“No Chinamen Here”
Photocopy of a 5x9” card that sparked the research for this article. On the reverse side of a map of Montana, the card lists the “Big Five” reasons why Great Falls should be the capital of Montana. Reason number 5 states: “It is a laboring man’s town. It has no Chinamen and never will have.”
Early Great Falls was a shining metropolis of potential for Montana. The late 1800’s brought prosperity and drew settlers of all races and creeds to its riverbanks. But not all were welcome. An incident in September of 1885 is a blatant illustration of the feelings held not only by Great Falls, but held throughout Montana against Chinese people at that time. Accounts of the following event have been skewed by time and by retellings, but the sentiment of the tale has not changed. Great Falls did not want “Chinamen” in their town.
Ah Wah, a former resident of Sun River, Montana, came to Great Falls in Mid-August of 1885 in the hopes of opening a laundry. Competition was hard and Great Falls had no Chinese laundries at the time; Ah Wah intended to be the first.
Martha E. Plassmann, editor of the Great Falls Leader in the early 1900s, reflected on the event decades later:
“At that time feeling throughout the west was at a fever pitch against the Chinese, especially on the Pacific Coast, and mainly among the working class. There was reason for this antagonism that had nothing to do with racial prejudice. [..] They were honest and industrious, working long hours and demanding but small wages. They never indulged in strikes. Naturally, they came into competition with white labor, always with the result of lowering wages, which latter invariably means a correspondingly lower standard of living.”
That fear of competition spurred a group of men into action the night of August 30, 1885. The Great Falls Tribune reported the incident in Saturday’s paper:
“Last Sunday night, about 12 o’clock certain parties went to Ah Wah’s laundry and under pretense bringing some clothes to be washed, the celestial opened the door. No sooner was the door opened than he was seized by the neck and nearly choked to death, and after being muzzled so he could not cry out, was dragged to the river and placed in a small boat, without oars, and pushed off into the stream. Then one of the parties counseled killing the celestial, which frightened him so that he jumped from the boat into the stream and swam out around the dam, and over rapids down to a point below the Cataract Mill, where he came ashore in a badly demoralized condition. He says there were ten in the party, all of whom wore handkerchiefs over their faces, but one. This is certainly a brave act, for ten or twelve men to jump onto a poor Chinaman and nearly kill him. If the Chinaman is not wanted here there are other ways of removing him than by resorting to such low vandalism.”
The dam referred to by the Tribune was built as part of the first flour mill, the Cataract Mill, located about where the Electric City Water Park (100 River Dr S) is today.
Image of an article clipping from the “Spray of the Falls” (a column for various quick stories on business and local people news) August 29, 1885 Great Falls Tribune. The writer of the column quotes the laundry owner, unnamed in this article, in “dialect:” “[…] Chinaman washee plenty; shirtees muchee dirty, muchee hard workee, no money — standee Chinaman off. Melican man then go putee on clean shirtee, and me no know him after that, so losee allee money.”
More to this story was revealed by the Tribune on September 19th:
“The Chinaman affair in this place culminated last Tuesday in John packing his Saratoga and leaving the town without much ado. Bad blood was stirred up by the outcome of the attempt to make John leave some weeks ago, and has been agitated between drinks since, and dire threats were made against him, if he did not go. John was naturally afraid, and had made arrangements to go out on Wednesday’s coach, but being afraid of his life procured an old unloaded navy revolver which he packed around, as a means of defense during the intervening time. Tuesday afternoon he foolishly went down to where the workmen were engaged on the dam, and exhibiting his ancient weapon, said to the boys, ‘you foolee me, and me shoot.’ That remark settled the Chinese question. The workmen immediately stopped operations, for the time, and gave John to understand that he must go, and that too, without any unnecessary delay. It is needless to say that he stood not upon the order of his going. But as soon as he could arrange matters, John took passage with E. B. Largent for Johnstown (West Side Great Falls), with the intention of shaking all the Great Falls dust from the soles of his sandals as soon as he arrived on the opposite side of the Missouri. As soon as John got fairly started, a large concourse of men gutted his shack of its paraphernalia, and loading it into a wagon, formed a procession and marched down to the ferry where it was taken across the river. During the trip from his shack to the ferry, it is said that John became so frightened that he turned three shades whiter than snow.”
This is the most famous instance of Great Falls’ prejudice against Chinese immigrants, but there were more and they all ended in the same way: no Chinese stayed. This prejudice stayed for many years, and it was considered something Great Falls was proud of, as seen on the promotional card that boasted ‘[Great Falls] is a laboring man’s town. It has no Chinamen and never will have.”
Ad published in the April 21, 1892 Tribune. Highlighted portion reads “We handle no almoned-eyed, opium-tainted, washee washee goods, made on the top of the hill known as the Dupont district. If you want honest goods that fit like a duck’s foot in water, consult One-Price Clothier Nate Wertheim, Park Hotel Block”
Great Falls had another incident in 1941: two Chinese gentlemen from Helena wanted to open a restaurant in where the old Grounlund Café had been (122 Central Ave).
From the May 13, 1941 Tribune:
“Protests against letting Orientals engage in business in this city were received by the [city] council in letters from the Gerald café, Hotel and Restaurant employees union, Bartenders union and the Great Falls Restaurant association. An oral protest was entered by George A. Dabler, manager of the Ideal Laundry. He said he did not know whether the council had jurisdiction in the matter, but he urged that serious consideration be given to the unfavorable effect that he believed would result for several lines of business if oriental competition were allowed.”
Those two gentlemen, Rudy Wong and his brother, were allowed to open their restaurant in 1941, the Mandarin Café, which became the first Chinese restaurant in Great Falls.
Great Falls denied itself a vibrant culture that could have contributed to its growth and legacy. Instead, Great Falls must acknowledge its past and learn from it.
Author: Megan Sanford, Archives Administrator