Washington Street

The Heart and Soul of Stockton Chinatown

In Search of Gold Mountain

Published 1966, by Lawrence & Houseworth. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The discovery of gold in 1848 brought people to California from around the world. In 1849, news of the Gold Rush arrived in China. Most of the Chinese gold seekers emigrated from the Guangdong Province. At the time, China was experiencing natural, economic, and political problems. These issues gave men the motivation to leave their families with the hope of easing financial burdens. They arrived in gum shan or “gold mountain” with few resources, except for the hope of getting rich and returning home as soon as possible.

Once in the gold fields, the Chinese found the work difficult with very little reward. At first white miners paid little attention to the Chinese, but as the Chinese population increased, tensions grew. Chased out of the rich mining claims by white miners, the Chinese were resigned to rework the tailings of earlier miners in the hope of finding gold. The California legislature passed the Foreign Miners Tax in 1850, which required foreign miners to pay a monthly tax of twenty dollars. Eventually the tax was reduced, and varied between three and six dollars per month. Despite the reduction, many of the Chinese abandoned mining and settled in Stockton, Sacramento, and other areas of California. It was in these towns that they became merchants, helped construct railroads, and worked in agriculture and in the reclamation of the Delta.