decidedly easier. On yesterday’s departing Corona the remaining live who wished to go to San Francisco, took their departure, and Humboldt County, which for twenty one years was free from Celestials, is again free from them, and the happy condition was brought about in a creditable manner and in a way that no lawsuit is hanging over the county”(HT, 10/10/1906).

Less than a week later, a suit against Humboldt County was being considered by the Chinese consul the return of the Chinese to Astoria where once again they were met with racial hatred.

“PORTLAND, Oct. 15.—The Chinese Consul at this port is making preparations to begin suit against the County of Humboldt, In California, for damages for the deportation of the Chinese from Ferndale and Eureka by citizens of the county. The deported Chinese, who had gone from Astoria to work in a cannery there, were driven out by the whites of the county, arrived back at Astoria some days ago, and were met there by the Consul, who escorted them to their homes there from the steamer Roanoke. The return of the Chinese to Astoria was greeted with jeers and howls of derision from the crowds assembled at the Roanoke’s wharf”(HT, 10/16/1906).

Less than two decades later, Chinese cannery workers in Shelter Cove and construction workers at the Hartsook Inn in Piercy were also forcibly removed by labor interests.

(No explanation was found for the discrepancy in the number of Chinese brought to, and banished from Humboldt County as recorded in different news accounts).

Earlier Odd and Old News:

There are many, but here are the most recent:

• The Bug Catcher Lady
• Holy Rollers Take Garberville
• Odd Old News: The 1890’s Opiate Epidemic in Humboldt County
• The Herstory of Two Women Sheep Ranchers in Mendocino County
• Odd Old News: Afloat and Afoot, Travels Through Mendocino County Into Humboldt, Pt. 1
• Odd Old News: Afloat and Afoot, Travels Through Mendocino County Into Humboldt, Pt. 2
• Odd Old News: Afloat and Afoot, Travels Through Mendocino County Into Humboldt, Pt. 3
• Odd Old News: Afloat and Afoot, Travels Through Mendocino County Into Humboldt, Pt. 4
• Odd Old News: Afloat and Afoot, Travels Through Mendocino County Into Humboldt, Pt.5
• Odd Old News: Afloat and Afoot, Travels Through Mendocino County Into Humboldt, Pt. 6—The Conclusion
• Odd Old News: The Advent of ‘Gasoline Boats’ for Fishing and a Stream Report From 1907