56 A HISTORY OF THE CHINESE IN

I Report of tbe Joim Speci'11 COl1nnittee to Investigate the levees. An engineer having planned the work, Cbinese hmnigmtion (44th Cong., lOd Session, 1876-77, estimates a~e made, and thereupon Chinese fore• Senate Report 689), p. 535. men take contracts for pieces at stipulated rates, 2 Ibid., pp. 534, 539. 3 John S. Hittell, Tbe C01mnerce and Industries of tbe and themselves hired their countrymen for the Pacific Coast (, 1882), p. 480. actual labor. This subdivision to which the perfect 4 Ibid., pp. 728-729. organization of Chinese labor readily lel~dsitself, is 5 San Francisco Municipal Report (1897-1898), p. 85. 6 San Francisco Municipal Report (1900-1901), p. 37 very convenient. The engineer or master in charge 7 San Francisco Municipal Report (1904-1905), p. 122. of the work deals only with the Chinese foremen, 8 See Note 3. pays them for the work done, and exacts of them 9 J. S. HitteH, op. cit. Also George F. Seward, Cbillese Im• migmtion, Its Economic and Soci,11 Aspects (N. \~, the due performance of the contract." 4 The usual 1881). Refer to sections describing these industries. w:1ge was $1.00 per day. Sometimes, however, 10 J. S. Hittell, op. cit., p. 636. laborers were paid at the rate of 10cents per cubic yard of earth dug.5 RECLAMATION An Eastern observer in 1873 described a typical Up to the latter part of the 19th century large scene on a project: "We witnessed many gangs of parts of the land in the Sacramento and San Joa• Chinamen .... in all 250, making levees or embank• quin Valleys were swamp lands known as tule ments. They generally lodge in tents .... " 6 lands. These consisted of deposits of muck formed The high point of Chinese participation in this from a mixture of river-carried sediment and de• work was in the mid-1870's.7 The Chinese con• cayed vegetable matter resulting from the im• structed miles of levees, dikes and ditches, making mense growths of grasses and rule reeds in the thousands of acres of reclaimed land available for lowlands along the rivers. useful production. Reclaimed lands which origin• Tule lands covered the delta of the two rivers. ally cost $1.00 to $3.00 per acre were increased in Along the Sacramento, tule lands formed a broad value from_$20.oo up to $100.00 per acre.8 The belt varying anywhere from 3 to 4 miles to 10 value of this was recognized in the mid-1870'S miles in width, extending north from Suisun Bay when a former surveyor general of the state esti• far into Colusa County. In the south, the tule lands mated that the increase in the value of the prop• were narrow and interrupted belts along the San erty in the state, due to Chinese labor building Joaquin River. the railroads and reclaiming rule lands alone, was California landowners were well aware of the $289,700,000.9 potentialities of the rich soil in thes~ swamps. In I Paul S. Taylor. "Foundations of California Rural Society" 1852, the Tingley Bill was introduced in the Cali• CalifoTliia Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 24 (1945), fornia legislature permitting the importation of pp. 192-228. 2 Julian Dana, The Sacramento, River of Gold (N. Y, contract labor. The bill was defeated but support• 1939), pp. 160-161. ers of the measure pointed out that "... there is 3 Ping, Chiu, Chinese Labor in California (Madison, 1967), p·72• ample field for [Chinese] employment in drain• 4 Charles Nordhoff, Northern California, Oregon, and the ing the swamp lands, in cultivating rice, raising Sandwich Islands (N. Y, 1877), p. 130. silk or planting tea .... " 1 5 See Note 3. 6 Pacific Rural Press, April 26,1873. In the early 1850'S,some farmers, such as Reu• 7 See Note 3. ben Kercheval, began the use of Chinese labor to 8 Report of the Joint Special Committee to Im'estigate Chi• build levees in the delta to reclaim the swamps nese Il1mIigration (44th Cong., 2nd Session, 1876-1877, from the Sacramento River.2 But, the draining of Senate Report 689), p. 441. 9 Senate Report 689, op. cit., p. 54. the marshlands did not really begin until the mid• 1860'Swhen many Chinese were leaving the gold For furtber reading on this subject: I. Ping Chiu, Cbinese Labor iN C.:lifomi,J (.'.:adison, 1967). mines, thus making available a good-sized labor pool.3 Reclamation companies then began to com• AGRICUL TVRAL LABOR pete with the railroads to seek the serv~cesof these IN THE 1860'S workers. A contemporary describes the labor sys• tem thusly: California farmers began looking at the use of "Chinese labor is used almost entirely in making Chinese on the farms as early as 18481 and some A HISTORY OF THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA 57

