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Mining the intangible past of Virginia City's Chinese pioneers: Using historical geographic information system (HGIS) to document, visualize and interpret the spatial history of Chinese in Montan...

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Content MINING THE INTANGIBLE PAST OF VIRGINIA CITY’S CHINESE PIONEERS:
USING HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (HGIS) TO
DOCUMENT, VISUALIZE AND INTERPRET THE SPATIAL HISTORY OF
CHINESE IN A MONTANA MINING CAMP (CA 1863 - MID-20
TH
CENTURY)

by

Cheng Yang

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION

May 2011

Copyright 2011 Cheng Yang

ii

Table of Contents
List of Tables iv
List of Figures v
Abstract xi
Introduction 1
1. Chapter One: Introduction: GIS and HGIS 4
1.1. Definition of GIS and HGIS 4
1.2. Objectives of this Research 7
1.3. Selection of this Case Study 7
1.4. Scope of the Research 9
2. Chapter Two: Resources for the Creation of the HGIS of Chinese
Immigrants in the Mining Camp of Virginia City, Montana 11
2.1. General History of Chinese Migration to the American West 11
2.2. Brief History of Virginia City, Montana 21
2.3. Natural Context of Virginia City, Montana 34
3. Chapter Three: Creation of the GIS 38
3.1. Necessity for the Creation of the GIS for the Purpose of
Documentation, Visualization and Interpretation 38
3.2. The Structure of the HGIS 42
3.3. Digitization and Geo-referencing of Historic Maps, lithographs and
Photographs 46
3.4. Geo-Referencing of Abstract Spatial Features 59
3.5. Geo-referencing of Historic Events 79
3.6. Visualization and Geo-Referencing of Important Historic Structures 81

iii

4. Chapter Four: Historic Interpretation Strategies for Unearthing Virginia
City's Hidden Chinese Heritage 114
4.1. Procedure of the Project 114
4.2. Examples of Using the Virginia City Chinatown GIS for
Interpretation and Historic Research 126
4.3. Some Advantages and Disadvantages of Using GIS for Historic
Research 139
Conclusion 142
Bibliography 144
Appendix: Supplementary Figures 148
iv

List of Tables
Table 1: Historic Maps, Lithographs and Photographs Used to Establish
the Base Layers of the HGIS 49
Table 2: Major Maps in the Mining Ages with Detailed Information on
Property Uses and Number of Stories 88

v

List of Figures

Figure 1: Overlapping Areas of Interest Forming the Basis of the HGIS 10
Figure 2: Early Latin-American Trade with China and Northwestern Trade
with China 13
Figure 3: Chinese and the Mining Frontier: 1848 - 1879 15
Figure 4: Salmon River, USGS Service. 23
Figure 5: Idaho Territory, 1863 25
Figure 6: Idaho Territory, 1863 25
Figure 7: Virginia City Survey Map, 1868. 27
Figure 8: Great Falls Tribune Photo of Charles and Sue Bovey 32
Figure 9: An Example of Adding Vector Data on Geo-Referenced Raster
Layer, Spatial Distribution of Abstract Features Chinatown,
Virginia City, Generated from the HGIS of Chinatown,
Virginia City, Created by Cheng Yang 52
Figure 10: Geo-Referencing of Historic Maps Step 1: Digitalizing 55
Figure 11: Geo-Referencing of Historic Maps Step 2: Assigning Control
Points on Arcgis 56
Figure 12: Geo-Referencing of Historic Maps Step 3: Referring Control
Points to Relevant Points on the Reference Map 57
Figure 13: Geo-Referencing of Historic Maps Step 4: Minor Adjustment 58
Figure 14: Structure of Feature Layer Group of the HGIS of Virginia City,
Montana 59
Figure 15: Section of 1884 Sanborn Map that Shows Chinese Washing
Place. 64
vi

Figure 16: Section of 1890 Sanborn Map that Shows Chinese Laundry 64
Figure 17: Hong Sing Washing and Ironing, an Established Chinese
Laundry, Recorded on 1884 Sanborn Map 64
Figure 18: Chinese Processing Ore in a Sluice Box at a Placer Mine in
Alder Gulch, Montana 1871 by W. H. Jackson. 70
Figure 19: Elder Chinese Working on Scraping Bedrocks for Gold Mining 70
Figure 20: A Chinese Funeral, in Virginia City, Montana, February, 1900 72
Figure 21: Banner (Portion) of Virginia City Chinese Masonic Lodge, MHS
Collection 79
Figure 22: Chinese Spears Used in China War in about 1880. Virginia City
Museum Collection in Thompson-Hickman County Library 80
Figure 23: Chinese Temple at Foot of Wallace Street MHS Collection 82
Figure 24: Chinese Temple at Foot of Wallace Street MHS Collection 82
Figure 25: Chinese Temple, the Joel F. Overholser Historical Research
Center in Fort Benton 83
Figure 26: Wallace Street Looking East after 1875 83
Figure 27: Wallace Street Looking East from Bummer Dan's, Late 1870s 84
Figure 28: Virginia City Christmas 1885 84
Figure 29: Interior Chinese Temple MHS 86
Figure 31: Chinese Merchandise Store on Lower Wallace Street, Virginia
City 88
Figure 31: 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City 90
Figure 32: 1878 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City 91
Figure 33: 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City 91
vii

Figure 34: 1890 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City 92
Figure 35: 1904 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City 92
Figure 36: 1907 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City 93
Figure 37: 1922 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City 93
Figure 38: A Business License to a Chinese Pioneer in 1880 95
Figure 39: Chinese Abacus Used by Chinese Pioneer Merchant 95
Figure 40: Wallace Street Looking East from Bummer Dan's, Late 1870s 97
Figure 41: Wallace Street Looking East from Bummer Dan's, 1870s 97
Figure 42: Wallace Street Looking East after 1875 MHS 98
Figure 43: Virginia City Christmas 1885 MHS 99
Figure 44: Green Front Boarding House, Photo by Cheng Yang, July, 2009 100
Figure 45: East Facade of Green Front House, Photo by Cheng Yang,
July, 2009 100
Figure 46: Geo-Referencing the Chinese Temple, Generated from the
HGIS of Chinatown of Virginia City, Montana,
Created by Cheng Yang 102
Figure 47: Wallace Street Looking Toward East from Bummer Dan's,
1870s MHS (Partial) 104
Figure 48: Chinese Temple, the Joel F. Overholser Historical Research
Center in Fort Benton 105
Figure 49: Steps To Get the Estimated Dimension of the Chinese Temple
for Model Construction. 106
Figure 50: Estimated Plane, Elevations of the Chinese Temple 107
Figure 51: Model of the Chinese Temple-Roof Plane 107
viii

