Hells Canyon 1887

Hells Canyon Massacre 1887

A tragic massacre occurred in Oregon along the Snake River in Hells Canyon in 1887. Hells Canyon is a natural death trap with sloping cliffs, dangerous canyons, and massive boulders. It seems ironic that a massacre happened in such a traitorous area. On May 25, 1887, a gang of seven horse thieves killed 31 Chinese Miners. The thieves killed the Chinese Miners and deposed of their bodies in the river. They also took their gold equating to around $4,000-$5,000. They slaughter of these Chinese miners was brutal and disturbing. They were shot, dismembered, decapitated, drowned, and thrown in the river.

An investigation took place, but attention to detail was few and happened days after the massacre. A trial was held, however, no one was held accountable for the murders. George Craig, a Wallowa County Rancher who attended the trial said, “I guess if they had killed 31 white men, something would have been done about it, but none of the jury knew the Chinamen or cared much about it, so they turned the men loose.”

This event brought media representation to the Chinese population in the American West. The media coverage of the event was seemingly biased. Some articles stated that they couldn’t prove that it was white men who killed the Chinese miners and perhaps it was Indians who killed them. It was said that this was possible a mystery that would never be solved. Regardless how the massacre was represented at the time, it still provided media coverage in the form of articles and a trail. The trial and articles helped expose the racial factors that contributed to the massacre, even just by reading an article today, one can feel the tone of insincerity towards the ones who lost their lives.

The massacre was an act of hatred and racial discrimination. The police and legal system did not do the massacre justice. They simply did not investigate the crime scene enough. The investigations took place on several different occasions because the first investigation that happened days after the massacre didn’t provide enough detail. The trial did not even convict anyone of murder. It wasn’t until an active investigation occurred did anyone even confess to committing the crimes. A complete list of the victim’s names was never truly known. It wasn’t until 2005 that the Oregon Board of Geographic Names began to truly research the victims in this massacre.

Racial discrimination - Korean American

The first group of Koreans to the United States officially came to Hawaii in 1903, Dr. Horace Allen was a medical doctor who developed his close relationship with King Kojong. He is one of the influential Americans who initiated and made possible the Korean labor immigration to Hawaii.
102 Korean migrants arrive in Hawaii, they involved Hawaii sugar plantation labor.

Korean American is one of the ethnic minority groups residing in the United States. The United States' first Korean American, Peter Chang, is born in October. His life is the history of Korean immigrants. His mother boarded one of Korea's first immigrant boats, the Gallic, in 1903, well into pregnancy, and gave birth to Chang at the Crusaders Hospital in Oakland near San Francisco, as Chang became the first Korean-American.
Chang considers himself 100 percent Korean and 100 percent American. He is a citizen of the United States, but he cannot escape from being a Korean, which is what makes him a quintessential "Korean-American."
"My father (Chang Hong-bong) was a ginseng trader who escaped to the United States to flee Japan's imperialism, but he also disliked the racism of America that only gave Asians dirty bottom work," Peter Chang explained. "So he took the family to Shanghai, China, and went back and forth between China and Australia selling ginseng before he met with a sea accident."
While Chang was working as a waiter at a restaurant in Shanghai, he met a Mr. Cunningham, the U.S. consul-general in Shanghai, who helped the 18-year old who spoke fluent English get on a boat to the United States. En route, he learned navigation skills and earned an AB certificate as soon as he got off the boat.
Chang enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became a sailor in 1922. He wanted to enter the U.S. Naval Academy, but he was not given the chance to apply because of racial discrimination. Chang chose torpedo school and submarine school and graduated both at the head of his class. Afterward, he became a torpedo specialist in the U.S. Navy.

Likewise, Perter Chang's experience could be one of the examples of the racial discrimination in the American society. Even he has spent his all life in the United States, he cannot escape from being a Korean. Thus, the reason why many ethnic minority groups to be a model minority.