Chinese labor was used in the 1850'S.2 At that time roads, stone bridges, rock walls, wine cellars, and there was a serious labor shortage in the state. One irrigation ditches, some of which still exist today. farmer related how difficult it was to hire labor to Chinese became the preferred grape pic¥:ers in harvest his large wheat crop. He continued his vineyards in Northern and Central California. story: (Some vineyardists even go so far as to claim that "I then went to a Chinaman and told him that the Chinese were the best pickers the growers ever I wanted to contract for binding and shocking hired.) 8 In the 1870'S grape pickers, in Napa wheat .... I made the contract at so much per acre. County averaging 1,500 pounds per day, made ... Several hundred of them came. We had one or about $1.00 per day.9 two hundred acres that had been reaped, and needed putting up very badly, and the next morn• INFLUX INTO AGRICULTURAL WORK ing it was all in shock. The Chinamen did the work \V.ith the completion of the transcontinental that night. They did the work well and faith• railroad in 1869, many Chinese sought employ• fully." 3 By the late 1860'SChinese labor was used ment in the rural areas. Figures on the number of fairly widely by wheat farmers.4 Chinese engaged in agricultural work at the be• Chinese labor was also being used for other ginning of the 1870'S varied widely; however, agricultural work. One contemporary wrote the there was no doubt that Chinese labor soon as• following: sumed the dominant role, especially for seasonal "On many ranches all the laborers are people whose muscles were hardened on the little farms and temporary work, in California. Even in the 1880'S during the years of intense anti-Chinese in .... we find that the dairy men are largely agitation leading up to the Chinese Exclusion Act employing this class of help .... Visit a hop planta• of 1882, 75 per cent of these farm workers were tion in the picking season, and count its 50, 60, or still Chinese. 10 70 pickers in the garb of the eastern Asiatics, work• Chinese were picking cotton at 90 cents per 100 ing steadily and noiselessly on from morning till pounds. I I All along the Pacific Coast Oriental night, gathering, curing and sacking the crop .... workers predominated in the harvesting of hops, Go through the fields of strawberries and other strawberries and other crops, the picking of which small fruits, ... the vineyards and orch~rds, and required stooping and squatting.I2 Chinese field you will learn that most of these fruits are gath• hands also worked in the first sugar beet fields ered or boxed for market by this same people ... ." 5 in California in 1872.13 On one fruit plantation this same author visited, "... one [Chinese] was tending the cider mill, one was busy ... turning out the little strawberry bas• FRUIT ORCHARDS kets, two were assorting and boxing apples, six Starting with 1870, California farmers turned were picking strawberries to be sold ... for $I.00 their attention to raising fruits for export to the per pound; some were picking apples, wIrile more Eastern markets. Today, it is difficult to properly were in the vineyard gathering grapes .... "5 assess the extent that the fruit farmers were in• debted to the Chinese. But by and large, most VINEYARD WORKERS farmers at that time were novices at fruit growing A. Haraszthy and his Buena Vista Vinicultural while the Chinese' skill in planting, cultivating, Society were primarily responsible for the intro• and garden-harvesting of orchard crops was gen• duction of Chinese labor to the vineyards of erally acknowledged. Thus it is probably not an Sonoma and Napa Counties in the early 1860's.6 exaggeration to credit the Chinese with actually The workers were paid $1.00 per day. ~hinese teaching the farmer many of the techniques of were employed in the fields, on permanent im• horticulture.I4 There is no doubt as to the impor• provements, and in lime and stone quarries. When tance of the Chinese at harvest time, however, for not working for Haraszthy's corporation, the Chi• even during the period of most intense anti-Chi• nese were hired out to different vineyards in the nese agitation, the Pacific Rural Press had this to area.7 say: "The availability of Chinese labor gave the The Chinese in Napa and Sonoma constructed fruit growers hope. They extended their opera- 58 A HISTORY OF THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA tions and the Chinese proved equal to all that had STRIKES been expected of them. They became especially However, the Chinese did not accept his low clever in the packing of fruit; in fact, the Chinese wages without protest. Several strikes of Chinese have become the only considerable body of people farm workers for higher wages took place in Napa who understand how to pick fruit for Eastern in the 1870'S25and 1880's.26In Colusa the Chinese shipment." 15"The Chinese are the mainstay of the demanded that they be paid wages comparable to orchardist and thus far it must be said the only that paid white laborers.27 However, there was a supply of labor which he can depend upon. They limit to the success of such tactics for the anti- are expert pickers and packers of fruit and may be Chinese feeling in California during this period relied upon to work steadily through the season. worked to the advantage of the farmer-employer. It is difficult to see how our annual fruit crop could be harvested and prepared for market with• A:-OTl-CHlNESE VIOLE:-OO: out the Chinaman." 