History of Chinese Americans in Idaho

The history of Chinese Americans in the US state of Idaho spans its history as both a territory and state. It began in the 1850s with the arrival of a group of miners from California. During the 1860s, a large number of Chinese immigrants, primarily working in the mining industry, arrived in the Idaho Territory, and according to the 1870 United States census, there were 4,274 Chinese people out of a total population of 14,999. In several mining communities, Chinese immigrants constituted a majority of the population. These immigrants faced discrimination from the majority white American population, which included legislation that targeted them for taxation and prohibited their involvement in certain industries, among other things. By the 1880s, there had been numerous incidents of violence against the Chinese, including multiple group killings and the expulsion of Chinese communities from several municipalities.

Humans first arrived in the area of modern-day Idaho approximately 11,000 years Before Present. By the beginning of the 19th century, there were several groups of indigenous peoples of the Americas living permanently in the region, with others living in the area on a nomadic basis. The first white people arrived in the area in the early 19th century, with members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition reaching the area in 1805. Permanent white American settlement began around 1810 as part of the North American fur trade. In addition to the fur trade, some subsequent settlement efforts stemmed from Christian mission efforts to convert the Native Americans in the area. In 1863, the Idaho Territory was organized as a territory of the United States. Idaho became a U.S. state in 1890.

In 1856, a small group of Chinese miners from Fresno, California, traveled north into the Rocky Mountains, reaching the drainage basin of the Boise River in modern-day southern Idaho. In 1859, another mining group visited the basin. In 1860, gold was discovered in modern-day Pierce, Idaho, with additional discoveries made around the same time in other parts of the region, including Idaho City and Warren. This prompted an influx of several thousand miners into the region, including both white people and Chinese immigrants. In 1862, when gold was discovered in the watershed of the Boise River, Chinese people were among the first to begin mining in the area. That same year, a Chinese person was recorded for the first time in the area around Lewiston. While Chinese people initially settled in the northern part of the territory, by 1865, several had settled the southern part as well, including the Owyhee Mountains region.

During the 19th century, Chinese immigrants in Idaho, as in other parts of the country, were subject to anti-Chinese sentiment by white Americans. Chinese immigrants were barred from naturalizing and gaining American citizenship, and there were restrictions on purchasing land. Violence against Chinese people was also common in Idaho, with Hart stating in 2020 that murder victims in Idaho during the 1860s "were often Chinese". Reflecting the anti-Chinese sentiment that was common at the time, journalist James O'Meara, as the editor of the Idaho World newspaper in Idaho City, wrote in 1865, "The Chinamen are coming. Lord deliver us from the locusts of Egypt, they devour all men before them." Similarly, an 1868 article in the Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman stated, "The influx of Chinamen continues unabated to the great disgust of the American miners generally". Anti-Chinese sentiment was further reflected in the common names given to local plants and geographic features.