Originally Posted by odinthor
Chinese Massacre details vary concerning this affair depending upon the person reporting, but the general outlines are clear; as background, first let us note in our entries above under heading Chinese, the public irritations of 1869 and 1870, as well as that competing tongs dominated the respective opposing lines of buildings on the east side and west side of Calle de los Negros; October 21, 1871, conflict in the Calle de los Negros area between two tongs over the abduction of a woman to Santa Barbara (or perhaps San Diego), Yo Hing being head of one tong, Ah Choy being the offending member of another tong; J.P. Widney recalled that Chinese domestics had been mentioning an upcoming “war” and noted that gunsmiths were selling out of their wares to the Chinese in the weeks preceding; the tong losing the woman had a warrant issued for her arrest on an accusation of stealing jewelry, and she was arrested and returned to L.A.; as the vehicle conveying her to jail approached its destination in L.A., a mob of armed Chinese from both tongs gathered in the street, violence being averted only by the exertions of the city marshal’s tiny police force; October 23, 1871, Ah Choy was arrested on the complaint of Yo Hing and, morning of the 24th, released by Judge W.H. Gray on bail, the bond being provided by Sam Yung; afternoon, complaint sworn out against Sam Yung, ev. concerning disturbing the peace; about 4 o’clock p.m. October 24, 1871, conflict began anew, ev. with the attempt, perhaps by Robert Thompson (who had just retired from the police force), or perhaps by policeman Jesus Bilderrain seconded by Thompson, or perhaps by Thompson ultimately seconded by Bilderrain (see below), to serve the warrant upon Yung at his store in the old Coronel adobe at the northwest corner of Calle de los Negros and Los Angeles St. (Workman notes “The adobe, which was bounded on all four sides by alleys or streets, was Chinese headquarters”; at some point, it was also “Tao’s Gambling House”) (gambling is mentioned extensively in the article. It says almost the entire wooden floor was stained with blood. The Coronel Adobe was also a Dance Hall]; police (Jesus Bilderrain) responded, with the assistance of citizens (Bilderrain’s 15-year-old brother, among others), Thompson being shot to death by a Chinese, perhaps Sam Yung, in the store, with Jesus Bilderrain being wounded in the shoulder, some bystanders such as the boy “Juan Jose Mendible” (perhaps our Jose Mendiblez) being wounded as well by other gun-wielding Chinese; by 4:30 or 5, October 24, 1871, a frenzied and armed mob of about a thousand “of the scum and dregs of the city” (*HN), or indeed 3,000 (*W), assembled around Calle de los Negros, the Plaza, and Los Angeles St., at which point a Chinese armed with a hatchet was observed trying to escape across Los Angeles St., only to be captured by Romo Sortorel; policeman Emil Harris rescued the Chinese, who later however was then re-taken by part of the mob and lynched at Tomlinson’s Corral; [the article is very specific on this first hanging. It says this was the only hanging that occurred at Tomlinson's EAST gate a shot was heard about this time—from which side?—which triggered an onslaught of gunfire from the crowd towards the adobe; meantime, other Chinese were being taken and hanged near Goller’s wagon shop, at the southwest corner of Los Angeles St. and Commercial St. the article fails to mention Goller's wagon shop but the location is the same), between up-ended wagons or from the cross-beam of a gateway, nearby hardware shop owner John D. Hicks evidently turning the event to a profit by selling rope to the lynchers; another nineteen were lynched (I thought the grand total was nineteen?) in front of Slaney’s boot store at another corner (or perhaps the same corner) of L.A. St. and Commercial; yet more were hanged from the crossbeam at the entrance to the Tomlinson corral at Justicia and Temple Sts. (The entrance to the corral would be the east gate, right? The newspaper article says these four hangings occurred at the west gate of the corral); the authorities (Sheriff Burns [late to arrive], A.J. King [who wounded himself preparing for the conflict]) and those seeking to maintain calm (Emil Harris [as above], Henry Hazard [insufficiently persuasive to the crowd], R.M. Widney as president of the Law and Order party, J.P. Widney) were largely unsuccessful in their efforts, though Slaney was able to save his Chinese employees by locking them in his store, and twenty-one Chinese were lodged in jail for safe-keeping through the efforts of the Widneys and their assistants; during the mêlée, Mayor Cristobal Aguilar supposedly rode up, surveyed the scene, and quietly rode away; October 25, 1871, coroner’s inquest concerning the “twenty-two or more victims” (*HN); August 2, 1872, four Chinese priests from San Francisco came to conduct lamentation services; “There are certain persons in Los Angeles who were helping to murder Chinamen that night who hold their heads high to-day [1889]” (*Ill:250)*Ill, *HN, *HB2, *W; see also entries for those named above, plus those for Henry C. Austin, John M. Baldwin, George W. Barter, William R. Bettis, Botello, S.B. Caswell, John Downey, James Goldworthy, Gray, John D. Hicks, Joseph Kurtz, J. Lazarovich, Harris Newmark, Cameron E. Thom, C. White, W.W. Widney; further dramatic reading in Overland Monthly (1886, p.231 ff.), how faithful to truth, we cannot say; J.P. Widney’s calm but indignant response to Bancroft’s version will be found in the Los Angeles Times of July 23, 1888.
Thus, the entry in my notes. Seems to me that I tracked down a list of the victims; but I haven't added it to the entry yet.
(the names of the Chinese victims are included in the newspaper article)
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