16 An economic depression hit the nation in the Chinese fruit pickers were widely employed all mid-1870'S. Up and down the Pacific Coast the over the state, from the apple, peach, cherry, pear, Chinese became the scapegoats and were blamed olive, and other fruit orchards of Northern Cali• for depriving white laborers of their jobs. (See fornia 17to the citrus fruit farms of the south.18 section on Anti-Chinese Movement). Acts of In some localities, Chinese contractors bought violence were commiteed against the Orientals in crops from the orchardist, paying so much per tree Chico and Oroville. Arsonists burned the Chinese and collecting the fruits themselves. They in turn quarters at Grass Valley, Colusa, and the Lava packed the fruits for shipment or dried them.19 Beds. The Chinese were driven out of the Rocklin• Areas such as Sebastopol and \Vatsonville 20 had Roseville area.27 numerous Chinese-operated apple evaporating fur• The anti-Chinese movement mounted in tempo naces for this purpose. in the next decade. The hostility" of the anti-Chi- nese partisans extended even to those who hired CANNERIES Chinese labor. In 1886 General Bidwell, owner of about 20,000 acres in the Chico area, was threat• Chinese workers were also employed in can• ened with a boycott of his products. His bam and neries, where they became very profi<;ient in test• soap factories were burned.27 ing cans. In the processing or cooking operations He finally agreed to discharge his Chinese em• they were regarded as highly reliable. They were ployees. Bad times in the early 1890'S further well nigh indispensable in making cans as illus• fanned the flames of hate. At Tulare, Visalia, trated by the following item: Before the opening Fresno and other places in the San Joaquin Valley of the first cannery in Sutter County in 1884, the arn1ed mobs drove the Chinese to the nearest rail• management declared their intention not to hire way station and loaded them into the first depart• any Chinese for the canning operations. But to ing train.27 At Compton, Redlands and other their chagrin, nobody else could make the cans that towns the Chinese were terrorized.28 first season, and Chinese had to be hired after all.21 In face of such hostility and threatened violence, Chinese labor also played other roles in the rural many Chinese fled the rural areas for the larger areas. For example, in the San Joaquin Valley the cities, many left the country. In the meantime raisin industry employed many Chinese.22 And the Chinese Excl~sion Act cut off immigration of among sheepmen in the state, Chinese shepherds Chinese workers from the Orient. Thus the Chi• were said to be among the best.23 nese population in the countryside declined and Farm work was highly seasonal, and in labor• Japanese began to replace them on the farms. 28 short California it was particularly diffic,ultto hire The last stand of Chinese agricultural labor took high quality temporary labor. Thus, the efficient place in the Sacramento delta region. There up to and industrious Chinese field hand was welcomed, the late 1920'S, the asparagus industry utilized especially since this labor was cheap and reliable, much Chinese labor for harvesting and in the can• and allowed the farmers' products to compete neries. Today, however, Mexicans and Filipinos effectively in the Eastern Seaboard.24 have replaced the Chinese, and towns like Locke, A HISTORY OF THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA 59

.28 Carey Mc"Williams, op. cit., pp. 75-77. Isleton, Walnut Grove and others in the area which 29 Interviews with old residents. once had flourishing Chinatowns are now almost For further reading on this subject: ghost towns 29 or have disappeared. I. Hunt, Rockwell D., John Bidwell, Prince of California Pioneers (Caldwell, Idaho, 1941). 1Paul S. Taylor, "Foundations of California Rural S0• 2. Chiu, Ping, Chinese Labor in California (Madison, IC}67, ciety," California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 24 2nd ptg.). (1945), p. 202. 3. Joseph A. McGowan, History of the Sacrtrmento Vizl• 2 Franklin Tuthill, Hi/story of California (San Francisco, ley, Vol. 1 (N. Y., 1C}6I). 1866),P·375· 4. Mc"Wiliiams, Carey, Factories in the Field (Boston, 3 Report of the Joint Special Committee to Investigate 1959)· Chinese Immigration (44th Congress, 2nd Session, 1876•

4 "Wheat1877, Senatein California,"Repon 689),Overlandp. 440. Monthly, O.s. vol. 1 FARMERS, SHARECROPPERS AND (1868), pp. 449-45°. TRUCK GARDENERS 5 Rev. A. \v. Loomis, "How Our Chinamen Are Em• ployed," Overland Monthly, O.s. vol 2 (186c}), pp. 233• INDEPENDENT FARMERS 234· 6 Ping Chiu, Chinese Labor in California (Madison, I1}67, The total number of Chinese independent farm• 2nd ptg.), p. 81. ers were relatively small; however, some Chinese 7 Vincent P. Carosso, The California Wine Industry, 1830• had regular plantations, buying or leasing land and 1895, a Study of the Formative Years (Berkeley, 1951), P·71• hiring their fellow countrymen. In the 19th cen• 8 Edith C. Mayer, Development of the Raisin Industry in tury one Chinese joint stock company bought Fresno County, Calif. (unpublished M.A. thesis, Univ. 2,165 acres above Rio Vista. Another tract of 1,000 Calif., Berkeley, 1931), p. 53. acres above Benicia was also Chinese-owned. 1 9 A. ).Haraszthy, ""Wine Making in California," Overland Monthly, o.s. vol. 8 (1872), p. 41. SHARECROPPERS 10 Carey Mc "Williams, Factories in the Field (Boston, 1959), pp. 66-67· However, most Chinese farms were small and 11Eugene \v. Hilgard, Report on the Physical and Agri• cultural Features of the State of California with a Dis• utilized leased land. The tenant farmer usually cussion of the Present and Future of Cotton Production had a share-cropping arrangement with the land• in the State (San Francisco, 1884), p. 75. owner whereby the landlord received one-half of 12Rev. Otis Gibson, The Chinese in America (1876), pp. the proceeds of the vegetables and grain and three• kiewicz,57,98; Carey"The Mc"Williams,Chinese in California,"op. cit., p. 67;CaliforniaHenryk Sien•His• fifths of the fruit. The tenant in turn would hire torical Society Quarterly, Vol. 34 (1955), p. 308; Senate Chinese laborers. 