Figure 52: Model of the Chinese Temple-Elevations 108
Figure 53: Model of the Chinese Temple - Bird View 108
Figure 54: Model of the Chinese Temple – Perspective 1 109
Figure 55: Model of the Chinese Temple - Perspective 2 109
Figure 56: Model of the Chinese Temple - Details 110
Figure 57: Chinese Temple, the Joel F. Overholser Historical Research
Center in Fort Benton 113
Figure 58: Log Cabin Near Chinese Temple, -Chinese Woman, 1899 113
Figure 59: Soo Liang (Chinese Susie) Aug 1899 MHS 113
Figure 60: Structure of Layers for GIS Virginia City Chinatown 115
Figure 61: Structure of Map Group for GIS Virginia City Chinatown 116
Figure 62: Geo-Referencing of Historic Maps Step 1: Digitalizing 119
Figure 63: Geo-Referencing of Historic Maps Step 2: Assigning Control
Points in Arcgis 120
Figure 64: Geo-Referencing of Historic Maps Step 3: Referring Control
Points to Relevant Points on the Reference Map 121
Figure 65: Geo-Referencing of Historic Maps Step 4: Minor Adjustment 122
Figure 66: Feature Layer Group of Virginia City, Montana 123
Figure 67: Attribute Form for the Layer of Chinatown Properties 125
Figure 68: Location of Virginia City, Montana, Generated from the HGIS
of Chinatown, Virginia City, Created by Cheng Yang 127
Figure 69: Virginia City in 50-Foot Contour Line Map, Generated from
the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, Created by Cheng Yang 128
ix

Figure 70: Virginia City in the High-Definition Satellite Image that Shows
Landscape Context, Generated from the HGIS of Chinatown,
Virginia City, Created by Cheng Yang 129
Figure 71: Topographical Context of Virginia City, Generated from the
HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, Created by Cheng Yang 130
Figure 72: Chinatown in Virginia City, Generated from the HGIS of
Chinatown, Virginia City, Created by Cheng Yang 131
Figure 73: Attributes of Chinatown Properties, Generated from the HGIS
of Chinatown, Virginia City, Created by Cheng Yang 132
Figure 74: Chinese Properties (Year of First Record; Property Type;
Vacant Time), Generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia
City, Created by Cheng Yang 133
Figure 75: Chinatown as in 1880 (Using Field Values of Attribute form to
Create a Definition Query to display a Subset of Group of
Features) , Generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City,
Created by Cheng Yang 134
Figure 76: Spatial Distribution of Abstract Features (Gambling, Opium
Smoking, Laundry, Etc.) , Generated from the HGIS of
Chinatown, Virginia City, Created by Cheng Yang 135
Figure 77: Change Tracking Using HGIS, Spatial Distribution of Abstract
Features (Gambling, Opium Smoking, Laundry, Etc.) , Generated
from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, Created by
Cheng Yang 136
Figure 78: Mining Activities of Chinese Pioneers, Spatial Distribution of
Abstract Features(Gambling, Opium Smoking, Laundry, Etc.) ,
Generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, Created
by Cheng Yang 137
Figure 79: China War, Generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia
City, Created by Cheng Yang 138
x

Figure 80: Using Dot Density to Interpret Demographical Changes of
Chinatown Over Years, Generated from the HGIS of Chinatown,
Virginia City, Created by Cheng Yang 139
Figure 81: 1868 Parcel Survey Map, Surveyed and Drawn Drawn by JL
Corbett, Civil Engineer 148
Figure 82: 1878 Property Map, Originated by Fireman’s Fund Insurance
Company, San Francisco, CA 149
Figure 83: 1884 Sanborn Map 150
Figure 84: 1890 Sanborn Map 151
Figure 85: 1904 Sanborn Map 152
Figure 86: 1907 Sanborn Map 153
Figure 87: 1922 Sanborn Map 154

xi

Abstract
In this research, using historic studies, historic maps, period photographs, and
other documentary resources, the author creates a historic Geographic
Information System to connect attributes of the heritage of Chinese pioneers in a
mining camp with spatial data of the historic site, and uses it as an approach to
document, visualize and interpret a complex multidimensional heritage site that
lacks historic remains.
The result of the research is a rich computerized resource of information of an
integrated cultural heritage site documented from historic maps, historic
photographs, historic newspaper articles, historic records, and other resources.
Based on different research objectives, these documented information aspects
could be used separately or together to interpret and visualize the multifaceted
spatial history of the Chinese in Virginia City, Montana.

1

Introduction
As both a documentation and interpretation tool, Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) technology is widely used in many different areas in the historic
preservation field, such as public education, historic resource surveys, park
management (historic structures, natural landscapes, or wild animals) or risk
assessment. For example, National Park Service utilizes GIS technology to locate
objects of interests and thus assist in communication between resource
managers, the public and the academic community.
1
Most of the guide maps to
the national parks are produced through using GIS. Another example of using GIS
in the historic preservation field is the Middle Eastern Geodatabase for Antiquities
(MEGA) – a project in Jordan sponsored by the Getty Conservation Institute and
the Jordan Department of Antiquities (DoA).
2
MEGA is the development and
implementation of a GIS to inventory and manage Jordan's numerous
archaeological sites.
However, most of these implementation examples of GIS in historic preservation
are in rather large scale (in the first example, the GIS is at the national park

