The Forced Exodus: Seattle’s Chinese Merchants Face Expulsion
Under immense community pressure and threats of violence in 1885, Chinese residents of Seattle report on their forced liquidation of property and preparations to leave the city.
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.
A representative of the Post-Intelligencer was detailed to interview a number of the leading Chinese merchants of the town and ascertain their views on the anti-Chinese movement. W. Gem, a merchant, said: 'I have worked all my life, saved my money, and invested it all in Seattle. I have laid logs on Main Street, which, together with my stock of goods, cost me $1,500. The committee told us that nine-tenths of the people wanted the Chinese to go, and that the authorities stated they were unable to protect us. If they would get someone to buy my lease and the building, I would pack up and leave. Many Chinamen haven't got a cent and are walking the road from here to Portland. It looks as though the Chinamen have no protection under the law.' Other merchants expressed similar desperation. Ah Tai, a merchant on Mill Street, said, 'I will go as soon as I can dispose of my stock.' Will Lee, proprietor of a wash house on Mill Street, said, 'I don't know what to do; I think I will close up my business and go. Some people owe me big bills for washing. If they will pay up, I can get acquired around to leave in two weeks. If they don't pay, I will have to stay a month.' Captain Haith of the Arlington stated that his dishwashers and all the Chinese employed there have given him notice that they will leave in a few days, as they are afraid to stay.
“It looks as though the Chinamen have no protection under the law. ... I never saw such a world as this. If the people were going to drive us out, they should have said so before we invested our money here.”
This 1885 report documents the orchestrated expulsion of Seattle's Chinese community—a dark chapter of xenophobic 'labor' riots that forcibly displaced residents who had built their lives in the city. It serves as a stark reminder that Seattle's current housing and gentrification pressures exist on a long historical continuum of who is granted the right to belong and hold property in this city.
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