1 Repon 689, p. 553. 13 The Pnsent and Past Positions of the Chinese in the The Chinese farmers grew a wide variety of Rural Districts of California (Hua-ch'iao Tsm Mei-kuo crops. At one time, in the 1870'Sand 1880'Smost Chia-sheng Nung-ts' un Ti-'Wei ti Chin-hsiJ, Ch'iaoJUJU of the peanuts in California were raised by Chinese fornia,Yueh-K'anA Book(Mayfor 1935),Travellersp. 8;andCharlesSettlersNordhoff,(N.Y., 1873),Cali• farmers 1 in locales such as Napa 2 and Tehama.3 pp.211-213· Chinese farmers also tended strawberry patches in 14Carey Mc"Williams, op. cit., p. 71. 15 Pacific Rural Press, June 10, 1893. Napa 4 and Santa Clara counties.5 16 Pacific Rural Press, Sept. 16, 1893. OTHER AGRICULTURAL PuRSUITS 17 U. S. Congress, op. cit., p. 56c}. 113 Donald Pflueger, Glendora, The Annals of a Southern In 1868one Chinese employed "his fellow coun• California Community (1951), p. 122; Henry M. Page, Pasadena, Its Early }ears (11}64), p. 66. trymen to pick wild mustard" in Monterey 19Senate Repon 689, p. 861. County. "They also had extensive arrangements 20 Anhur T. Johnson, California, An Englisbmtm's Impres• for the hatching of eggs by artificial heat. Wood• sions of the Golden State (London, 1913), p. 206. cutting, clearing fields of stubble, and burning 7.1 Randolph Schnabel, "History of the Canning Industry in Sutter and Yuba Counties," Sutter County HIStorical charcoal were other branches of work undertaken Society News Bulletin

Chinese farmers and gardeners formed only an Not much has been written on the history of the insignificant part of the California farming popu• Chinese in the flower growing industry on the San lation. The following table shows the numbers for Francisco peninsula. The exact date that the Chi• 1860 through 1880.11 nese entered the industry is not known. However, an article in the January 5, 1902, issue of the San Total1,800GardenersNo.J'lantersGardeners43,489FannersTaulNo.PlantersofChinese668No.Chineseof8No.afandof Year Farmers and 20,8262,64824,0614,3901,4341,738346472 Francisco Chronicle described the following scene 187018801860 at the Southern Pacific Station at Third and Townsend Streets in San Fnncisco: "Chinese with great baskets like lidless trunks came ambling from the station, 8 or 10 of them, A HISTORY OF THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA 61

each with his offering of fresh flowers wherewith 3 Personal interviews with John Mock, flower grower In Santa Clara County, 1968. Other information from local to pile high the light burden to be borne up Third old-time residents. Street by the express wagons .... " Chinese oldtimers give the date of their entry RESTAURANTS - LAUNDRIES into this industry as around the I890'S. At first, AND DOMESTICS mixed cut flowers such as sweet peas and some asters were grown. They were cut and sold in In 1848, San Francisco was a village of 8I2 in• San Francisco. I Chrysanthemums were introduced habitants living in homes widely scattered about from Japan to this country in the mid-1880'S. Portsmouth Plaza. Two hotels bordered the Plaza Shortly thereafter the Chinese began to specialize and in nearby Verba Buena Cove, the first two in the growing of this flower 2 and today most wharves were under construction. By mid-sum• Chinese growers raise either asters or chrysanthe• mer, news of the discovery of gold scnt most able• mums. In the mid-1930'S larger crops were started bodied men off to the Sierras. when flower shipping was initiated. However, to• Twelve months later, in the summer of 1849, day, the farms of Japanese chrysanthemum gl'OW• news of that gold discovery brought 40,000 immi• ers dominate the industry and their farms are g-en• grants pouring into San Francisco.l The tremen• erally larger than that of Chinese growers. On the dous promise of wealth lured an adventurous lot other hand, Chinese growers virtually monopolize of men from all corners of the earth, who, regard• the growing of asters in the Bay Area.3 less of background or former occupation, did not Formerly flower farms were found about 15 to come west to perform menial tasks nor unskilled 20 miles south of San Francisco. As urbanization labor. Therefore, white labor was not available of the San Francisco peninsula proceeded, many even when unskilled labor commanded 10 to 12 flower growers retreated southward to the south• dollars a day.2 ern end of San Mateo County and to Santa Clara The few hundred Chinese present in the fall of County. Another important factor was that the '49 were of the merchant class, with some laborers cultivation of asters so impoverishes the soil for amongst them.3 These and Chinese immigrants succeeding aster crops that these growers must that followed also came to seek their fortune in move to virgin soil every year. Today the number the gold fields, but they undertook any necessary of farms approximate 100,with a total of some 500 work that the white immigrants would not do. workers. 3 They were, therefore, a welcome addition to the For years, this industry was monopolized by population at this period, filling the gap as cooks, people from the Wong-leung Tu area (this area is domestic servants and laborers. adjacent to the Sunwui District) of the Chungshan "They were highly valued as general laborers, District. In the past decade, however, some people carpenters, and cooks; the restaurants established from Fukien (the province northeast of Kwang• by them in San Francisco and in the mines were tung) have also entered into chrysanthemum well kept and extensively patronized." 