![]() By 1920 only 342 Chinese were enumerated by the census, with most of them living in Salt Lake or Weber counties.7 These figures show the movement of many Chinese to the state's urban centers. For Salt Lake County 18 were the high points with 269 and 271 Chinese listed, respectively. The number of Chinese recorded for Utah as a whole (806) and for the counties of Weber (106), and Summit (121) peaked in 1890. 53 By 1890 there were only 2 and after that none, reflecting the end of the mining boom in Silver Reef. As one might expect, the Chinese population in Washington County peaked in 1880 with. Over the ensuing decades Box Elder showed a steady decline in its Chinese population through 1920 when the census found none living there. The 1870 census reported a total of 445 Chinese in Utah with more than 90 percent of them located in Box Elder County and most of the rest in Summit County. Nonetheless, by using Box Elder, Salt Lake, Weber, Washington, and Summit counties as examples some general trends can be seen. Prior to that the Salt Lake Tribune had observed that the Chinese were "rather backward about entering Mormondom." Available census information confirms the gradual clustering of Chinese in specific cities. With the completion of the transcontinental line the Chinese and other railroad laborers began settling in Bear River Valley towns such as Corinne and in other railroad towns before moving on to places like Salt Lake City Not until 1882 did the Deseret Evening News first mention a "Chinese quarter" in that city. ![]() He considered the Chinese to be "heathens and barbarians" but cheerfully added that they were no worse so than many European immigrants or Americans for that matter.6 Dunbar viewed the threat of Chinese labor as "overrated," while the Mormon Deseret Evening News lauded the Chinese as hard working, skillful, and intelligent, adding, "There is probably no people on the continent who are likely to be less disturbed or affected by the introduction of this element than the people of Utah." Franklin Richards's OgdenJunction was less effusive. Beadle of Corinne's Utah Reporter declared the so called "Chinese problem" to be nothing but "baseless political humbug," declaring, "We need large numbers in this Territory." In the Salt Lake Herald, William C. 5 Only gradually did they begin to move into predominantly white settlements Although Utah's white residents could not help but be aware of the anti-Chinese attitudes reaching across the nation, local opinion leaders nevertheless did not initially object to the Chinese living among them.James H. A few entrepreneurial ones operated laundries that followed work crews. Initially, Chinese in the territory avoided white settlements as they lived in dugouts or tents along rail lines, working as section crews or station cooks. Implicit in this thesis is an obvious deficiency-the lack of a Chinese perspective Such an admittedly unbalanced approach, however, reflects the nature of extant primary source materials rather than a deliberate oversight or agenda. 1 This paper expands on existing research by examining the development of Utah's Chinatowns, the response to these settlements, and their demise. Although some 5,000 Chinese currently live in the state, no Chinatowns remain. Due to obvious racial and cultural differences Chinese enclaves formed a readily identifiable but unassimilable and short-lived presence. As a result, Salt Lake City not only had a Chinatown but a Little Denmark in its Second Ward.3 Across Utah there were Greek Towns, Bohunk Towns for Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, and Little Italys among others. Members of many minority cultures engaged in such behavior. Miners at one camp banned both Chinese and Italians from their diggings.2 In spite of their own diversity, most white residents of Utah tended to view the Chinese as a faceless, if not nameless, seemingly indistinguishable group of people who tended to cluster in predominantly white communities. Other groups, such as Italians and Slavs, often came to Utah as unskilled laborers and sought to be portrayed as superior to and distinct from the Chinese. ![]() The antipathy of the Irish for the Chinese is well known and underscored by the violence that occurred between the two groups during the construction of the transcontinental railroad. In particular those who found themselves in the lower echelons of the social-economic hierarchy seemed particularly interested in distancing themselves from the Chinese whom they perceived as rivals. Reactions to the Chinese varied Some Euro-American groups took particular exception to the presence of the Chinese while others remained less interested. The Chinese added an interesting element to Utah's ethnic mix which otherwise consisted largely of those of European descent.
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