The Chinese, arriving in Texas just over a century ago as laborers and facing decades of exclusion laws and prejudice, were often seen as stereotypical Orientals. Many—as others saw them—were railroad laborers in unusual dress who ate peculiar food, set up instant laundries, and associated with strange gods. They used their last names first, read from top-to-bottom-right-to-left, mounted a horse from the wrong side, oriented their maps and compasses to the south, and wore pigtails. Much of the image was true—at least as seen by Texans already living in the state.

The Chinese were also from one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world and came with many of the same motives and dreams as other immigrants.

Individuals of Chinese descent may have visited the New World by various means in earlier times. A few could have sailed with Spain’s Manila galleon trade or shipped on New England whalers, but little hard evidence shows that they did.

Definitely known, however, was the United States’ need for labor—cheap labor—in the closing decades of the 19th century. And China, for most of that century, was not a land of easy opportunity.

Some Chinese came to the United States in mid-19th century following the lure of California gold. Others, mostly single men, came to the West Coast of the United States to find what work they could. But after the Civil War the re-United States (or never un-united, depending on which side one was on) needed many laborers. Additional farm workers were required in heavily agricultural areas, but the most obvious employer was the railroad industry. In the late 1800s, the recently expanded United States was being spanned with new rail lines, north to south and east to west—"from sea to shining sea." In the eastern United States, the newly arrived Irish were allowed the worst jobs and so naturally moved into building railroads. The Chinese on the West Coast, and many in China through direct labor contracts, were given the same option. Most wanted to make money and return home.

The first in any numbers in Texas worked on railroad construction crews. Nearly three hundred Chinese workers were brought from California to Texas (through St. Louis and down the Mississippi before the railroads they would build) to work the Houston and Texas Central construction in late 1869 and 1870.

Living in tents and shacks, the workers were provided daily food and a small wage. Contracted for five years, these arrivals worked less than two in the Hearne-Calvert-Bremond area of Robertson County. Labor and wage problems brought their work to an end, and, in the central East Texas setting at the construction head, they were rather obvious.

Their light cotton blouses, loose pants, plaited hair, and conical straw hats clearly identified them as Chinese. After all, engravings of "orientals" had appeared for years in United States newspapers and magazines. On January 30, 1870, a number of men paraded down Bremond’s main street—to the delight of all—in celebration of their Lunar New Year.

Present-day railroad (August 2000), rebuilt on the original grade of the Houston and Texan Central, at Calvert. (ITC photograph)

At the end of their employment, over a hundred individuals stayed in or near Robertson County as sharecroppers. Their presence started the rumor that the Chinese were brought in as farm laborers. Almost certainly, sharecropping was the only work they could find—a condition they shared with African Americans in many areas. Of the Robertson County Chinese, one was later called a "huckster"—probably a peddler or salesman. Three men married local blacks and one a white, but they kept a low-enough profile to have been almost forgotten.

Some probably tried to find work in Houston. Even so, in 1874 nearly a hundred and fifty Chinese registered to vote in the Robertson County area. They were not citizens, of course, but Texas political parties were looking for votes after the Reconstruction Era had finally ended. Except for a few individuals, the "Robertson County Chinese" were the first group in Texas and the only rural workers in any numbers, then or now. Descendants with the names of Yepp, Chopp, and Williams still live in Calvert.

A few Chinese individuals appeared in other Texas towns. The San Antonio city directory noted four individuals in 1876 without recording place of origin. Names, such as John Wah Chung of Denison, are listed in other directories, but little is known about most.

A second group of Chinese railroad workers came with the Texas and Pacific Railway moving west from Texarkana in 1873. By 1881 the line had extended to Reeves County in West Texas and accounted for the first known "Chinatown." This was the Chinese camp near Toyah, so named by locals.

Chinese on the line may have accounted for half the total crew of five thousand, but they appeared on no census count, and records no longer exist. At the time the Chinese were highly visible. A local resident remembered seeing a section crew at work:

"They were working like bees along the dump. The men looked immaculate. Their full white sleeves were gathered to loose fitting cuffs. Their shirts . . . hung loose over the top of their trousers. Some of them had their queues wound around the top of their heads under their stiff hats, but most let them hang down their backs. The most impressive sight of all was . . . a Chinaman on one of the black flat handcars going down the track so fast that he seemed to be flying. As he rapidly worked the handbar the wind puffed out his sleeves like two huge white balloons and blew his black queue almost straight out behind."

The "Toyah Chinese" were remembered also for their music at New Year celebrations and the gifts, porcelain dishes, they occasionally presented to visitors. How many of these Chinese dropped out of rail work and settled nearby is unknown—certainly a few did everywhere along the line.