4 growing.3 The Chinese growers are organized into the Bay RESTAURANTS Area Chrysanthemum Growers Associa"tion and The Chinese immigrants, mostly from Kwang• the Northern California Aster Growers Associa• tung Province,5 brought with them their religious tion for marketing and other commercial purposes. and social customs, including their food habits. At present only the Wong-leung Tu people are Early shipping records show invoices of large con• members of these organizations.3 signments of Chinese food products such as dried oysters, shrimps, cuttlefish, mushrooms, dried bean 1Fong, Lincoln, "Aster Production in San Mateo and Santa curd, bamboo shoots, sweetmeats, duck liver and ClaraCollege,Counties."collection(Unpublishedof the San Mateopaper, CountySan MateoHistoricalJunior kidneys, water chesmut flour, etc.6 Association, 1951). , When the first Chinese restaurant began in San 2 Oefinger, Catherine C., "The Flower Industry of San Francisco is not certain but they were in existence Mateo County." (Unpublished paper, San Mateo Junior College, collection of the San Mateo County Historical as early as July 1849.7 The Alta California news• Association, 1941). paper of December 10, 1849, reported a meeting A HISTORY OF THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA of approximately 300 Chinese at the "Canton Res• diet was that it consisted of chop suey and chow taurant" on Jackson Street. mein. This was probably due to Li Hung-chang, In spite of wild tales of rat tails in the soup, and viceroy and foreign minister of China who visited "bow-wows" in the larder, the Chinese eating the in 1896. houses were patronized en masse by the miners. It was alleged that upon the arrival of Li Hung• Due to the hazard of the language barrier, no chang a large banquet was held in his honor in matter what a miner ordered, the cook, sometimes San Francisco. Among the guests were Adolph doubling as waiter, would return with a generous Sutro, Mayor of San Francisco, and the Board of plate of hot food to satisfy his appetite. The early Supervisors. The elaborate dinner consisted of Californians were thus well initiated to Chinese sharks fin, boned squab, etc. Li whispered to the food. Learning from cooks, or having been cooks waiter that he preferred the simple dishes. He themselves in the kitchens of American homes, the would like assorted vegetables, cooked with a little Chinese soon were also serving many genuine meat. When it was served, it was called "chop American dishes with "their tea and coffee not to suey," and was enthusiastically received. be surpassed." 8 Chop suey in means "miscellaneous Many San Franciscans considered these Chinese mixture." From that time on, chop suey houses eating houses the best.9 In 1852,February 21St,the sprang up all over the country and the Occi• Alta California lamented "... a large number of dentals regarded it as synonymous with Chinese our Chinese citizens [have] left ... at one time food. Similar stories of the origin of "Li Hung nearly all the restaurants in the city were con• Chang chop suey" are also claimed by ducted by the Chinese." and Chicago, but the important fact is that this is not an original Chinese dish. The Chinese for centuries have indulged in the The early American public also knew little art and delights of fine cuisine. Banquets in an of the Chinese teahouses, which usually served imperial style are often held for the entertainment luncheon and Sunday brunches - where the Chi• of friends and, on such occasions, all economy is nese leisurely sipped their tea and sampled a vari• tossed to the wind while the gourmet menu is selected. ' ety of "dim sum." This consisted of steamed or fried pastries made of meat, shrimp, fish, etc., and A contemporary writer on restaurant life in San Francisco in 1868 stated that the Chinese steamed buns with stuffing of barbecued pork or finely-mashed lotus seed. restaurants were almost constantly lighted up Rain or shine, pedi-catering service was avail• with the banquets of their numerous customers, able to the Chinese in Chinatown for many and that one should not overlook Chinese houses decades as well. It was not unusual to see a Chi• in his gourmet tour of San Francisco. 10 nese wearing an Occidental cap, balancing a 30" Participating in one of these banquets was a by 30" wooden tray on top of his head, delivering rarity for the white man but, occasionally, dis• a full course dinner complete with dinner ware, tinguished public figures were extended the cour• to a household. In wet weather, the tray would be tesy of an invitation. 