The Expulsion at Carbonado
Armed mobs force Chinese laborers to flee the Carbonado mines as the Anti-Chinese movement sweeps through the Puget Sound region.
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.
Wednesday evening, some of the residents of Carbonado noticed a number of strange faces throughout the town, and upon inquiry, it was learned that these men had come from the Black Diamond and Franklin coal mines for the purpose of driving the Chinese from Carbonado. All night long, these men came straggling into town in small groups until yesterday morning. There were about 100 men, all armed to the teeth with rifles, shotguns, and revolvers. A committee waited upon Mr. D. T. Davies, superintendent of the mines of the Carbon Hill Coal Company, on Wednesday night and told him they had come for the purpose of driving the Chinese from town. Mr. Davies telegraphed to San Francisco for instructions, but the crowd would not wait; they went to the Chinese quarters and told the men they must all leave in the morning. The Chinese were paid off Wednesday evening. While the morning train was delayed by a fallen tree, the mob forced the laborers to march on foot toward Tacoma until the train finally arrived, at which point they boarded. In consequence of the dismissal of the Mongolian laborers, the mines have shut down for an indefinite time, throwing about 200 miners out of work. The local miners at Carbonado took no part in the expulsion.
“There were about 100 men, all armed to the teeth with rifles, shotguns, and revolvers.”
The 1886 anti-Chinese riots across Washington Territory reflect a dark chapter of exclusionary labor violence that reshaped the state's demographics. Today, this history serves as a reminder of the fragility of community cohesion in the face of xenophobic scapegoating, contrasting with the region's current identity as a hub of global diversity.
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