Joshua Mendenhall

Historical Amnesia and The 1906 Burning of the Chinese Fishing Village

Description of Research Topic:

The first immigrant groups to fish on a large scale in the Monterey Bay were the Chinese.  They had a thriving fishing community at China Point, the present home of the Hopkins Marine Laboratory and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Unfortunately, these founding members of our present day community fell victim to racial hatred, when their settlement was destroyed in 1906.  Although some moved to a nearby settlement at Macabee Beach, anti-Chinese laws made it nearly impossible for them to work.  Today, the most visible remnant of the Chinese presence on Cannery Row comes from John Steinbeck’s novel.  The depiction of the proprietor of Wing Chong's market in Cannery Row is loosely based on an actual man -- but caricature takes the place of a historically accurate representation. Local historical museums and web sites also offer scant information on the early Chinese, and rarely credit them for being the first commercial fishermen.  What is more distressing is that the racial hatred surrounding the fire on China Point and its aftermath are completely ignored.  The World Famous Monterey Bay Aquarium rests on the very site of what once was a thriving Chinese village but again, silence surrounds the forcible removal of the Chinese from their homes.

     My research has focused on finding out what actually happened to the Chinese, and what forces were involved in the creation and perpetuation of collective amnesia in Monterey.

Summary of How and Where I Conducted Research with Summaries of What I Uncovered:

Historical Sites Visited

Cannery Row-I began my own research by visiting Cannery Row and investigating what type of historic representation is offered.  After coming to the conclusion that what is offered is a highly “Steinbeckesque” version of history, I reread Cannery Row to confirm my suspicions.    The only treatment given to the Chinese in this book is descriptions of Wing Chong. The material is based on an actual man, but portrayed stereotypically.  I then visited the Steinbeck Wax museum on Cannery Row to view their historical portrayal.  The museum offers no disclaimer to visitors that what it is offering is a fictionalized portrayal of history.  In fact, they mix in actual Spanish Mission history, presumably to make the rest of the account seem more genuine. 

Point Lobos State Reserve-   From there, I visited Point Lobos State Reserve, where the Chinese were first to set up a fishing trade.  The docents at the museum were most helpful and pointed me in the direction of some very informative books on the subject.  They also told me more about the Chinese Whalers who came to Point Lobos before anyone else, although the Portuguese are usually associated with the whaling industry, here.  In addition, I was surprised to find some physical evidence, fishing equipment, from the early Chinese settlement.  This was surprising because I had often read, and been told at the Maritime Museum, that there was no physical evidence left from the Chinese. 

Monterey Bay Aquarium -After learning of the large settlement on China Point, I went to the Monterey Aquarium, which stands on part of the old settlement to see if they had any information, but left with nothing.  The aquarium itself is built in an old Cannery, and they mention that particular industry in historical presentations.  However, there is no mention of the founding Chinese fishing settlement that previously inhabited the lot.  I found this especially odd, due to the educational nature of the Aquarium.  Why was an entire history left out?

Web Sites

I visited some local historical websites that were of some value.  One or two provided me with good preliminary information on the Chinese, but the material was vague and inconsistent.  The most valuable was an article by Jonathan Kemp.  Even it, though, speaks of the initial Point Lobos community as a “popular legend.” [1]

Archives

The Monterey Library - California Room - The most valuable research I did was in the California Room at the Monterey City Library.  This was where I began to solve the mystery of what happened to the Chinese in Monterey Bay.  I found many books on the Chinese in California that provided me with detailed and consistent information.  More importantly, I found newspaper clippings from the time leading up to the fire at China Point.  These show clearly that the Chinese were subject to racism, and that the fire was certainly not accidental.  I also think that the attitudes reflected in these articles helps to explain how and why the Chinese have been intentionally forgotten in Monterey's history.  For example, two articles, “Rich Chinese Heritage Faded Like Incense Smoke” and “When Chinatown Burned” from the Monterey Peninsula Herald, were written long after the fire, but provide wonderful information on the lives of the early Chinese and their social context. An article written at the time of the fire, “Chinatown Will Cease to Exist,” and published in the Monterey New Era, called for the removal of the Chinese at the China Point Settlement and reveals that the author’s chief concern was real estate. Among the many newspaper articles written in the decade following the fire (found in the Monterey New Era, The Monterey Cypress, and The Monterey American, information about the fire itself and the local community’s reaction to it can be found.  The articles demonstrate the prevalence of anti-Chinese sentiments in Monterey that persisted until the Chinese all but disappeared from the area during the first half of the 20th century.  One example of anti-Chinese racism is found in a 1913 brochure printed in Pacific Grove about a man named “Wong Kim”. It includes a picture and a racially charged poem about him.

Articles in CSUMB’s Oral History and Community Memory Archive:

 I have copied newspaper articles and placed them in CSUMB’s Oral History and Community Memory Archive that reflect the ethnic and economic tensions at the time of the fire and ostracization of the Chinese community in Monterey around the turn of the century.  It is my goal to make these articles available to those who are looking for a more accurate depiction of the Chinese in Monterey as well as the shameful circumstances surrounding their disappearance. 