11 covered over with a black oil cloth, fastened down The banquets were held in three different with clothespins. The soiled dishes would be left phases with a half hour recess to an ante-room to at the doorway to be picked up the next day. smoke and talk, and to listen to music. Each phase [This service was available up to the late 1930'S.] of the dinner consisted of from a dozen to twenty By 1920 expansion of the restaurant business different courses. Included in the menu,were such ranked it second only to the laundry business. items as sharks fin, stewed pigeon with bamboo "\\lith the "Roaring Twenties" and the "Age of soup, fish sinews with ham, stewed chicken with Prohibition," some large Chinese restaurants were watercress, seaweed, stewed ducks, bamboo soup, built, providing dance floors and entertainment.12 bird's nest soup, and tea. Tourism became big business as curiosity seekers The fine cuisine offered by the Chinese restau• came to see the "'ways and sins" of Chinatown. rants for many years was relatively unknown. With growing popularity, more and more people The average American's conception of a Chinese began to appreciate Chinese food. Chinese cooks, A HISTORY OF THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA having learned American tastes, started to com• Baltimore in 1875 and New York in 1876. In 1892 bine Chinese food with an American touch or there were 50 Chinese laundrymen in Montreal American food with the Chinese touch. Egg roll, and loin Quebec. Owning and operating laun• won ton, fried rice, fried noodles, and sweet and dries became one of the easiest ways to economic sour spare ribs soon became favorite dishes. self-sufficiency and, furthermore, gave them pride of proprietorship. LAUNDRIES In the beginning, the laundrymen made their In a frontier that was predominantly male, laun• pick-up and delivery on a bamboo pole with bas• dry work in San Francisco was at first done by the kets suspended on each end. Due to the anti-Chi• Spanish-American and Indian women at \Vasher• nese movement, however, a number of laws were \,.'Omen'sLagoon, now the Marina. Some laundry passed against the Chinese. In 1870 the pole ordi• was even sent by Clipper ship to the Hawaiian nance was enacted restricting the use of poles. Islands, or to Canton, China-a process which re• From then on, the Chinese switched from jouncing quired up to two months. 13 The price charged for with poles to using a blue laundry bag thrown washing just one shirt made it almost cheaper to over the shoulder. discard it and buy a new one. Bearing this in mind, In the depression period of 1877, anti-coolie one can understand the excitement caused in San mobs descended upon Chinatown, 25 Chinese Francisco in 1850 when the Alta California printed wash houses were sacked or burned. By 1884, at the following item: the climax of the anti-Chinese movement the laun• "Much excitement was caused in the city last dries were stilI a favorite target of attack. San week by the reduction of washing prices Francisco passed another laundry ordinance to from eight dollars to five dollars a dozen. drive the Chinese out of their trade. Wash houses There is now no excuse for citizens to wear were condemned and denied licenses to operate. soiled or colored shirts. The effect of the re• The laundry owners had their own guild, func• duction is already manifest - tobacco-juice• tioning like the Chinese guilds of other Chinese bespattered bosoms are no long the fashion." industries. It regulated and governed the laundry The reduction in prices was due to the first industry, protecting the individual owners from Chinese joining the "work-force" at Washer• competition amongst themselves. One of the more women's Lagoon. Thus the first Chinese laundry important functions of the guild was to protect business in the United States was launched in 1850 its members from the anti-Chinese sentiments of and an industry beg

3 See Syllabus; Section: "Early Chinese in San Francisco." erations, being nursemaid to their children and 4 Mary R. Coolidge, Cbinese l11mzigration (Taipei, [(68), taking complete charge of the household. Typical p.21. 5 Rose Hum Lee, The Chinese in the United States of are memoirs such as that of Helen S. Gage as she America (Hong Kong Press, [(60), p. 254. wrote: 3 6 Robert F. G. Spier, "Food Habits of 19th Cenrury Cali• "You awakened at dawn to hear the Chinese fornia Chinese," California Historical Society Quarterly, Mar. 1958, pp. 79-8'h 126-136. yard-boy cutting the lawn. Your only laun• 7 James O'Meara, Overland Monthly (1884) New Series, dry was a Chinese laundry. Your vegetables Vol. 3, p. 477· 8 William M. Collum, California as I Saw It (Los Gatos, were brought to the door from Chinese veg• 1(60), p. 123. etable gardens by a characteristically short 9 William Brooks, Golden Dreams of Waking Realities and lean Chinese driving a rickety, one-horse (1851). 10Noah Brooks, Overland Monthly (1868), Vol. I, pp. 472• wagon. As Chico had two thriving China• 473· towns it was not difficult to find the greatest .11 Samuel Bowles, Our New West (Chicago, 1869), pp. prize of all- the Chinese cook ... 4°7-413. 12Calvin Lee, Chinatown, U. S. A. (Garden City, N. Y., "As a domestic helper the Chinese was an 1(65), p. 71. ideal servant and endeared himself to the 13Alexander McLeod, Pigtails &- Golddust (Caldwell, Ida., members of the household he served, 1926), p. I I I. 14H. H. Bancroft, Essays and Miscellaneous, Mongolian• whether in a city, home, or on a ranch. He ism in America (189<», p. 348. was completely devoted to the "family," as 15 United States Census, 1870,Vol. I. he called them. After a few years in the

