Chasing Their Dreams: Chinese Settlement in the Northwest Region of British Columbia

Chasing Their Dreams recreates the hardships early Chinese settlers faced in Northwestern British Columbia: harsh land and climate, little or no financial resources, deep-set prejudice and sometimes racial violence.

Panning for gold, making ties for the railroad, canning fish, running laundries and restaurants, these people persevered despite persecution by the local populace and the provincial and federal governments. The documentation of Chinese relations with northern First Nations, going all the way back to 458 BC, make this book one of the most thoroughly researched histories of Chinese settlement in British Columbia.

"...The Chinese came to Canada for reasons not too dissimilar to other settlers, yet they have often been suspected on other unfounded grounds. The description of the Klondike saga is indeed incredible. It exposes the injustice of an elected municipal government, or a democracy without justice is worse than benevolent authoritarianism."

-from foreword by Dr. W. C. Tan, Canadian College for Chinese Studies

"Lily Chow does justice not only to the history of Chinese in British Columbia but also the greater context of the history of the oppressed people. Her writing represents a lonely voice crying out for justice and denouncing hypocrisy..."

-Dr. W. C. Tan

Lily Chow was born in Malaysia, but has lived in Canada since the mid-sixties. She has taught in the Prince George School District and at the University of British Columbia. She now devotes her time to research and writing. Her first book, Sojourners in the North, won the Jeanne Clark Local History Award and is used as a textbook in many colleges and universities. Chasing Their Dreams is her second book.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v

FOREWORD vii

MAPS

1. Map of the Skeena-Bulkley Valley viii

2. Map of Hazelton and Vicinity ix

3. Map of Canneries at the Skeena River 1877-1966 x

4. Map of the Cassiar Region xi

5. Map of China xii

6. Map of Kitimat xiii

INTRODUCTION xiv

CHAPTER 1 - Hazelton 1

CHAPTER 2 - Essington 20

CHAPTER 3 - Cassiar District & Yukon 38

CHAPTER 4 - Prince Rupert I 49

CHAPTER 5 - Prince Rupert II 68

Roles of the Chinese organizations

CHAPTER 6 - Terrace 85

CHAPTER 7 - Smithers 99

CHAPTER 8 - Kitimat 113

CONCLUSION 130

APPENDIX I Tables showing the occupations & wages of the Chinese settlers 132

APPENDIX II The story of Fusang in Chinese 134

BIBLIOGRAPHY 135

FOOTNOTES 140

INDEX 145