The Sloop Louisa and the Illegal Passage
A federal seizure notice reveals the 1890 crackdown on maritime smuggling of Chinese laborers into the Puget Sound.
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.
In the District Court of the United States for the District of Washington, Northern Division. The United States of America, libellant, vs. the sloop Louisa, her tackle, apparel, furniture, etc. Whereas, a libel of information has been filed... alleging that on or about the 6th day of September, 1890, the Honorable Charles M. Bradshaw, collector of customs for the district of Puget Sound, did seize said vessel as forfeited to the use of the United States. The master of said vessel was Anthony Oliver; that said vessel did then and there knowingly, willfully and unlawfully, in and upon said vessel, bring into the United States and into the district of Puget Sound, certain Chinese laborers, and did then and there attempt to land and permit to be landed said Chinese laborers, whose names are unknown, they having been brought in said vessel from a foreign port, to-wit, from a port in the province of British Columbia, contrary to the statutes in such cases made and provided, and in violation of the Chinese Restriction Act of the United States.
“Said vessel did then and there knowingly, willfully and unlawfully, in and upon said vessel, bring into the United States... certain Chinese laborers.”
This notice captures the rigid and exclusionary enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act era in Seattle. Today, the maritime routes of the Puget Sound remain a central focus of regional and national debates regarding immigration policy, enforcement, and human movement.
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