DOMESTIC SERVAXTS AND COOKS service of a family he became so much a part of them that he was often known by their In the early years of the west when labor was surname ... scarce, the Chinese entered into the field of do• "Most of all, he loved the children. He was mestic services. He was seen in homes, on the their adoring slave, devoted nurse, fun-loving ranchs and farms, tending stock, cooking, doing playmate. He kept the cookie jar filled for indoor and outdoor work such as washing and them and amused them with stories in his ironing, cutting firewood and working in the quaint Pidgin English. He hurried to their garden. comfort if they cried. He would have de• By 1869 the reputation of the Chinese in do• fended them with his life ... " mestic services had already spread to the east This was the typical domestic servant of the where there was a shortage of cooks and servants. nineteenth and early twentieth centuries ... an Easterners looked forward to the the completion era now nearly a thing of the past. Only a small of the transcontinental railroad, hoping that they handful of old-timers remain today. A favorite would come to the Atlantic Coast. 1 While some expression used, after such a domestic's visitation did find their way East, their services were equally into Chinatown among his cronies, was "Well, I in demand in the West. Wages in the West was must return to the Kwei Lao ("devil's building," higher. after Fon Kwei, "foreign devil," a term used by During the late '70'S,in the midst of anti-Chinese these domestics) now." It was an expression of sentiments, Chinese workers in industries were ac• pride, as being able to work in an environment cused of lowering wage standards. However, in away from Chinatown, for a prosperous Cauca• this field, wages for the Chinese were equivalent sian, was a status symbol. to, if not more than that paid to other servants. I "China in Our Kitchen," Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 25 (june, Other cooks and servants were paid $25.00 to 1869), p. 752• $30.00 a month, while a good Chinese servant or 2 George F. Seward, Chinese Imnzjgration (N. Y., 1881), pp. cook was paid $40.00 to $60.00 a month.2 118,129. 3 Diggings, Butte County Historical Society (Spring, 1960), From their earliest experience to the days of the pp. 5, 6, 7. Roaring 20's, generations of Californians have written affectionately about the famous and fabu• THE CHINESE SIX COMPANIES lous Chinese houseboy and cook who graced their Much has been written about the Chinese Con• homes, serving their families for two or three gen- solidated Benevolent Association, better known as A HISTOR Y OF THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA 65 the "Chinese Six Companies." Generally, early ing tong could become its president, nor could he impressions from various sources gave accounts be a member of the board of presidents. This un• which were inaccurate. Conversely, some in• written law was explicitly followed throughout formed sources have been overly generous in stat• the history of the organization except for one ing the organization's purpose. Two excerpts from period in the 1880'S when the Tongs, at the height articles about the Six Companies deserve mention of their power, succeeded in breaking the rule, for their clarity: and held sway until shortly after the turn of the "... The Chinese Six Companies is an organiza• century when its grasp was broken. tion of districts. It is composed of members from From its formation to the present, the organi• six districts of China. It represents what the Iowa zational line of the Six Companies has v~ried as Society, the Sons of New England and an associa• new associations joined or re-formed as separate tion of Texans might represent, if they banded to• entities, but the name has remained unchanged. gether under the titles of the Three Companies, to For instance, in the 1890'S the Chinese Six Com• promote their interests in the city of ." 1 panies was actually composed of eight district "... By 1854 certain clan or family associations associations. On January 25, 1901, the Six Com• had also been formed alongside the district asso• panies was incorporated under the laws of the ciations. \Vith a motley population of Cantonese State of California by its legal name: Chinese Con• solidated Benevolent Association. from a score of districts in Kwangtung and bear• ing over half a hundred clan names, disputes As to power and influence, in its early days, it between members of different clans or districts was practically the Supreme Court of the Chinese naturally arose inside the community .... Some• in California. By general agreement it was em• times these differences were adjusted by the rul• powered to speak and act for all the California ing elders of the district or family associations to Chinese in problems and affairs which affected the which the parties concerned belonged, but more majority of them. It also became the official board often than not, a third or neutral organization was of arbitration for disputes which arose between called in to settle matters. Naturally, since the the various district groups, as well as other social courts and the majority of the Americans were groups. It was given the power to initiate and pro• plainly prejudiced against the Chinese, the latter mote programs for the general welfare of the California Chinese. Then, too, before the establish• did not bring their disputes to the Atnerican courts for settlement ... "2 ment of any Chinese consular or other diplomatic agency in America, the Chinese Six Companies It was in this atmosphere of greater need for a acted as spokesman for the Imperial Manchu super organization to administer overall justice government in its relations with the Chinese in among the Chinese in America, that the Chinese America. [It was not until the late 1870'S that the Six Companies came into being. first Chinese consulate was finally established in Hoy's historical resume 2 was written for the San Francisco.] Chinese Six Companies itself to correct the many Other functions: incorrect impressions the general public had of I. It kept its own Chinese census by periodical the organization. registrations. The exact date of its founding is not known. 