The Squak Valley Massacre Trial
A courtroom drama unfolds as witnesses testify regarding the violent night in 1885 when white men raided a Chinese hop-picking camp.
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.
The court house was again crowded yesterday. A witness testified to the night of the attack on the Chinese camp: 'I told them to hold up until we had an understanding, so there would be no danger of any trouble. I told Ham Robertson when we got to the camp to let me do the talking. We went to the fence which divided the orchard from the Chinese camp... The moment I saw him I stopped to speak, and before I had time to speak, there was a pistol fired toward the crowd. At the same instant there were more men in the camp, and fire came from the men behind me. I gave the word to stop, but there were three or four more shots fired. Ham Robertson asked me what to do, and I said they had better get away. I started to go through the camp, and when I got to the third tent, I saw a blaze start up and I hastened away.' During cross-examination, the witness admitted to being at the scene but attempted to downplay his role. Other testimony revealed that George W. Tibbetts had threatened that if the Chinese came into the valley, the person who brought them should have their property destroyed. The trial continues as authorities attempt to sort through contradictory testimonies regarding who fired the shots that killed the Chinese workers and who provided the ammunition.
“I think the Chinamen were killed by white men, or they might have shot themselves. The first shot came from the Chinese quarters, and the next volley from Ham Robertson's crowd.”
This trial centers on the 1885 anti-Chinese riots in the Issaquah (then Squak) Valley, a violent chapter in Washington's history that forced the Chinese community out of many rural areas. It echoes today's discussions regarding land, labor, and the displacement of marginalized communities in the Puget Sound region.
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