When I came to California there were a great number of Chinese in Oroville and every mining camp throughout the state. Every Chinaman who worked in the mines was taxed four dollars a month mining tax. There was a young man in one of the Southern Counties who wanted to go to Oregon, but he did not have the money so he bought an account book and went to the different mining camps and collected the mining tax. The Chinese thought it was all right but he would not sign the receipts, just scribble on them. In about two weeks here came the deputy sheriff.
This tax was collected by the deputy sheriff; and up went the Chinamen. He asked for the receipts, they brought them and the fellow had not written anything so as to tell the hand writing and as he was gone, they had some trouble getting the tax.
The anti-Chinese racial hatred in Chico in 1877 was the cause of a great deal of trouble. Citizens in Chico who employed Chinese , received letters like this.
To General Bidwell:-
Sir: Get rid of your Chinese help within the next two months or suffer the consequence, let this be enough." General Bidwell employed Chinese in his orchards.
To Charles Ball:-
"Charles Ball, get rid of your Chinese help within fifteen days from this date or meet the consequences."
Signed:--"Committee."
To Mrs. Jones:-
"Madame have the kindness to discharge your Chinese help within two weeks and save trouble."
To the Union Hotel:-
"Sirs:--If you would consult your interests, get rid of your Chinese help, all of them, inside of twenty days from this date and save your property from the red glare of night, let this be your warning."--Signed:--"Committee."
To J. M. Decker:-
"Sir:--You will discharge all the Chinese in your employ at present, before the first of next month and save yourself trouble, you will not be told again."--Signed:--"Committee."
They had torch light parades, and on some of the banners carried by the men were printed, "Send the Yellow Devils Away." "Down with the Chinese ." "The Chinese Must Go."
The greatest sight of all was quite a number of women wheeling their babies in baby buggies through the streets, nearly every baby had a banner in it's hand. One read, "We will have to stop having these unless the Chinese go."
The feeling against the Chinese had become so bitter it finally ended in murder. My wife's uncle, Chris Lemm had a piece of land he wanted cleared and he made a contract with the Chinese to clear it. The land was on Big Chico Creek about two miles east of Chico and extended to the main road leading to the mountains.
On the thirteenth of March, 1877, after their day's work was over and they had had supper they lay down on their bunks which were in a row. About nine o'clock five men and a boy came to the Chinese camp. They pulled their revolvers and ordered the Chinese to sit on the foot of their bunks, which were about one foot off the ground. Two of the men searched the camp and got a few dollars, then they placed themselves each in front of a Chinaman and at the word fired. One did not fire as quickly as the others and the Chinaman who was to be shot threw up his hands and the bullet just grazed his arm. This Chinaman fell back on his bunk and made believe he was dead. After firing the fiends poured coal oil on the blankets which they took from the beds and put in a pile and set fire to them and then hurried away. The Chinaman, who was wounded, threw a blanket over the fire and extinguished it. Then he ran to the Lemm home. My wife was there and she said he struck the porch with a bound and banged on the door, waking all in the house. Mr. Lemm got up and unlocked the door, the Chinaman rushed in and fell down on the floor and said, "White man come. Poo', poo' Chinaman, all sleep, sleep."
Mr. Lemm and the men on the place were going to find out what the trouble was but his wife and mine would not let them. The Chinaman then left and went to Chico and gave the alarm.
The next morning after the murder I was going to Chico and met a great many wagons and people on horseback going in the direction of the Lemm ranch. Finally I met Henry Mansfield, the Marshal of Chico. I asked him where all the people were going. He said, "Why don't you know, some fiends murdered those innocent Chinese on the Lemm ranch." I turned and went back with him. When we got to the camp, it was a horrible sight. The first Chinaman we saw was lying partly across the door, dead, with his brains oozing out. We had to step over him to get in. The next two lay on their bunks dead, the fourth had been shot in his head and his brains were oozing out and he lay moaning. He died while the inquest was being held. The fifth Chinaman we found across the slough under a buckeye bush. He was shot in the breast, the bullet ranging downward and lodging in his back. He had a jack knife and had cut seven gashes trying to cut the bullet out. Dr. Watts took the bullet out. I afterwards heard that the Chinese doctor of Chico cured him. The names of the victims were: Ah Lee, Ah Gow, Shu In and Ah Quen.
H. T. A. Smiser was foreman of the jury. The people of Chico and vicinity could not imagine who the perpetrators of the crime could be, so, Bidwell hired a young man by the name of Radcliffe to watch the postoffice and when a letter was dropped in the box he would take it and compare the signature to the threatening letters received by the citizens. On the second day a letter was dropped and in the same hand-writing as the letter he held. He went out and saw the man who had dropped it, and followed him down to the Slaughter home. Those Slaughters were not related to the Reverend Slaughter. When he saw the man go in the house he hurried back to town and notified the officers. They went as quickly as possible and found H. C. Wright, John and Charles Slaughter, who they arrested. In the meantime there had been quite a number of arrests made of men who did not have a very good character. The first three confessed and implicated the others, who had burned Bidwell's soap factory and murdered the Chinese. They were T. E. Conway, Eugene Roberts, H. T. Jones, Adam Holderbaum, J. Mahony and Thomas Steinbrook. S. L. Daniels was sheriff, he got Conway's confession after he had been in jail two days. They were tried and five were found guilty of arson and four of murder. Their sentences were from five to twenty-five years and this ended the reign of terror in Chico.