Denied Entry: The Ongoing Exclusion
The arrival of Chinese travelers on the O.W. Elder highlights the precarious legal reality faced by Chinese residents in the Pacific Northwest during the exclusion era.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Yesterday about five or six Chinese arrived here on board the steamer O.W. Elder, booked from Seattle to San Francisco, but unwittingly they landed here to visit their friends. When they tried to return on board, it is stated the captain declined to allow them, on the ground that as they had landed here they would not be allowed to land in San Francisco by the authorities there.
“The captain declined to allow them, on the ground that as they had landed here they would not be allowed to land in San Francisco.”
This incident occurred during a period of escalating, state-sanctioned anti-Chinese violence in Washington Territory. It reflects the constant, localized enforcement of exclusion policies that turned everyday travel into a trap for Chinese residents and visitors alike.
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