A third railroad construction group, nearly three thousand from the West Coast, worked the Southern Pacific construction as the rail line moved from the west to, then east from, El Paso. Blasting powder and Chihuahuan desert heat were not the only perilous aspects of the job. Judge Roy Bean, the "Law West of the Pecos," unambiguously ruled—after the murder of a Chinese worker allegedly by an Irishman—that there was "no law against killing a Chinaman." His opinion was not unique. And all members of a surveying crew which included eleven Chinese were killed near Eagle Pass on the last day of 1881 by Apaches. Or so the raiders were identified.

The former railroad bed for the "loop line" to the first Pecos River railroad crossing at the mouth of the river at the Rio Grande, Seminole Canyon State Park. (ITC photograph)

These Chinese crews met the Irish, who were working west from San Antonio as part of the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway crews, near the first Pecos River bridge in Val Verde County in January 1883. The Irish, of course, were workers with the same motives as the Chinese—although with perhaps fewer reasons to return home—filling the lowest labor positions available.

After 1883 a few of the Chinese workers from the Southern Pacific line settled near El Paso, and a camp of 65 rail workers was noted at D’Hanis the same year. But, by this time, further Chinese emigration to the United States was virtually halted. Anti-Chinese sentiment, much originating on the West Coast, created immigration exclusion laws in 1882 that allowed very few individuals to enter the country.

United States and Texas citizens began to fear, rightly or wrongly, that the Chinese were taking too many jobs. Some were accused of prospering—that is, owning too much property.

The stereotypical "Chinese laundry" image comes from these decades. Washing other people’s dirty laundry was not considered by very many as a desirable occupation…or was suitable only for women. Therefore, the Chinese man was allowed to do this work because washing laundry posed little economic threat—at least at first. Another of the very few jobs open to noncitizens in certain towns was operating a restaurant or grocery. In all such work, the locally unknown Chinese language could be used. The laundryman or grocer could write easy identification for his customers: "red-hair-man-who-never-shaves" or "loud-voice-hazel-eye-woman" or "man-walks-with-left-limp." Even personal names could be turned into bilingual puns very much as "John" can become "toilet" or "head." This was easier than trying to phonetically represent a European name in Chinese, and in Chinese, the names could not be read by others.

However uncertain some jobs were, stereotypes are enduring, as are feelings. People of the United States, including Texans, were well known for discriminating against the Chinese. Until the end of the exclusion laws, Chinese were defined as aliens who were not eligible for citizenship. They could not vote and, even if admitted earlier as workers, could not bring relatives or family members into the country. And these were the polite parts of the treatment. Even though welcomed by some, the Chinese were often the target for racial or economic insult. Unfortunately typical was the label "affluent heathen Chinese" applied by the El Paso Daily Herald in 1889. What did not appear in print was worse.

Still, El Paso County did count at least 225 Chinese in 1883 after the completion of the first railroad and, at the turn of the century, did have something of a small Chinatown—at least in the eyes of outsiders. Here, intermarriage and illegal immigration accounted for most of the families. Legal immigration had been shut down by the exclusion law of 1882.

Only in 1917 was an exception made. General John J. Pershing had been ordered into Mexico to destroy the forces of Francisco "Pancho" Villa, who had raided into the United States. Pershing’s pursuit into Chihuahua, notably unsuccessful, was supported by hundreds of Chinese in northern Mexico. Perhaps hoping for entry into the United States, they provided the expeditionary army with food and supplies in an otherwise hostile countryside. The Chinese also freighted in supplies from a Mormon community at Colonia Dublan. A few Chinese even fought alongside the soldiers on one occasion.

General Villa swore, very openly, to hang every "Chino" in Chihuahua.

Some 2,700 refugees followed Pershing out of a troubled Mexico; 527, by some counts, were Chinese. Pershing, among others, requested admission to the United States for the Chinese and they were given special permission to stay on provisional terms.

On June 7, 1917, "speaking in Spanish, smiling in Chinese," over four hundred of the Chinese arrived by train in San Antonio, accompanied by Chinese Consul General T.K. Fong of San Francisco. They were taken to Camp Wilson (later named Camp Travis) at Fort Sam Houston. Here the Chinese were employed directly by the U.S. government as "Army wards," that is, workers in support of the army efforts to gear up for World War I: laborers, carpenters, cooks, and blacksmiths. They were paid twenty cents an hour and became renowned for dependable work.

Before leaving Columbus, New Mexico, the Chinese were assigned a civilian advisor, William Tracy Page, a former Immigration Bureau officer in the Philippines. Page became a lifelong friend of the Chinese and a tireless worker for their cause. Conditions for their entry allowed only work for the army, but after World War I the United States Army needed few workers. For a time the Chinese were in danger of deportation. Then, after a prolonged political battle, a special federal law in 1921 allowed these Chinese to remain in the United States and to live and work anywhere freely—but not to become citizens. “quotation”

Nevertheless, these "Pershing’s Chinese"—with one exception, single men—did form the first actual community settlement in Texas. This took some time. In the early 1920s Chinese wives were not allowed to join husbands, even if the husbands were American citizens. Their children, however, even if born in China, were American citizens through the father. Of course, a trip from Texas to China could cost nearly a year’s salary for a laborer. A few Chinese men did support wives in China, and some children entered the United States.

