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CommentsThe Nameless, Faceless People of Truckee
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Published: February 8, 2007by Eve Quesnel
Truckee's own Charles F. McGlashan attempted to bring the "Truckee Method" to other towns. At a meeting in Nevada City, he said, "The finger of Almighty God has written upon the wall, and Chinese slave-labor on the Pacific Coast is doomed."
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Before I picked up the diminutive 62-page book, I knew a few things about Truckee’s major labor force in the 1800s, but only a few. First, I knew that the Chinese were instrumental in building the railroad. Second, I knew that the Chinese Herb Shop was built like a fortress so that it couldn’t burn down. And third, I was aware that the Chinese were discriminated against, but no particulars beyond that. Through the brief history of the Truckee Anti-Chinese Boycott of 1886 in the book “The Chinese Must Go!” I gained a new understanding of a neglected part of Truckee’s history. After I read Wallace Hagaman and Steve Cottrell’s historical account, published in 2004, I felt a lot more informed. I’d even admit to its affect of making me see Truckee in a completely different light. Here are some examples.
When I drive by the Chinese Herb Shop on Southeast River Street, I now imagine a row of small buildings, Chinatown, with families stuffed in tight quarters. I imagine the smell of fish and vegetables frying and the people dressed in traditional Chinese wear. When I look up to the Capital Saloon on main street, I now imagine a fiery group assembled at yet another boycott meeting, giving resounding speeches to convince others to rid their community of the “vermin,” “the blotches,” “the pagans,” “the menace”: ‘The Chinese must go!’ they’d say. When I walk along Jibboom Street, I now imagine Fong Lee, a respected member and leader of the Chinese community, and the time he was accosted and someone cut off his queue (braid of hair). And when I’m hiking in the woods, I imagine the Chinese laboriously cutting, splitting, and hauling wood so that the Central Pacific is able to steam its engines.
The Chinese in Truckee numbered up to 1,500 in 1886, but in that same year a pervasive boycott exposed the Chinese to numerous tactics intended to expel them from the area. (The Chinese population of Truckee is currently fewer than three dozen, according to the book.) The approach was one related to economy: take their jobs away, don’t support their businesses and they won’t stay. Lastly, evict them, set fire to their buildings, and cut off their water supply. All these measures, in some form or other became famously known as the “Truckee Method,” the nonviolent, “lawful” means of getting rid of the Chinese. Taken from the “Truckee Republican” and other California newspapers, Hagaman and Cottrell piece together a part of Truckee history that is often forgotten. Most importantly, they provide the nameless, faceless people an identity. Book this one!
“For the first time in American history, an entire community [Truckee] was being asked to bind together in a lawful, nonviolent effort to purge itself of a specific ethnic population.” ~ Hagaman & Cottrell
“There need be no bloodshed or violence in cleaning the vermin out of the Truckee basin.” ~ Truckee Republican
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