Index

All articles are care of the California History Room at the Monterey Public Library, Local History Collection, California Room, in the Clipping file on China Point.

Articles From the Monterey Peninsula Herald

(Author not included), “Chinese Heritage Faded Like Incense Smoke” Monterey Peninsula Herald, 09/08/1975 p D1

William Millis, “When Chinatown Burned”ibid., 03/25/1944

Articles From the Monterey New Era

(No author) “Chinatown Will Cease to Exist” Monterey New Era,  11/29/1905

(No author) “Burning of Chinatown Causes Complications” ibid. 05/23/1906 p4

(No author) “The Last of Chinatown” ibid. 10/04/1906

(No author)  “Chinese Sports” ibid. 03/20/1901

(No author) “Chinese will Hold Annual Celebration” ibid. 03/01/1905

(No author) “Chinese Must Find New Location” ibid. 02/14/1906

(No author, no title) ibid. 01/17/1906

(No author, no title) ibid. 02/28/1906

Articles From the Monterey Cypress

M.L. Megladdery, “Did Orientals Discover Our Pacific Coast?” Monterey Cypress 06/06/1913

(No author) “Local Chinese Worried” ibid. 03/08/1913

(No author) “Chinese May Leave” ibid. 08/18/1911

(No author, illegible title) ibid. 01/31/1923

Articles From the Monterey American

Wong Kim, Christmas, 1913 brochure, by Joel Ware Foster, Pacific Grove, CA California History Room, Monterey Public Library, Monterey CA

View of the China Point Area today. The Aquarium and Hopkins Marine Lab (both pictured) rest within the boundaries of the Chinese settlement which burned down in 1906.

An article printed in the Monterey New Era newspaper, after the fire at China Point. This article gives some context for the fire and the activities surrounding it. It also gives a sample of how local public opinion was slanted, at the time.

An article taken from the Monterey Daily Cypress newspaper a few years after the fire at China Point. The article discusses how the Chinese who relocated in Monterey were now considering leaving, as their once allowed penchant for gambling was being restricted. This article was written at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was high, and many wanted the Chinese out of Monterey completely. It is used to highlight the sentiment towards Chinese immigrants at that time.

An article from the Monterey New Era newspaper, written about 6 months before the fire at China Point. It is a heavily biased piece, illustrating the anti-Chinese feeling of the time. This is one of a number of articles published by this particular periodical prior to the fire, which openly encouraged the expedient removal of the Chinese immigrants from China Point.

A brochure published in Pacific Grove at Christmas, 1913. It is a poem about a Chinese man named Wong Kim. I could not find any information on why it was printed, but it illustrates the open prejudice towards the Chinese and the racial stereotypes that were prevalent at that time.

Summary and Evaluation of Research:

 I learned much about Chinese immigrant history in Monterey from this project.  As a result, I believe that the Chinese were forced by societal and physical pressure to move from their village in 1906.  There is a trail of information to be found in the newspaper articles surrounding the date of the fire.  The Chinese were renting land from The Pacific Improvement Company rented land to the Chinese but social and economic pressure continued to be mounted against the fishing village. Although they did not want to leave, they began to make arrangements to move to a Seaside location.  When this deal fell through, the Chinese fishing village requested more time from their landlords.

But three months later, their settlement was “mysteriously” burned to the ground.  The whites in the area looted the village and did not allow the Chinese to enter or rebuild.  Soon local laws were passed making it impossible for the Chinese to inhabit China Point.  They moved to MacaBee Beach, where a new settlement was erected, but it only lasted a couple more decades.  During this time, more and more laws were passed preventing the Chinese from living and working in the area.  Now, it is hard to find out what happened to the Chinese without diving into a historical archive. 

I work as a Natural History Guide for Monterey Bay Kayaks, and present historical information on Cannery Row daily.  I have begun telling my clients about the Chinese who founded the famous fishing industry in Monterey.  I also tell them about the circumstances under which they had to move, as well as their current exclusion from many of the tourist oriented local historic presentations.  The local presentations rarely stray from a “Steibeckesque” model. 

All of the customers who I have told this to are very interested.  They agree that, under the circumstances, there is an element of historical cover-up going on.  They also agree that the Chinese should be mentioned more in tourist oriented histories.  Many have been emphatic about the fact that the Aquarium should pay homage to the Chinese who lived, worked, and died in the exact spot where today’s tourist Mecca now stands.  I have also told the other guides about this information.  They are now using it in their local history lectures, as well.  If enough of us start talking about the Chinese again, then their history here will not be forgotten.

Follow-Up:

At the end if this report, I began to seek out two major areas of interest.  Firstly, it became apparent that the anti-Chinese racism in Monterey was not unique to this locale.  It was running rampant in California and the rest of the country.  Follow up research should be done on specific laws passed against the Chinese, as well as how they were affected by the larger social context.

     Secondly, although shame over our collective past is an understandable reason for not including this history of the Chinese, I believe there is more to it.  Future researchers are encouraged to seek out who benefits from the omission of this information from the general historical record.  I would be interested to know if the Pacific Improvement Co., which ousted the Chinese from China point, is still in business or related to any of the major corporations which currently operate in the Monterey Area