Lorraine Hee-Chorley - Chinese in Mendocino County

It has been documented that the Chinese were known to work in various occupations, such as in laundries and as cooks. History acknowledges that the Chinese were also the main labor force in building the railroads; however, very little credit is given to them for their contribution to the beginning of the wine industry, farming, or their distinctive cuisine. Chinese labors worked in the vineyards in Napa Valley, taking care of the grapes or digging large storage tunnels for the vineyards. Today, little to nothing is said about their contribution to this industry in California. One could also find that they became dairymen, miners, woodcutters, and vegetable growers, as stated in Ruthanne Lum McCunns book, An Illustrated History of the Chinese in America .

Because of the distance of Mendocino County from San Francisco, one would assume the remoteness would make the county immune to the ongoing anti-Chinese movement within the labor unions in the 1800s. Unfortunately, the labor unions did play a pivotal role in fostering their anti-Chinese sentiment into the county population, as will be clearly illustrated in the Fort Bragg and Westport sections. In a recent book, Driven Out: The Forgotten War against Chinese America , it was noted that the Chinese were ousted in the major towns within Mendocino County. However, this author did not find any documentation to support that Gualala and Mendocino were participants. As a matter of fact, the Mendocino Beacon of February 27, 1886, states: Point Arena had an anti-Chinese meeting last week, and appointed an executive committee. Mendocino is said to be the only place in the county where the political pot is not fairly boiling. It has also been clearly documented that there were larger populations in the towns of Gualala and Mendocino. One has to ask, if the expulsions were as effective as this recently published book discussed, how is it that the fourth generation of the first Chinese settlers of Mendocino could still be here? If the expulsion did take place, why wasnt the Hee family driven out and the Taoist temple destroyed? Even though the books information is not correct about all the towns in Mendocino County, it is still an important piece of work that documents the systematic driving-out of the Chinese in California and other states.

This button was created around 1876, when Dr. C. C. ODonnell ran for mayor in San Francisco on the anti-Chinese ticket. His campaign platform was to run out all the Chinese in San Francisco within 24 hours after he was elected. (Courtesy Elaine Hamby of Willits.)

Above is a c. 1900 picture of the Chinese laundry on the west side of Main Street in Mendocino. The building is no longer standing. (Courtesy Loretta Hee McCoard, Escola Collection.)

The Chinese took advantage of what the sea had to offer, and in the 1800s, they were the ones who really brought attention to what could be harvested. Not only did the Chinese harvest fish, but they also introduced the abalone to the world. It is noted in A History of the Chinese in California by Thomas Chinn that the Chinese were seen harvesting the mollusk in 1856. By the 1870s, the Chinese abalone junks were a common sight in San Diego. In 1860, the shell of the mollusk was also prized for jewelry. Fishing was the key industry, but there were many other specialized industries, such as the harvesting of sea algae, shrimp, and abalone along the Mendocino coast. The Chinese would pick sea palm and sea lettuce, dry the algae, and then sell them in San Francisco to later be shipped to China. The abalone was also dried and its shell exported and sold in China. This picture shows the drying of shrimp from the harvesting along the Mendocino coast. (Courtesy Kelley House Museum.)

The Chinese had various businesses throughout the city of Ukiah, but they were mainly cooks and laborers. There were some lumber mills inland, but they were not as abundant as on the coast due to shipping costs over land versus sea. This is Waugh, the head laundry man at the Palace Hotel, Ukiah, around the 1900s. (Courtesy MCHS, Robert Lee Collection, No. 08368.)

Pictured here is Lung, who worked as a cook at the Palace Hotel around 1897. The Palace Hotel is still in Ukiah but is abandoned. (Courtesy MCHS, No. 08369A.)

There was a Chinese presence in Ukiah even though the city tried to restrict their commerce. Shown here is additional Chinese help at the Palace Hotel around 1897. In the photograph from left to right are Lung the cook, Sam, and Low. (Courtesy MCHS, No. 0869B.)