1
NPS. http://www.nps.gov/gis/, accessed on March 1, 2011
2
Getty Conservation Institute. http://www.getty.edu/conservation/field_projects/jordan/, accessed on March
1, 2011
2

system scale; in the second example, the GIS is in at national scale.) and the
chronological data of the HGIS is simply distributed (in other words, most of the
chronological data for the features within these GIS examples are the same.)
In fact, GIS could be equally useful for documentation of a historic site as small as
a historic district. Plus, by adding accurate chronological data to the features,
changes could be clearly tracked. And with a well developed system to connect
visuals with the attributes of the features in GIS, these features could be clearly,
intuitively and graphically interpreted. This type of interpretation is quite unique in
comparison to the traditional style of historic preservation interpretation –
photographs and texts -- due to the fact that it could establish a geographical
connection between the site and its associated information. It could also function
as a common basis for all the interpretive information to help people to obtain
information of a multifaceted cultural heritage site systematically (geographically
and time-wise). This could be very useful in documenting and interpreting a
heritage site that lacks associated historic structures. The fact that examples of
using GIS at this scale and in a more time-wise manner are rare in the historic
preservation field encourages this thesis to explore using GIS in documentation,
3

visualization and interpretation of the spatial history of Chinese in the mining
camp of Virginia City, Montana (ca 1863 - mid-20th century).
Almost immediately after the Chinese pioneers migrated into Virginia City, they
began the adaption to their new conditions, but also kept many traditions alive.
Placer mining, laundry businesses, Chinese herb store operations, gambling,
festival celebrations, blacksmithing, and Chinese Masonic meetings, along with
many other cultural activities evolved together in the small but vibrant newborn
mining-booming town. These activities belong to different aspects of the small
society the Chinese pioneers formed. Taken together, they acted as different
cultural layers that belong to an integral social-cultural map which overlays the
remaining structures. To interpret the cultural heritage of the Chinese pioneers as
a whole, it is necessary to develop a system to organize these activities into a
multidimensional integral whole. Virginia City is a place where I spent three
months working as a preservation graduate intern. This special opportunity
offered me the opportunity to gain access to historic maps, historic photos,
census data, historic studies and museum collections that would have been
otherwise very difficult to acquire. The information acquired from these materials
serves as the basic source for the creation of the historic GIS.
4

1. Chapter One: Introduction: GIS and HGIS
1.1. Definition of GIS and HGIS
1.1.1. Geographic Information System (GIS)
There are many different definitions for Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
The reason for this is that there are two basic ways of approaching GIS. It may be
regarded from a tools-orientated point of view that explores how the software
models the world; or from an approach-orientated point of view that explores what
GIS allows us to do.
3

The tools-oriented approach describes GIS from the point of view of the software,
for example, ArcView or MapInfo. These are often regarded as complex computer
mapping programs. This is a misapprehension: GIS software combines computer
mapping functionality with a form of database management system (DBMS), such
as Dbase, Microsoft Access, or Oracle.
4
The mapping functionality requires
spatial data (location of the feature), the database management system requires

3
Ian N. Gregory: A Place in History A short introduction to HGIS by the lead developers of Great Britain
Historic Geographic Information Systems (GBHGIS). http://hds.essex.ac.uk/g2gp/gis/index.asp. accessed on
March 1, 2011
4
Ian N. Gregory: A Place in History A short introduction to HGIS by the lead developers of Great Britain
Historic Geographic Information Systems (GBHGIS). http://hds.essex.ac.uk/g2gp/gis/index.asp. accessed on
March 1, 2011
5

attribute data (information about the feature). Together with the mapping abilities
incorporated in the software, a GIS could be regarded as a spatially-referenced
database. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines GIS as “a
computer system capable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying
geographically referenced information; that is, data identified according to
location. Practitioners also define a GIS as including the procedures, operating
personnel, and spatial data that go into the system.”
5
This is a typical tools
orientated definition of GIS.
In short, it is a database management system combined with spatial
functionalities. It relates information from different sources, integrates this
information, and outputs it into different integral formats based on specific uses
(for example, three-dimensional GIS for the analysis of hydrology, or view shed
analysis for the creation of a buffer zone for visual control of historic landmarks).
The process of creation of a GIS usually includes relating information from
different sources, data capture, data integration, data projection and registration,
data restructuring, and data modeling.
6
As computer technology develops, more

5
USGS. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Poster, http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/gis_poster/#what,
accessed on Dec. 20, 2010.
6
USGS. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Poster, http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/gis_poster/#what,
accessed on Dec. 20, 2010.

6

and more different types of attribute data could be introduced into GIS. For
example, computer-assisted 3D modeling techniques could help scholars
generate a GIS with direct views of the structures in the system.
The approach-orientated definition of GIS explains how we can use this optimally
as a dual-aspect data model. GIS may be used in archaeology, geography,
cartography, remote sensing, land surveying, public utility management, natural
resource management, precision agriculture, photogrammetry, urban planning,
emergency management, navigation, aerial video, and localized search engines.
This thesis will employ a GIS specially developed for the use of historic studies
that is called a Historic Geographic Information System (also referred to as
Historical GIS or HGIS).
1.1.2. Historical Geographic Information Systems (Historical GIS)
A Historic GIS is a GIS system that can capture, analyze and output data derived
from historic geographies and track changes in time by adding chronological
information into the database of the system. Usually, this system is applied on a
large scale (for example, a nation, a state or a city) to record the evolution and
7

interrelationships of two or three specific aspects such as a river system, historic
structures, or a natural landscape.
Using HGIS, any aspects of the history of a region’s culture can be recorded to
create an integral geographical reference system. It could incorporate visible
spatial features such as the natural context, land use, transportation networks,
abstract spatial features such as political units and boundaries, socioeconomic
patterns, demographic data, and even temporary events and other information
that can often be linked to spatial data.
1.2. Objectives of this Research
The goal of this research is to create a small scale Geographical Information
System that incorporates most of the different cultural aspects of Chinese mining
camp over time to document, visualize and interpret the spatial history of the
settlers in Virginia City, Montana.
1.3. Selection of this Case Study
Among the many cultural heritage sites of early Chinese immigrants from the Gold
Rush Era, the Chinese mining camp in Virginia City, Montana is a special case.
First and most importantly, a wide range of records (historic photographs, historic
8

