Timothy Dean Draper Department: History
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ABSTRACT Name: Timothy Dean Draper Department: History Title: "A Little Kingdom of Mixed Nationalities": Race, Ethnicity, and Class in a Western Urban Community—Rock Springs, Wyoming, 1869-1929 Major: History Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Approved by: Date: Dissertation Director NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT In 1885, the mining settlement of Rock Springs, Wyoming, witnessed one of the worst episodes of ethnocentric violence in the urban West as Euroamerican miners massacred Chinese laborers and burned Chinatown to the ground. Less than four decades later, in 1926, inhabitants of Rock Springs, including immigrants and natives, Asian Americans and Euroamericans, came together at a time of heightened national ethnic tensions to celebrate the diversity of their municipal community in the first of four annual "International Night" festivals. This study explores the apparently dichotomous reality of Rock Springs from its establishment as a mining camp during the building of the Union Pacific Railroad in the late 1860s to the conclusion of the International Night movement in the mid- to late 1920s The focus of this dissertation centers upon the role of immigrants and their descendents in constructing diverse community networks and how they syncretized those varied networks into a unifying ethos of "municipal community," an identity expressed through their sense of ethno-racial boundaries, western heritage, inter-class cooperation, and negotiation with monopoly capitalism. By focusing on ethnicity, race, class, and region, I address how the inhabitants of Rock Springs negotiated the cultural and material challenges to construction of a community identity posed by a hegemonically inclined Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. corporation, the Union Pacific Railway and its coal operations, and organized themselves into a community of publicly articulated common interests despite their culturally diverse group identities. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY “A LITTLE KINGDOM OF MIXED NATIONALITIES”: RACE, ETHNICITY, AND CLASS IN A WESTERN URBAN COMMUNITY- ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING, 1869-1929 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY TIMOTHY DEAN DRAPER ©2007 Timothy Dean Draper DEKALB, ILLINOIS DECEMBER 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3301626 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3301626 Copyright 2008 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PO Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Certification: In accordance with department and Graduate School policies, this dissertation is accepted in partial fulfillment of degree requirements. Dissertation Director cJ-ooy Date ANY USE OF MATERIAL CONTAINED HEREIN MUST BE DULY ACKNOWLEDGED. THE AUTHOR'S PERMISSION MUST BE OBTAINED IF ANY PORTION IS TO BE PUBLISHED OR INCLUDED IN A PUBLICATION. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was supported generously by Northern Illinois University and its Department of History. The department assisted the research for this examination of community development in Rock Springs through the Hayter and Young Graduate Research Endowment and the Graduate Research Grant numerous times between 1998 and 2001. In addition, the Graduate School awarded me a Dissertation Completion Fellowship for 2001-2002, which greatly facilitated in the bulk of the writing of this study. The author also wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the staffs of various libraries and institutions in the research for this study. In Wyoming, staffs at the American Heritage Center in Laramie, University of Wyoming Libraries, Rock Springs Public Library, Hay Library at Western Wyoming Community College, Rock Springs Historical Museum, and the State Archives in Cheyenne proved quite helpful. In particular, Ruth Lauritzen, director of the Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River, and her staff provided expert advice and assistance over several days of research. A. Dudley Gardner of Western Wyoming Community College was especially unstinting in his time and effort in assisting research in Rock Springs and generously offered the assistance of the Archaeological Services of Rock Springs, Wyoming, in perusing the voluminous oral history collection and UPCC Archives located at the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. college. In addition, archive personnel at the Nebraska State Historical Society aided in research into the Union Pacific Railway Archives. Closer to home, librarians at Northern Illinois University and Waubonsee Community College provided a myriad of services. I would like to acknowledge, in particular, the assistance of Wendell Johnson, Adam Burke, Kendall Burke, and Marilee Stach. Several colleagues at Waubonsee also offered intellectual insight, procedural advice, and moral support over the years, especially Heather LaCost, Amy Godfrey, Kathleen Westman, Paul Olson, and Angela Schmidt. Finally, the concepts and theoretical underpinnings of this study resulted from the opportunity to work with a great variety of fine historians. At Ball State University, I greatly appreciated the tutelage of Anthony Edmonds, Richard Aquila, and Andrew Cayton. While at the University of Iowa, I enjoyed the opportunities to study under Ellis Hawley and Shelton Stromquist, among others. And at Northern Illinois University, I particularly benefited from studies with the late Marvin Rosen, Jim Norris, Jim Schmidt, Rose Feurer, Paul Street, and Allan Kulikoff. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the tremendous support and guidance I received from my dissertation director, Barbara M. Posadas, a truly outstanding scholar in immigration and ethnic history. Finally, committee members Eric Mogren, Beatrix Hoffman, Katharina Barbe, and LaVeme Gyant contributed profound and significant critiques to assist in the final revision of this study as well as in suggesting future work in this area. To these and others whose gracious assistance helped make this study a possibility, I offer my sincerest appreciation. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION To my in-laws, who housed me during research in Rock Springs, and my parents, who taught me to love learning; To my children, who teach me daily humility, honesty, and the value of a sense of humor; and To Bess, who always reminds me of the passion found in the history of Rock Springs Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES .................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................... x Chapter PART ONE: CHALLENGES TO COMMUNITY, 1869-1885 1 1. INTRODUCTION-ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING: A PERSPECTIVE INTO CONFLICT, COMMUNITY, AND THE AMERICAN WEST ....... 2 2. "THE MEN WHO COMMITTED THE MURDERS ARE ALIENS; THEIR MURDERED VICTIMS ARE ALSO ALIENS...." ........................ 22 Introduction ■ 22 The Anti-Chinese Massacre ............................................ 23 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 53 3. LANDSCAPES AND PEOPLES ............................................................... 55 Introduction .......................................................................................... 55 Indigenous Peoples and Euroamerican Explorers and Traders ........ 57 The Transportation Boom .................................................................. 63 Early Coal Operations ............................. 69 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 73 4. HEGEMONIC CORPORATION AND INCIPIENT COMMUNITY, 1876-1885 75 Introduction ....................................................................................... 75 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vii Chapter Page The Frontier Experience ................................................................ 76 Railways, Mines, and UP ................................................................ 84 The Social Contours of a