The 1886 Pact to Purge Chinese Laborers from Seattle Canneries
Newly unearthed documentation reveals a formal agreement between cannery owners and the Knights of Labor to replace all Chinese workers with white employees by September 1886.
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 threatened strike of the white cannerymen against the employment of Chinese in the Columbia River salmon canneries seems to be averted, the cannery owners having made an arrangement with the Knights of Labor as follows: Whereas, it is desired by all parties that Chinese laborers should be supplanted by white laborers; and Whereas, it is recognized by all parties that it is impossible for cannerymen on the Columbia River to dispense with Chinese laborers during the coming season; now, therefore, in view of the premises and for the purpose of arriving at an amicable settlement and solution of said matter, it is stipulated and agreed as follows: First—The cannerymen agree that from this date they will not permit any Chinese to do any knitting whatsoever for hire. Second—Said cannerymen will not, from and after this date, employ any Chinese servants in or about their dwelling houses or elsewhere, provided that suitable white help be found by Knights of Labor. Third—That from and after September 1, 1886, said cannerymen will not at any time employ any Chinamen in or about their canneries in any capacity whatsoever.
“Whereas, it is desired by all parties that Chinese laborers should be supplanted by white laborers.”
This article documents the exclusionary climate of 1880s Seattle, reflecting the aggressive labor-led efforts to force Chinese migrants out of the Pacific Northwest economy. It serves as a stark artifact of the anti-Chinese sentiment that defined the decade, leading to the forced expulsions of 1886—a period of civic unrest that continues to shape discussions of labor, race, and local power dynamics in the region today.
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