artifacts, census records, trial records, historic maps, etc.) has survived but
almost no historic structures remain. This stands in contrast to many of its
counterparts on the West Coast, such as Locke, California or Virginia City,
Nevada where much physical evidence survives. This make it much easier to
document, visualize, and interpret the tangible and intangible heritage of the
Chinese pioneers in these towns. At Virginia City, Montana, most of the historic
structures related to the Chinese are gone and no major archaeological work on
the Chinese mining camp has yet been conducted. That condition posts an
especially challenging situation when it comes to documenting, visualizing, and
interpreting its past. A second reason for using Virginia City, Montana as a case
study are the continuous conservation efforts that have been undertaken since
the 1940s.
7
After the decline of the mining town after WWII, individual efforts
were made to preserve the site, and then, state efforts were made to form The
Montana Heritage Commission in 1997 to preserve the site and recover its past
glory. The Chinese in Virginia City and associated cultural aspects are integral
parts of the town’s history and cultural heritage. An attempt to document, visualize

7
Since the 1940s, Charles Bovey and his family started to purchase and preserve the historic properties in
Virginia City, Montana. And after his death, these properties were sold to the State of Montana, and have
been preserved by Montana Heritage Commission since then.
9

and interpret these cultural aspects is essential a full understanding of the town’s
rich history.
1.4. Scope of the Research
This thesis integrates three areas of interests (see Figure 1): the history of urban
form and planning (based on historic maps and historic photos of Virginia City,
Montana); the social and cultural aspects of the place (based on historic
documents such as census reports, historic newspaper articles, historic
photographs); and visualization and geo-referencing of important historic
structures (based on historic photographs and review manuscripts). All of these
three areas are supported by a broad historical analysis of the Chinese in Virginia
City, Montana.
The research in this thesis will cover these aspects and how to integrate this
information into a historic GIS to document, visualize and interpret the
multifaceted spatial and chronological history of the Chinese cultural activities at
Virginia City.
10

Figure 1 Overlapping areas of interest forming the basis of the HGIS
11

2. Chapter Two: Resources for the Creation of the HGIS of Chinese
Immigrants in the Mining Camp of Virginia City, Montana
2.1. General History of Chinese Migration to the American West
The story of Chinese pioneers in Virginia City from 1863 to 1907 belongs to a
much larger history of Chinese migration to the American West in the 19th
century. Many aspects of the historical and social progress of the Chinese
pioneers in Virginia City were highly influenced by the eastern migration in
general. To understand this historical and social process and to appropriately
interpret this cultural heritage, we first need to have a glance at the history of
Chinese migration to the American West in the 19
th
century.
Prior to the major Chinese migration which began in 1848, trade between the
United States and China offered a precondition for this later movement.
An observant visitor to the Pacific Coast could easily perceive the set of forces
and cultural elements on this section of America that are completely different from
those on the East Coast. Many material elements such as the presence of large
Chinese-American firms (such as Chinese Six Companies or Chinese
12

Consolidated Benevolent Association is the major organization that worked on
organizing Chinese labors back to the mining era), articles of furniture, Chinese
clothing, and the frequent departures and arrivals of ships to and from China are
evident.
Chinese influence on the development of the American West started shortly after
Magellan demonstrated that there was, in truth, a Pacific Coast. In the middle of
the sixteenth century, early Latin-American trade with China by the Spanish
colonists brought trade activities into California (see figure 2). Later in the 18
th

century, British colonists established trade between China and present-day
Northwest America through Hawaii. This commerce was gradually monopolized
by New England merchants. This business brought more pastoral and agricultural
activities into the Pacific Northwest, which led to permanent settlements in the
Puget Sound Area. Since these settlements existed in the Northwest, this region
was in a position to profit from the later resurgence of the California gold fields.
8

The influence of the early trade with China in America is tremendous. First of all, it
pushed forward the development of the Pacific Coast. Had the trade not been
established, the development of this region would have come much later than it

8
George T. Renner, “Chinese Influence in the Development of Western United States”, Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 152, China (Nov, 1930), p. 356-269
13

did. Secondly, it made feasible the establishment of a trading post in Hawaii and
led to the establishment of commercial activities with East Asia. Thirdly, the trade
also allowed the American businessmen to establish business cooperation with
Chinese governors and businessmen, which made possible the migration of
Chinese laborers into America, starting in 1848.

Figure 2 Early Latin-American trade with China and Northwestern trade with China
9

9
George T. Renner, “Chinese Influence in the Development of Western United States”, Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 152, China (Nov, 1930), p. 357.
14

In 1848, two Chinese men and one Chinese woman from Hong Kong arrived in
San Francisco. The men ultimately went to work in the gold mines, while the
woman became a family servant.
10
From this time on, more and more Chinese
emigrated into and through California and later to other regions on the West Coast
(see figure 3). Until the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, about
326,060 Chinese either had settled down permanently or at least had spent some
period of time in the United States.
11

10
Bancroft, H. H. History of California. Vol. 19. San Francisco: A.L. Bancroft & company, 1890.
11
O. Gibson, The Chinese in America. Cincinnati, Ohio: Hitchcock & Walden, 1877.
15

Figure 3 Chinese and the mining frontier: 1848 - 1879
12

12
Randall E. Rohe, "After the Gold Rush: Chinese Mining in the Far West, 1850-1890." Montana: The
Magazine of Western History 32, no. 4 (1982): p. 2-19.

