Sweet Cakes, Long Journey: The Chinatowns of Portland, Oregon

4. Peopling the Chinese Community of Oregon

4 / Peopling the Chinese Community of Oregon During the years of exclusion, Chinese Americans were more closely identified with the western United States, where they were recorded by local and federal authorities in both rural and urban settings. East Coast cities and farms received most of the immigrants from Scandinavia and Europe, while the West Coast absorbed and retained the majority of the Chinese immigrant population. From the earliest period of their recorded presence in 1850 until the 1960 census, well over half of America’s Chinese settled in the western states of California, Oregon, and Washington.1 In spite of local expulsions and deportations, the Chinese preserved their foothold in major American cities and within their own districts of these cities. Prior to the Chinese Exclusion Act, passed in 1882, the number of West Coast Chinese was at an all-time high, with more than 90 percent of the nation’s total population living in these three states. After the adoption of exclusion and federal rules for its implementation, the Chinese population steadily shrank nationwide. As a West Coast city, Portland’s social climate was more receptive to Asian immigrant settlements. Early Chinese arrivals were aware of the city’s reputation for tolerance, which no other city of that period could match. In the development of a major urban environment, Portland ’s unique position with respect to Chinese settlement is directly related to its customs operations and the state’s economic growth, employment opportunities, and political climate. the “children of the flowery kingdom” in astoria and portland In the early years of their arrival in Portland, the Chinese made their journey from China to San Francisco. By the 1860s, vessels were bringing the Chinese directly into Oregon via Astoria and the Columbia River, and they would then settle throughout the state and the Northwest . Ships, such as the Jennie Alice, Alden Besse, Garibaldi, and Edward James, were recorded as bringing between 180 and 1,190 Chinese passengers per trip into Oregon. In a two-month period in 1882, seven tramp steamers landed more than 6,000 Chinese in Portland. Customs stations in western states were sited at ocean ports, which contributed to the development of major cities (see Table 4). Astoria, Oregon, was established in 1849 as the first and primary U.S. customs office on the Pacific coast because it was ideally positioned on the estuary of the Columbia River, which ran across Oregon and into Idaho. It was later designated the district headquarters for the Customs Service in the state of Oregon.2 Historically, Astoria had distinguished itself 150 Peopling the Chinese Community of Oregon table 3. Chinese population in the United States, 1850–1950 Chinese Chinese % of Total U.S. Year in United States in Western Statesa Chinese Population 1850 758 662 87.3 1860 35,565 35,361 99.4 1870 63,199 52,841 83.6 1880 105,465 87,828 83.3 1890 107,488 85,272 79.3 1900 89,863 59,779 66.5 1910 71,531 46,320 64.8 1920 61,639 34,265 55.6 1930 74,954 41,631 55.5 1940 77,504 43,987 56.8 1950 117,140 65,284 55.7 source: U.S. Census a For this table, the western United States are California, Oregon, and Washington. as the terminus of Lewis and Clark’s expedition west in 1805 and claimed prominence as a prime fur trading region by 1811. In the early years of the Oregon Customs District, the Treasury Department recognized that neighboring Portland, ninety miles to the southeast , had surpassed Astoria as a significant site of warehouses and docks for the receipt, storage, and shipment of goods. Portland’s population was growing, and the city quickly overshadowed Astoria both as the urban center of the state and as the settlement location preferred by the Chinese. In 1870, the Willamette Customs Collection District was established at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, and by 1890, the area was known as the Portland Customs District. The Department of the Treasury made Portland the headquarters of the Oregon District by 1913, and the collector’s position in Astoria was terminated by presidential order, leaving Portland with the only official collector of customs in the state. Portland occupied a unique geographic position compared to customs stations in other major West Coast cities: it...