The Day Tacoma Forced Out Its Chinese Neighbors
In a pre-planned act of collective expulsion, hundreds of residents marched through the rain to force the city's Chinese population to flee to Lakeview, marking a dark chapter in Pacific Northwest history.
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 9:30 this morning, the signal tocsin was sounded by blowing shop whistles. In a few minutes, from one hundred to one hundred fifty men swarmed the streets. The residents repaired to the Chinese houses quietly and ordered them all to pack up and leave. Everything was orderly, no violence occurring. At 4:30 p.m., a long string of Chinese commenced to move, drays carrying their luggage. The Chinese merchants were given until tomorrow to pack their goods, and were each allowed three assistants for the work. The Chinese went on foot to Lakeview, a station nine miles south of here, where their goods have been taken. A detail of 100 citizens will guard them during the night. About 200 Chinese left town. All is quiet and peace reigns. There is no trouble. The Chinese houses are guarded by a citizens' patrol to prevent the molestation of the occupants.
“Everything was orderly, no violence occurring. At 4:30 p.m., a long string of Chinese commenced to move, drays carrying their luggage.”
This event, known as the Tacoma Chinese Expulsion of 1885, was part of a wave of anti-Chinese violence across the West. It serves as a stark reminder of how civic-led 'order' can be used to mask systemic ethnic cleansing and profound injustice.
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