16

2.1.1. Causes of the Migration
Most of the Chinese immigrants arriving in America in the mid-nineteenth century
came from the Zhu Jiang River Delta Region surrounding Guangdong Province,
China.
13
The reasons for this migration were several. First of all, the great
population explosion in China between 1700 and 1850 had placed tremendous
pressure on agricultural land in China. In several provinces, the population had
grown beyond the land’s ability to produce enough food for basic living needs.
Another influential reason was the decline of the Qing Dynasty. This led to severe
government corruption, banditry, clan wars and rebellions. The major clan war
that devastated the immigration community in Guangdong Province and
encouraged the immigration to the United States is the Hakka-Punti Clan Wars
(1855 -1867). These wars were particularly fierce in the area around the Pearl
River Delta, especially in the Taishan of Sze Yup region and, it led to a death toll
of over one million in this comparatively small region.
14
The largest and the most
famous rebellion was the Tai Ping Rebellion (1851 – 1864). About 20 million
people died, mainly civilians, in this war, which has been claimed as one of the

13
Robert R. Jr. Swartout, “Kwangtung to Big Sky: The Chinese in Montana, 1864 – 1900”, Montana: The
Magazine of Western History, Vol. 38, No.1 (winter, 1988) p. 44.
14
Ping Liu, The War Forgotten between Native and Hakkas People in Guangdong in the Hanfeng and
Tongzhi Periods, The Commercial Press, April 4, 2003, p. 28.
17

deadliest military conflicts in history
15
. The loss of the Opium War of 1839 -1842
(between China and Britain) and the Second Opium War of 1856 – 1860 (between
China and an alliance of Britain and France) also led to the pillaging of Chinese
resources including its most abundant source – labor. By forcing China to sign
unequal treaties, America also gained equal benefits from these wars especially
in areas of trade and labor.
16
These wars and rebellions together with the
weakening of the Imperial government separated peasants from their farmland,
and made it harder and harder to survive in China, especially in the southeast
section.
Finally, there was the external allure of the United States. Between 1840s and
1890s, the resource-rich and labor-poor Pacific Coast offered great opportunities
to foreign workers who were seeking financial and material security. Spurred
initially by the gold discoveries in California in 1848 and later by the need for labor
to construct the trans-continental railroad, first hundreds and later thousands of

15
Jack Gray (2002). Rebellions and Revolutions: China from the 1800s to 2000. New York: Oxford
University Press.
16
Philip V. Allingham, Contributing Editor, Victorian Web, England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60,
Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, p. 39.

18

Chinese emigrated into the American West.
17
Evidence of the vast emigration of
Chinese into California (and American West) is still vivid today: the Chinese name
for San Francisco is Jiu Jinshan, which means the Old Gold Mountain.
Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that there were 25,000 Chinese
living on the Pacific coast of America by 1910.
18
For thirty years after 1849 the
Chinese constituted the largest single alien group entering the Western States.
The fact that they did not finally contribute numerically to the American population
as did the German and Irish immigrants coming to the Eastern United States was
generally due to political and negative legal issues (such as the Chinese
Exclusion Act, which is enacted in 1882) and not geographical causes.
19

2.1.2. Origin of the Chinese Migration
One interesting phenomenon in this immigration is that the majority of the workers
came from Guangdong Province, especially from Sze Yup, which is located in
southeast Guangdong Province. The specific reason for this is difficult to identify.

17
Jake Chen, The Chinese of America: From the Beginning to the Present, San Francisco: Harper & Row,
1981. p. 15 -29; Gunther Barth, Bitter Strength, A History of the Chinese in the United States, 1850 – 1870,
Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1964, p. 50 -76’; Kil Young Zo, Chinese Emigration into the
United States, 1850 -1880, New York, Arno Press, 1978, p. 114 -145.
18
From Abstracts of Report of Immigration commission, 1910 . Vol. 1, p. 65-96
19
George T. Renner, “Chinese Influence in the Development of Western United States”, Annual of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 152. China. Nov. 1930. P. 360.
19

The Hakka-Punti Clan Wars (1855 -1867) mentioned above might have been one
of the reasons. These conflicts took place in Guangdong province. Hakka literally
means guest clans, and Punti means native clans in the local dialect known as
Cantonese. These conflicts were basically caused by the limited resources of this
region, especially farmland. During the nineteenth century, an increase in the
Hakka’s population raised resentment among the Punti, and from the Hakka’s
point of view, they thought they had been discriminated against and marginalized.
The war caused roughly a million deaths and many houses were destroyed.
Because the Punti outnumbered the Hakka in population, the Hakka lost the war
and many of them had to migrate to Guangxi province or work abroad. The
survivors of the war formed strong ties within each clan. In some cases, the
inhabitants of a village might have the same family name. They had very strict
rules within the family. They lived together, worked together and struggled
together. This phenomenon deeply influenced all Chinese immigrant communities
formed between 1848 and 1882, including all the mining camps like Virginia City,
Montana.
Another reason for this particular emigration factor might have been the
penetration of Western influence on the southeast coast of China. After the two
20

Opium Wars (1839 -1842 & 1856-1860), the Qing government was forced to open
fifteen coastal cities and port cities for commercial trade with the West, many of
which were located in Southeast China. This penetration allowed the inhabitants
more access to opportunities in other countries, such as America.
A third reason for this emigration may be rooted in the long-time maritime tradition
of the Southeast Coast of China. For centuries, people of this region had been
traveling abroad in search of wealth and cultural communication. The exploration
could be dated back to as early as 1405 AD. Today, the descendants of these
earlier Chinese emigrants could be seen in many countries in Southeast Asia.
Emigration to America is just one page of the larger story. Between 1850 and
1900, about five million Chinese from the southeast coast regions left China and
only half a million among them went to United States.
20
After they entered the
United States, they started their exploration into the vast land of the America West
in hopes of wealth and a better life.

