Rock Springs, Wyoming, was a coal town run by the Union Pacific Railroad. Before 1875 the mines there had been worked by white laborers. That year they struck for a wage increase. The company imported 150 Chinese, fired the strikers, and reopened the mines. For ten years whites and Chinese worked peacefully together. But the mid-1880’s were a time of rising labor militancy and rapid growth in the membership of the Knights of Labor. When the Knights formed a local in Rock Springs in 1883, their attempt to organize the mines was blocked by the refusal of the Chinese to join the union or to strike. Pent-up hatred exploded on September 2, 1885, in a massacre in which twenty-eight Chinese were killed, fifteen wounded, and hundreds driven out of town. Most of the aggressors were themselves immigrants, mainly Welsh, Cornishmen, and Swedes. The local grand jury brought in no indictment.
Many of the Chinese who fled were saved from further assault by the arrival of federal troops, sent by President Cleveland at the request of the Governor of Wyoming. The soldiers escorted them back to Rock Springs, and they were soon at work in the mines again; the Union Pacific discharged forty-five whites who were believed to have taken part in the massacre. The Knights of Labor then asked the railroad to remove all Chinese laborers, but the General Manager replied: “When the company can be assured against strikes … at the hands of persons who deny its owners the right to manage their property, it may consider the expediency of abandoning Chinese labor.”
The Chinese government asked for punishment of the rioters, and for indemnification; indemnity was granted in 1887 by Congress. The following document is a statement by Ralph Zwicky, an eye-witness, submitted to a Congressional Committee inquiring into the justice of the indemnity: House Report No. 2044 “Providing Indemnity to Certain Chinese Subjects,” 49th Congress, 1st Session, May 1, 1886. See Paul Crane and Alfred Larson: “The Chinese Massacre,” Annals of Wyoming, XII (January and April 1940), 47–55, 153–60.
In the forenoon of September 2 our clerk reported from No. 6 mine that a fight had taken place in the mine between white and Chinese miners; that several Chinamen had been seriously hurt, and that the men were all leaving the mines.
About one-half hour afterwards an armed body of men from No. 6 came marching down the track towards the town. At the bridge crossing Bitter Creek the men halted and held a conference. Upon persuasion by a few citizens, they left their arms in the store nearby and continued their march up town and down Front Street towards the hall of the Knights of Labor, shouting, while marching, “White men fall in.” Their number was augmented by several tradesmen and miners from other mines. The word was then passed around, “A miners’ meeting will be held at 6 o’clock in the evening to settle the Chinese question.” The men then dispersed in the different saloons. It becoming evident that the men were imbibing freely, all stores and saloons agreed not to sell any more intoxicating drinks that day. A good deal of talk was indulged in about making the Chinese leave camp, but no outsider took it seriously. In the afternoon, about 2 o’clock, the same body of men came marching past the store again, armed with their rifles. They crossed the railroad towards the Chinese section-house, driving the men out towards Chinatown.
Soon the rioters came abreast the outlying houses of Chinatown, about 150 strong, half of them carrying Winchester rifles. There they halted, as it seemed, for consultation. In a little while several revolver shots were fired, whether by whites or Chinamen I could not say, but I began to realize the seriousness of the situation. What appeared first to be the mad frolic of ignorant men was turning into an inhuman butchery of innocent beings. The rioters now cautiously advanced. Now a rifle-shot, followed by another and still another, was heard, and then a volley was fired. The Chinamen were fleeing like a herd of hunted antelopes, making no resistance. Volley upon volley was fired after the fugitives. In a few minutes the hill east of the town was literally blue with the hunted Chinamen. In the mean time fire broke out in a China [sic] house, and one after another followed in being laid into ashes. Some houses may have caught fire from others, but it was also evident that many separate fires were laid. Shooting and burning continued uninterrupted until no more Chinamen were in sight and half the houses were gone up in flames.
Towards 5 o’clock the rioters headed for the town again, crossing Bitter Creek, stopping on the bank, where stood a Chinaman’s wash-house. The rioters surrounded it, and fired several shots through the roof. It was evident that a poor Chinaman was hid away, for a revolver shot made the crowd more cautious. A good many more shots were fired into the house, and then the bloody work was finished; the poor fellow was shot in the back of the head. The rioters took up their march towards Sonquie’s house, in the midst of the town. All the Chinamen being gone, they order Sonquie’s wife to leave town. From here the rioters went to No. 1 mine. A few wretches had sought safety there, but they were driven out, while the rioters fired their rifles into the air. It was too public a place for any rioter to aim low, and this fact probably saved the lives of the Chinamen. The rioters then went to foreman Evans and told him to leave town first train east; also gave the same order to William H. O’Donnell, foreman of the Chinese, and employed by Beckwith, Quinn & Co.
The first act was now over, and the rioters dispersed for supper. But it was plain to be seen that their bad blood was up, and could only be cooled down by further destruction. A little after nightfall the firing of the remaining China houses commenced, and continued until after midnight. All this time men, women, and children were engaged in looting and plundering. The next morning a horrible sight presented itself to the visitor in Chinatown. In one place lay three burnt bodies, and one or two in several others. One body was almost eaten by hogs. It had been roasted by the fire. Another body, shot through the back, lay in the sagebrush, and others were found in different directions. Altogether the number of those known to have lost their lives reached twenty-one. Thirty-nine houses were burned at No. 3 mine, with a large number of dugouts belonging to Chinamen. Five houses were burnt at No. 6 mine, and one section-house in town.