The Hop Pickers' Labor Pipeline
Business leaders in 1885 Seattle formalize the recruitment of Chinese labor to fuel Washington's booming hop harvest.
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.
At a meeting of the Western Mill Company, D. T. Denny, C. L. Mason, R. Langford, M. M. McCarver and John H. Denny were named trustees; D. T. Denny, President; and H. S. Frink, secretary of the board of this company. It was decided that all employees of the business are to be strictly temperate, and build a mill for the western threat. The Seattle Rod and Gun Club has also sent out a circular letter, which will be sent to all organized sporting societies in the Northwest. The letter explains itself: 'Seattle, August 7, 1885. Gentlemen: We have been told that you will be consideration of sportsmen and in Seattle, August 21, 1885, for the purpose of organizing an Inter-State Sportsmen's Association, for the purpose of securing better and more uniform laws for the protection of game for the Northwest Coast. We will hope that you will send delegates of at least three to concur with the committee here. We will have, under the auspices of our club, a grand blue bird tournament and dog show, for the sports rifle in the Northwest. We will furnish $500 in gold and other prizes, which will give all kinds of inducement. We are soliciting a delegation from your club, and mention that we will endeavor to make your stay so Seattle pleasant enough, we beg to remain, yours brotherly, Executive Committee, Rod and Gun Club.' A notice was also published: 'WANTED—At once, men at $2 and $2.25 per day. To furnish Chinese Hop Pickers. The best Territory. EMPLOYMENT BUREAU and Commercial Agency, Washington Street, Next door to Judge Ivor’s Court.'
“WANTED—At once, men at $2 and $2.25 per day. To furnish Chinese Hop Pickers.”
In 1885, Seattle’s economy was being aggressively built on the backs of migrant labor and extractive industries. This notice illustrates the cold, commodified recruitment of Chinese workers for the hop fields—a stark contrast to the 'sporting' leisure culture of the era’s elite, highlighting a massive disparity in how different classes of people were valued in the developing city.
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