20
Robert R. Jr. Swartout, “Kwangtung to Big Sky: The Chinese in Montana, 1864 – 1900”, Montana: The
Magazine of Western History, Vol. 38, No.1 (winter, 1988) p. 44
21

2.2. Brief History of Virginia City, Montana
2.2.1. Early Years (prehistory – 1863)
Prior to the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch in May 1863, this area was not
without inhabitants. Archaeological evidences, such as flake tools made of flint
found in Alder Gulch, indicate that human activities in Southwest Montana can be
traced back to the Paleolithic Age. According to Montana Chamber of Commerce
at Virginia City, “Some of the native tribes that lived in, hunted in, or traveled
through the area include: Shoshoni, Bannock, Cree, Salish, Crow, Kootenai, Pend
d'Oreille, Nez Perce, and Blackfeet.”
21

The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 brought southwest Montana including Virginia
City into the domain of the United States.
22
Following the Lewis and Clark
Expedition between 1804 and 1806, pioneers including trappers, homesteaders,
ranchers and miners came in waves and began to displace the Native Americans.
In 1841, St. Mary’s mission was established in the Bitterroot Valley, which is 232
miles northwest of Virginia City and is claimed as the birthplace of Montana’s

21
Montana Chamber of Commerce, Virginia City, MT: http://www.virginiacity.com/#fun_facts, accessed on
March 8, 2011
22
Michael P. Malone, Richard B. Roeder, William L. Lang, Montana-A History of Two Centuries. Seattle:
University of Washington Press. 1991. p. 30.
22

Euro-American settlement. There were both negotiations and conflicts between
Native Americans and pioneers all across the region. In southwestern Montana,
the first agreement was the Blackfeet Treaty of 1855. In this treaty, the Blackfeet
tribe promised to recognize the general area of southwestern Montana as a
common hunting ground, where they would respect the rights of other tribes and
agreed to limited white usage of their reservation lands.
23
This agreement formed
a fundamental basis for the peace between these groups for many years.
2.2.2. Mining Era (1863- ca. 1940s)
Since the first gold discovery in California in 1848 and the subsequent gold
rushes, more and more people were attracted to the west coast of America in
hopes of achieving a quick fortune. Prior to the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch in
1863, there were several other of these discoveries to the west of the Continental
Divide
24
. Gold discoveries in 1860 along the Salmon River in present-day Idaho
drew thousands of miners to the general region to the southwest of present-day
Montana (see figure 4). Following that was the discovery of gold in Florence in

23
Michael P. Malone, Richard B. Roeder, William L. Lang, Montana-A History of Two Centuries. Seattle:
University of Washington Press. 1991. p. 117.
24
1849 Gold Rush to California; 1858-1859 Pike’s Peak, gold discovery in Colorado;1859 May, Comstock
Lode found at Virginia City, Nevada; 1862 July, 28 Gold discovered at Bannack (82 Miles Northwest of
Virginia City); 1863 May 26, gold discovery in Alder Gulch (Virginia City), Montana;
23

Idaho in 1861. As a result, more and more people were attracted to the
inter-mountain west region and began placer mining and also started searching
for new sites. The following year on July 28, 1862, gold was found at Grasshopper
Creek, and as a result, Bannack, Montana’s first mining boom town was
established. By the end of the year, the population in Bannack had already
reached around five hundred.
25

Figure 4 Salmon River, USGS Service.

25
Ellen Baumler, “More than the Glory: Preserving the Gold Rush and Its Outcome at Virginia City”,
Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 49, No. 3. Autumn, 1999, p. 65
24

On March 4, 1863, Congress created the Territory of Idaho, which existed until it
achieved statehood on July 3, 1890. The original territory included the east and
west boundaries of present-day Montana, all of present-day Idaho and parts of
present-day Wyoming (see figure 5-6). A special vote in 1863 indicates the total
population of Idaho was 32,342, among which 11,043 people were counted in
present-day Montana.
26
Before May 26, 1864, when Montana Territory was
created, Southwest Montana was mainly under the control of the territorial
administration of Idaho.

26
Gene F. Williams, ed., Idaho Territorial Voters Poll Lists, 1863 (Boise, Idaho, 1996), 6. Adapted from Ellen
Baumler, “More than the Glory: Preserving the Gold Rush and Its Outcome at Virginia City”, Montana: The
Magazine of Western History, Vol. 49, No. 3. Autumn, 1999, p. 65
25

Figure 5 Idaho Territory, 1863
27

Figure 6 Idaho Territory, 1863
28

On May 26, 1863, gold was discovered in Alder Gulch by Bannack prospectors
Thomas Cover, Henry Edgar, Bill Fairweather, Barney Hughs, Harry Rodgers,
and Michael Sweeney, following which, miners were drawn from all directions,
including Bannack. The discovery led to a mining group composed of about two
hundred miners at first,
29
and subsequently, mining camps started to form along
Alder Gulch, connected to each other by a crude road to Virginia City “bordered

27
Created by Matthew Trump, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wpdms_idaho_territory_1863_idx.png
28
Created by Matthew Trump,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wpdms_idaho_territory_1864_legend_idx.png
29
Ken & Ellen Sievert, Virginia City and Alder Gulch, Helena, MT: Montana Magazine and American & World
Geographic Publishing, 1993. p. 14

26

with dwellings on both sides all along”. Based on its linear distribution, the group
of mining camps was by 1869 referred to as “Fourteen-mile City.”
30

The boom of development in Alder Gulch brought a vast change to the local
landscape. Trees were cut and thickets were cleared for camps and mining sites.
In less than a week, “the new community was busy upheaving, sluicing, drifting,
and cradling the inexhaustible bed of auriferous gravel.”
31
The development
attracted not only miners but also real estate developers and merchants. By June
16, 1863, the Varina Town Co. claimed a 320 acre site in the Idaho Territory. This
area was named to honor Varina Howell Davis, the first and only First Lady of
Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
32
On the same
day, Virginia City was incorporated by a miners’ court
33
(see figure 7)

30
James H. Morley, diary, November 12, 1864, p. 191, SC 533, Montana Historical Society Archives
(hereafter MHS), Helena, Montana (hereafter Morley diary). Cited in Ellen Baumler, “More than the Glory:
Preserving the Gold Rush and Its Outcome at Virginia City”, Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol.
49, No. 3. Autumn, 1999, p. 65
31
Nathaniel P. Langford, Vigilante Days and Ways (1890; Helena, Mont., 1996), 127. ). Cited in Ellen
Baumler, “More than the Glory: Preserving the Gold Rush and Its Outcome at Virginia City”, Montana: The
Magazine of Western History, Vol. 49, No. 3. Autumn, 1999, p. 65
32
After the establishment, the town’s name was objected through registration and was recorded as “Virginia
City” by a Connecticut Judge G. G. Bissell.
33
Ken & Ellen Sievert, Virginia City and Alder Gulch, Helena, MT: Montana Magazine and American & World
Geographic Publishing, 1993. p. 14

