Incident in the Chinese Camp

From Far-West sketches,
by Jessie Benton Fremont

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There was a village of some eighteen hundred Chinese just there by the ford. They were not allowed to live within a mile or so of the town limit. Hannah fancied driving through this Asiatic settlement, and it was certainly a very foreign unusual village with perfectly Chinese aspect. We trotted along its narrow lane of a main street almost brushing the long pendant signs on either side, when we saw a shop-front filled with coarse but gay and pretty crockery. Our escort had gone on into the town of Mariposas and only one horseman remained; the children were on horseback, and my friend and myself in the carriage with only its English coachman.

The alert Chinese shopman answered our signs and brought out to us bowls and jars--we had bought a lot of pretty common-ware bowls with their decorated China spoons--when we found ourselves suddenly closed in by a swarm of excited Chinese , gesticulating fiercely with shrill clacking angry talk, and converging on us their angry eyes.

What had we done? What was the matter? Burke who had advised our not going through the village made no pause to question "Why?" but rode quickly to the rear of the carriage, making his horse's heels clear the way by digging spurs into it. He shouted to the children to ride ahead "fast," snatching "Fan" from her little master and throwing her in to my care, as he ordered the coachman to use his whip right and left on the crowd and "get off," while he, revolver lifted, waved them back. They only fell back as he aimed into the nearest group.

We dashed off as we were ordered; the cries grew fainter, but we heard no shot, and soon had the relief to see Burke following us up the hill, looking back, revolver lifted.

Nothing more came of it than a big fright to us, and for us, and a wholesome lesson not to intrude among such people. These were miners--mostly the tall muscular mountain-Chinese, such as were afterwards used in tens of thousands in building our overland railways.

What was the matter we never knew. Luckily we had paid for our bowls, but a complaint from me would have quickly resulted in the destruction of their village and the whole of its people being driven away--when we were to blame for going into their village--this is the law of the strong against the weak, especially where any pretext would have been welcome to race-prejudice. So we kept silence and would let nothing be said of it.