After the Riot: Martial Law and the Reassertion of Civil Order
Governor Watson C. Squire revokes martial law in Seattle following the forced expulsion of Chinese laborers, signaling a return to civil governance.
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On February 23, 1886, Governor Watson C. Squire officially revoked the declaration of martial law in Seattle. Mayor H.L. Yesler communicated to the Governor that the city's civil authorities, bolstered by the addition of twenty-five reliable men to the police force and the reorganization of local militia companies, were once again prepared to maintain order. The proclamation followed a period of intense volatility in which a mob raided Chinatown and forced over a hundred residents onto steamers. While local authorities and the 'Home Guard' intervened—resulting in casualties when militia fired upon the mob—the city eventually faced Federal scrutiny under treaty obligations. Governor Squire’s proclamation expressed relief that the period of civil disorder had passed and exhorted citizens to remain vigilant in maintaining the law.
“That volley that startled the streets of Seattle meant all this, and it was heard in the streets of every city on this coast.”
The 1886 anti-Chinese expulsion remains a foundational trauma in Seattle history, marking a dark intersection of labor desperation and xenophobic violence. Today, the site of the former Chinatown wharf is a central part of the Pioneer Square historic district, where the memory of this exclusionary past continues to shape conversations about the city’s civic identity.
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