…in Southern Idaho
In the late 19th Century, many Chinese men migrated from California to Idaho, along with Europeans and others in pursuit of gold and the promise of Manifest Destiny.
The Idaho Territory spawned numerous mining towns, and Chinese residents and laborers made up one-third of the population by 1870. Due in part to anti-Chinese sentiment, Chinese settlers lived close together and worked difficult and undesirable jobs like laundry service, cooking, small farming, and smelter work.
Anti-Chinese sentiment grew in the West.
In 1882, President Chester Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act. As a result, racial discrimination grew more intense and more violent. There were organized efforts to run Chinese residents out of Idaho towns: in Hailey, an Anti-Chinese League formed, and the Wood River Times wrote anti-Chinese opinions.
To date, there is very little known about the many Chinese residents of the Wood River Valley, because none of them remained. Tracks & Traces tells the story of their ghosts.
