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Issaquah: Probable Site of the
Chinese Camp
On the night of September 7, 1885, five white men
and two Native Americans climbed the fence around a hop farm in
what was then called Squak Valley, about 15 miles east of
Seattle. The group fired their guns repeatedly into the tents of
sleeping Chinese laborers. Three Chinese men were killed and
three others were seriously wounded. After caring for their
wounded, the remaining Chinese left the farm and did not return.
The farm was owned by the Wold brothers, who, in
an effort to cut back the wages of the existing workers at the
farm, hired a group of
37 Chinese workers just a week before the murders took place.
The white and Native American hop pickers threatened the Chinese
workers and ordered them to leave the area. The Chinese refused
to do so, and the Wold Brothers told those making the threats to
leave their farm. They left but returned two nights later with
their guns.
Three men were eventually arrested for the
murders, and one confessed and testified at trial against his
co-conspirators. In spite of the evidence, the jury took less
than thirty minutes to return a verdict of not guilty for all of
the defendants.
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About this
site: Contemporary reports on the
incident listed the location as “in the Wold Farm orchard” and
“on a small peninsula formed by a creek that ran through the
property”. The area shown across the creek in this photo is the
only present location that matches both of those descriptions.
There are no accurate maps of the creek at the time of the
incident, but it is not known to have changed course since the
beginning of the 20th century. For more information, see my
paper
Finding the Site of the Attack on the Chinese Laborers in Squak
Valley.
GPS:
47° 32' 10.92" N, 122°
02' 28.21" W |
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