27

Figure 7 Virginia City survey map, 1868.
Overall, seven major “cities” were created in this booming mining area: Virginia
City (June, 1863), Nevada City (1863), Junction City (1865), Adobetown, Central
City, Union City and Summit (July, 1863). Among these, due to its key location,
Virginia City functioned as a transportation hub. In July 1864, Jim Bridger and
John Bozeman brought wagon trains to Virginia City. By winter 1864, fifty dollars
bought a ticket on one of A. J. Oliver's regular coaches from Salt Lake City.
34
And

34
Michael P. Malone, Richard B. Roeder, and William L. Lang, Montana: A History of Two Centuries, rev. ed.
(1976; Seattle, 1991), p. 78.
28

five years later, on May 11, 1869, the transcontinental railroad was completed
(known originally as the Pacific Railroad and later as the Overland Route.)
However, it never reached Virginia City.
Events other than the improvements in transportation also pushed Virginia City
into becoming a fully functioning town. On December 23
rd
, 1863, the first Vigilante
organizational meeting was held. In August 1864, the first public school opened in
a temporary church on Idaho Street. On August 27, 1864, the first issue of
Montana Post was printed and 960 copies were sold at 50 cents each. In spring,
the population of the entire Alder Gulch already reached 7,000, and, in autumn,
1864, the number hit 18,000. In 1865, a Baptist Church was constructed in
Virginia City, On December 25, a Catholic Church was established. On November
2, 1866, telegraph service was established to Salt Lake City. In 1867, an
Episcopal Church was built in Virginia City. On December 17, 1867, a Masonic
temple was constructed. In the process
35
, Virginia City gradually became the
largest town in Montana Territory and performed as a regional center.

35
Ken & Ellen Sievert, Virginia City and Alder Gulch, Helena, MT: Montana Magazine and American & World
Geographic Publishing, 1993. p. 60
29

As the town grew, the population of Chinese in Virginia City grew as well. In 1863,
one man claimed that “I was told that there was one or two Chinamen that left
Bannack in 1863 when the gold rush was on and headed for Alder Gulch.”
36
In
1865, Chinese mining activities in Alder Gulch were reported in the Montana Post.
On November 2, 1866, Chinese activities in Virginia City were reported in the
Walla-Walla Statesman. These Chinese miners gradually gained the legal rights
to mine the claims. In 1870, Chinese bought the rights to rework some claims in
the Alder Gulch.
Their population increased fast as more and more Chinese workers migrated into
this area. In 1870, 1,949 Chinese were counted in the census report of the
Territory of Montana, which was 10% of the whole population. Of these, only 123
were female. As their population increased, the Chinese tried to seize any
possibility to survive and make a profit. Laundry businesses were among the most
successful attempts at this. Because this seemed to post a threat to other local
businesses, a special tax law was established to block Chinese laundries in
1872.
37

36
Madison County History Association ( Montana), Pioneer Trails and Trials, Madison County 1863-1920
(Sheridan, Montana: Madison County History Association (Montana), c1983, p.777.
37
Robert R. Jr. Swartout, “Kwangtung to Big Sky: The Chinese in Montana, 1864 – 1900”, Montana: The
Magazine of Western History, Vol. 38, No.1 (winter, 1988) p 51
30

These Chinese worked in a country far away from their home, but they brought
their traditions with them. They had a traditional diet, gathered in traditionally
decorated temples, celebrated festivals and arranged funeral ceremonies in old
ways. On February 15, 1872, the Helena Weekly Herald reported on a Chinese
New Year Celebration as well as other celebrations such as: the Ching Ming
festival, the Dragon Boat festival, the Moon festival and the Winter Solstice
festival. In 1874, in A. K. McClure’s Three Thousand Miles through the Rocky
Mountains, the first detailed Chinese funeral in Virginia City was documented.
Other than in the mining industry, Chinese labors were also employed in other
businesses during the pioneer period, such as building the transcontinental
railroad. And as the transcontinental railroad, the Northern Pacific railroad,
passed through Montana by 1882, many Chinese workers found their way to this
region. As the Chinese population in the area grew, it continued to make a profit
from abandoned claims as well as laundry businesses. In reaction, local
non-Chinese and the government began to oppose the influence of this special
group of immigrants. Discrimination against Chinese immigrants arose in Virginia
City as well as the neighboring city of Butte. Multiple boycotts against Chinese
labor formed around Montana. On May 8, 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was
31

enacted. And this act fundamentally cut the flow of Chinese labor to America. In
1900, there were fewer than 20 Chinese people in Virginia City, Montana.
38
Most
of the Chinese pioneers were gone by then, with their only traces left in period
photographs, archaeological evidence and other documentary sources.
2.2.3. Post Placer Mining Era
As the deposit of gold in the river bed ran out, gold dredging began at Alder Gulch
in the 1890s primarily led by the Conrey Placer Mining Company until 1922. Local
dredging operations continued into the 1930's
39
. In 1942, the United States
government enacted the Gold Mine Closing Order, which ceased the mining
activities in Virginia City. By the 1940s, Virginia City had a population of less than
four hundred people. It had dramatically declined from its mining age.
In 1940s, Charles A. and Sue Ford Bovey from Great Falls of Montana visited the
former gold mining town (see figure 8). Charles A. Bovey was a newly elected
Montana state representative by that time. Amazed by the good condition of many

38
Ellen Baumler, “More than the Glory: Preserving the Gold Rush and Its Outcome at Virginia City”,
Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 49, No. 3. Autumn, 1999, p. 63
39
Ellen Baumler, “More than the Glory: Preserving the Gold Rush and Its Outcome at Virginia City”,
Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 49, No. 3. Autumn, 1999, p. 74

32

historic structures in Virginia City that could be dated to the mining era, he began to
initiate preservation efforts.