But the law was hard to circumvent. If an American-born Chinese woman married a foreign-born Chinese, she lost citizenship. The Pershing Chinese were informal exceptions for a few years, and by 1930 some seven hundred Chinese were counted in Bexar County. San Antonio had become the leading settlement area in Texas. Also, San Antonio had become a target for intrastate immigration in the late 1920s and during the great economic depression that followed. A number of Chinese, legally in the United States, moved to Texas.

Then China’s war against Japan (1937-1945)—partially coinciding with the United States’ war against Japan (and very much like the United States joining Britain’s war against Germany)—turned the feelings of many in favor of the Chinese. After China became a World War II ally, the exclusion act was essentially repealed in 1943. A long-closed door was opened. Under new immigration laws, Chinese could enter the United States. Individuals already in residence could apply for citizenship. Most did, including nearly all of "Pershing’s Chinese."

The newer Chinese arrivals to Texas were somewhat different from the earlier individuals. “quotation” Before World War II, Chinese entering Texas were mainly southern, Cantonese-speaking men. After World War II northern Chinese, Mandarin speakers and often professionals from upper economic classes, came to Texas. Many of these individuals specialized in medicine, the sciences, or engineering. These later arrivals could and did bring relatives, including wives “quotation,” to establish traditional extended families. These were patriarchal “quotation,” often included three generations, and were numerous enough in cities to preserve holiday traditions and other ceremonies. Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, predominating among other dialects, could be heard in Texas. Today, other Chinese from Southeast Asia bring Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian as native languages.

But the Communist Revolution in China—as it was known in the West—decades old and fully successful by 1949, put an end to mainland emigration—officially, at least. This revolution, the largest in the last two centuries of unrest in China, was known for economic and agrarian reforms as well as brutality and suppression in many years. Confusingly enough, United States policy recognized Nationalist Taiwan as the " real" China for years, rather than the People’s Republic of China, until the beginning of normalization in 1972.

Still, many Chinese had entered Texas. The two periods of emigration—workers who had arrived before 1882 and those who came after 1943“quotation”—created two groups of Chinese in Texas often more separate than together, even in self-image. These differences produced serious prejudices within Chinese communities at times, but such feelings have lessened in later generations.

Neither of the "groups" depended much on government support, however. Later generations quickly established traditional merchant associations. “quotation”A few organizations were based on province of origin. The organizations—family, merchant, place of origin—supported the Chinese in economic terms. The present generation claims that only a very few individuals—none in some cities—were ever on public welfare.

Texas Chinese were not originally known for political activity in the state. The reason is obvious—until World War II, the exclusion laws effectively outlawed citizenship as well as entry. On one occasion in 1937, Chinese individuals successfully lobbied against proposed Texas law that, had it been enacted, would have driven grocery owners out of the business. Most often they were not allowed into the halls of Texas government. The Chinese were attentive to their homeland, however, by offering various kinds of economic and political support. In the early 1940s, branches of the Chinese Nationalist party, the Kuomintang, were founded in both San Antonio and El Paso.

Not until 1964 was the first Chinese Texan elected as a state representative—Tom J. Lee of San Antonio. Others were elected to local office in Houston. And by 1980 Houston had taken over as the leading city of Chinese settlement in Texas. In 1990 the most populous counties with Chinese settlement were Harris, 25,019; Dallas, 8,833; Travis, 4,741; Tarrant, 4,341; Ft. Bend, 4,072; Collin, 3,116; and Bexar with 2,557. Of course, Ft. Bend County can well be counted as part of Houston, as settlement in Colin County could be counted as part of the Dallas metropolitan area. Chinese settlement, as it always has been in Texas, is urban. “quotation” Of over 63,000 Texans who called themselves Chinese in the 1990 census, barely more than a thousand lived in rural areas. The trend is not linked to anything exclusively Chinese. Since the middle of the century, the best place for jobs in Texas has been, naturally, the cities. Most Texans, approaching 90 percent, now live in urban areas in the state.

Houston now has one of the largest Asian populations of all the large metropolitan areas of the United States. A small "commercial" Chinatown developed in Houston in the 1950s, consisting of shops, a theater, and restaurants but not residences. The area did not expand significantly in itself, but a privately printed Chinese Yellow Pages attests to the thousands of Chinese-operated businesses in the city, as well as the largest concentration of Chinese in the state.