2. It started a Chinese language school to teach The Chinese Six Companies was originally formed Chinese children the rudiments of Chinese history, by six district associations then in existence: Kong language and philosophy. Chow, Ning Yeung, Sam Yup, Yeong Wo, Hop Wo and Yan Woo 3. It organized general community medical and hospitalization services for sick and indigent Chi• The six district groups then jointly estaQlished nese (necessitated because in the 1860'5 and '70'S, the "Chung Wah Kung Saw," or Meeting Hall of Chinese were not allowed to be admitted to the the , with the presidency rotating County Hospital in San Francisco.) among their respective district heads. 4. It fought, through legal counsel, all anti• Early in its history, the Chinese Six Companies Chinese legislation enacted by the city, state and had an unwritten law that no member of a fight- federal governments. 66 A HISTORY OF THE CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA Until 1910,when the Chinese Chamber of Com• more to the life and habits of their American merce was formed, the Six Companies also per• neighbors. The need for community direction, formed the duties of the former by aiding in com• however, is still more or less vested in the Six mercial negotiations in the business enterprises of Companies, as well as the continued need to be the the Chinese. governing force over the still potent family and The Six Companies' organizational lines was not district associations.

completed until the 1890's, as additional district 1Charles Caldwell Dobie, San Francisco's ChinatoW7l (D. associations were organized and included in its Appleton-Century Co., N. Y, 1936), p. 124. council. 2 'William Hoy, The Cbinese Six Companies (Lawton R. Kennedy, San Francisco, 1942), p. 8. As nearly as can be ascertained, the following 3 Rose Hum Lee, The Cbinese in tbe United States of structural changes took place over the years: America (Hong Kong Univ. Press, 1960), p. 37. 1860'S- Hop Wo Association added (this be• came the sixth group to affiliate, and earned the FAMILY AND DISTRICT ASSOCIATIONS association the unofficial name of "Chinese Six The basic form of social control in a Chinese Companies") . community, whether at home or abroad, is the Mid- 1880'S- Shew Hing Association added. family unit. The early Chinese settlers were made Late 1890'S- Yin-Hoi Association added (in ex• up of familial groups-made easier because nearly istence for only a few years). all were from Kwangtung Province. Where the Thus, the Six Companies was actually eight as• modern family group is represented by a family sociations for a short period. organization, the social and economic activities Numerically, the districts' membership approxi• were centered first around a merchandise store mated the following, as compiled by the Rev. Otis operated by one of their number. These stores Gibson in 1877, titled Tbe Cbinese in A111erica: were the forerunners of the family associations. --- Persons arriving from China were met as the boat 4--°°01935in13,50027,5°02,5003,0001,5005°°Calif. (Gibson)- ---151,000 (Hoy) 75,00034,00011,00015,00012,0004..3°0 docked by representatives of their respective ShewYanYeongKongSamHopWoHingYupWoChowWoCompanyCompanyCompanyCompany...... in U.S.1877 Approx. Ning Yeung Company ... stores and lodged and boarded until placed by relatives or employers. It may be interesting to observe that up until the past two or three decades, there was still evi• dence of this grouping of individuals by family name. Large numbers of stores ,vere controlled by families, who also controlled certain types of busi• nesses as well as occupation. For instance, the Dear family (also spelled Dea, Dere, Jear, Jay, etc.) generally operated fruit and candy stalls and stores. The Yee's and Lee's owned the better class The 1877figures were considered overstated by of restaurants as well as supplying most of the William Hoy, the late research editor, California family cooks. Towns also were "controlled" by Chinese Historical Society, in his The Chinese Six particular families: for example, Sacramento - the Companies, mentioned earlier. The total estimated Fang's; Santa Barbara-the Ginn's and Hall's. As number of Chinese at no time was higher than each settler found a measure of security and pros• about 120,000 to 130,000 for all of America. By perity in a town, he invariably sent for relatives 1940 the restrictive immigration measures had re• or other similar family-name persons of more dis• duced the number to 77,504.3 Of this number, tant relationship. 46,840 resided in the West, while as the above last When broader social needs were required, the column shows, most of these lived in California• family associations came into being. The date and more than one-third of the total number in the first such organization are not known; but America. since the Chins, Wongs and Lees were the largest Currently, the Six Companies' power has waned family groups in America, it may be that they as the Chinese population adapts itself more and were the first to form family associations. As the