Chinese language publishing has been relatively rare in Texas, but among many Chinese-interest publications, the Southern Chinese Daily News in Houston has been locally printed for nineteen years (1998).

The language itself is used on many occasions today, and some individuals speak and read Chinese as a language of choice. Although Chinese has changed in thirty centuries, and although the spoken language has evolved into many not mutually understood dialects, the written language has changed much less than has English over the years. The written characters are pronounced differently in different dialects, but the characters are common to most. The dialect differences affect many names. Thus, Mandarin Wu is Eng (or Ng) in southern China, as northern Wang becomes Wong. But written Chinese can be commonly read.

Private Chinese schools in San Antonio and Houston have in many years offered Chinese language and history classes for community members—or anyone. San Antonio’s Chinese School, started in 1928, offers citizenship classes and language classes in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English as a Second Language.

And, in spite of immigration difficulties and prejudice in many decades, the Chinese Texans have maintained a great number of customs and traditions. “quotation”

Wedding customs in certain families have proven remarkably durable. Invitations are often engraved in gold on red paper—the colors of good fortune. The bride traditionally wears items of jade and gold, and, for formal occasions, both bride and groom make clear that the groom’s parents will guide their lives. Gifts to the bride from the groom’s family are often expensive and may include heirlooms as well as—in years past—live chickens, a very practical gift.

The "red egg" ceremony, a Cantonese ceremony and certainly now rare, is conducted at the first cutting of a child’s hair, often a month after birth. When the infant’s head is shaved, a red egg is rubbed over the skin to ensure a fortunate and well-lived life. The custom is analogous to the "baptism" of the Near East.

The Chinese Lunar New Year is probably the most obvious ceremony to outsiders. Held at the new moon after the sun has entered a certain astrological zone in the sky, the date falls near the first of the Western calendar. This is a time of spiritual, social, and economic renewal marked by public and private ceremonies. Banquets, fireworks, dragon and lion displays, parades, and family gatherings are scheduled. In a home the evening will call for a sealing of doors with red paper after the house is thoroughly cleaned. All debts of the year are cleared . . . at least in traditional observance. Following an evening meal, the family remains awake until the middle of the night of the new moon. They exchange traditional wishes and pledges and small gifts of money in red envelopes. The next morning the family remembers ancestors when breaking the seals to welcome the new year.

The dragon is an ancient Chinese symbol of joy and sorrow. Both are always part of life. In certain past centuries in China, the Lung can represent imperial power. Dragons can be anything from desk ornaments to paintings to costumes. As a costume the symbol can be constructed so that many people can walk in the cloth body of a dragon to form the focus of a parade. Used prominently for the New Year, the dragon can also be seen at other times, including civic occasions and private funerals. In El Paso a dragon a hundred feet long helped welcome the presidential visit of William Howard Taft and Mexican President Porfirio Díaz in October of 1909.

Funerals once included a wide range of symbols, including the small piece of candy given to family members as a reminder that the "bitterness of life would pass from their mouths." And the family, upon leaving the cemetery to begin a month of mourning, would not look back. A number of traditional Chinese funerals—involving incense, leaving food at or in the grave, and burning personal possessions—were startling enough to merit a story in Texas newspapers.

Religion is often a mixed belief system for the Chinese. Some Chinese, even before coming to the United States, combined various philosophies and religions. “quotation” To an outsider, a mix of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity “quotation,” a regard for ancestors, and even Islamic elements, is hard to follow. And, like the Japanese in Texas, some individuals opted for a low profile by becoming Christians very quickly. Many Chinese in Texas embraced Baptist belief in response to missionary programs in the cities. Taoism can be seen in the Chinese attraction to beauty and what the Westerner would call mysticism. Confucian elements are still obvious in a regard for stability of family and government, a sense of order and duty, and a belief in education as not only a social advantage but indeed a human necessity “quotation.”

The urban settlement areas of the Chinese in Texas are hard to see because today they are not "areas"“quotation”—few ever were. Some churches and civic organizations are specifically Chinese, as are occasional groceries and social organizations. But today, even in the Houston area, which holds the greatest number of community members, most Chinese do not consider that a "Chinatown" exists. Certainly in the San Francisco sense, "Chinatowns" do not exist in Texas. Yet, many elements of Chinese heritage—foods, medicine, calligraphy, literature, and art—are evident “quotation.”

And "outsiders" know that fireworks are Chinese in origin. Although not introduced in Texas, fireworks were imported for California statehood in 1850 and were quickly adapted to the July 4^th of the United States. Some 100,000 firecrackers were said to have been used for the 1935 New Year celebration in San Antonio “quotation.”

A lesser number of people may remember that chop suey is not a native Chinese dish, but sauerkraut—by another name—is.

see notes
see bibliography