Figure 8 Great Falls Tribune Photo of Charles and Sue Bovey
In the early 1940s Bovey created the "Old Town" exhibition for the Great Falls Fair,
a recreation of what an Old West town might have been like in the 1800s, using a
variety of historic buildings collected from different Montana communities, as well
as items from his own personal antique collection.
40

Charles Bovey established the Historic Landmarks Society in July 1944 as a
non-profit organization dedicated to preserve Montana's living history. It was
through this organization he was able to begin the restoration of Virginia City,

40
The Northwest Digital Archives (NWDA),” Guide to the Charles A. Bovey Papers 1882-1983”,
http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv76613, accessed on March 1, 2011.
33

Montana. In 1950, the Great Falls Fair Board dissolved the "Old Town" display.
Charles moved it to Nevada City, a ghost town located only a few miles from
Virginia City. Using historic buildings donated or purchased from people around
the state, he recreated Nevada City and preserved these buildings. By this point,
Virginia City and Nevada City had become tourist attractions as well as frequent
film locations.
Charles Bovey contributed almost thirty years to the preservation and restoration
of Virginia City and the recreation and preservation of Nevada City until his death
on June 9, 1978. His efforts long preceded the current regulations, laws and
procedures that now guide preservation projects. The recreation of Nevada City
involved the relocation of many historic structures, reconstructed buildings and
newly constructed structures that were designed to resemble the old urban
landscape that was long gone. Due to poor documentation and the lack of
appropriate preservation procedures in these efforts, these relocated or
reconstructed structures can barely offer valuable information for us to trace the
intangible heritage of the Chinese pioneers.
In 1997, the State of Montana purchased these properties from Ford, Charles
Bovey’s son. After the sale, the state created the Montana Heritage Preservation
34

Commission (now the Montana Heritage Commission) through the Montana
Historical Society to continue preservation and restoration efforts in Virginia City
and Nevada City.
41

2.3. Natural Context of Virginia City, Montana
2.3.1. Climate
The weather in southwest Montana is very unpredictable. The case is especially
true for Alder Gulch.
Virginia City is located in a small basin surrounded by mountains in Alder Gulch,
at an elevation of about 5,761 feet above sea level. Due to the special location, it
forms a micro climate of its own. The temperature can change dramatically from
daytime to nighttime. Generally speaking, the summer there is cool, dry and
everything looks expansive under the big, blue sky; and, the winter is cold and
long with periodical snowfalls. It is claimed that this mountain climate could give
people an “expansive feeling and a heartier and more cordial spirit,” as James
Handly wrote in his report in 1872 titled The Resource of Madison County
42
.

41
The Northwest Digital Archives (NWDA),” Guide to the Charles A. Bovey Papers 1882-1983”,
http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv76613, accessed on March 1, 2011.
42
James Handly, The Resources of Madison County, Montana, San Francisco: Francis and Valentine, 1872.
p.21.
35

The climate and seasons significantly influence the natural and cultural
landscape, as well as the regional culture of Virginia City and Alder Gulch.
Temperatures in Virginia City range from a normal minimum of 10.6°Fahrenheit in
January to a normal maximum of 81.3° on a July day. The coldest month on
record is January 1875, with an average temperature of 1.7°, and July 1916 was
recorded as warmest month with a 73.5°average.
43
This can be compared with
the regional climate, which records a low temperature of 36°below zero in 1937,
and a high temperature of 101°in 1961 recorded both in nearest weather station in
Dillon.
44
The climate of Virginia City could be called “fair weather” most of the
time, although it is still a typically harsh mountain climate.
Considering the hard, long, winter in Virginia City and its specific geographic
location, one can easily imagine the difficulty of transporting supplies to this place
during the nineteenth century, using the wagons and teams, which traveled
overland from more than 2,500 miles, and the carefully plowed highways of today
did not exist. This limitation sometimes resulted in a lack of food supplies.

43
Ken & Ellen Sievert, Virginia City and Alder Gulch, Helena, MT: Montana Magazine and American & World
Geographic Publishing, 1993. p. 7
44
Ken & Ellen Sievert, Virginia City and Alder Gulch, Helena, MT: Montana Magazine and American & World
Geographic Publishing, 1993. p. 7
36

The climate and the harsh geographical condition fundamentally influenced the
basic elements of Chinese mining camps in Virginia City, such as the building
methods employed by the Chinese pioneers, the layout of their camps. It also
encouraged the growing fresh vegetables on top of roofs, a custom, which will be
discussed later in this thesis.
2.3.2. Topography
Virginia City was constructed along Daylight Creek, which drains the west side of
the low saddle that connects the Tobacco Root Mountains to the Gravelly Range
into Alder Gulch.
45
The town is surrounded by a variety of landforms, landscapes,
wildlife species and geological upheavals that characterize southwestern
Montana.
46
It is also located in a folded mountain region that ultimately converges
its waters into the headwaters of the Missouri River. To the west is the Continental
Divide which separates the Great Basin and the Columbia Basin from the
highland valleys and mountains and active cauldron of Yellowstone National Park
to the east. Great climatic, geological and cultural differences are created by this

45
Ken & Ellen Sievert, Virginia City and Alder Gulch, Helena, MT: Montana Magazine and American & World
Geographic Publishing, 1993. p. 9
46
Ibid.

37

natural divide, which became an important reason for the construction of Northern
Pacific Railroad to connect the two regions. This also brought in a great number of
Chinese laborers to the Rocky Mountain region.
In short, the natural environment supplies sufficient water, lumber and food for the
establishment of a human settlement, but it also isolates the settlement. This
condition made it important for the pioneers to bind together in order to deal with
the cruel environmental conditions and employ the natural resources as efficiently
as possible. Some labor groups were formed among the Whites generally based
on their ethnic identity in Montana,
47
so it was with the Chinese, who established
the Chinese Masonic Temple in Virginia City as the symbol of their unity. Because
of their concentration, the Chinese pioneers succeeded in keeping many earlier
traditions and customs alive ranging from festival celebrations and funerals, to
diet choice, which were integral parts of the cultural heritage of the Chinese
mining camp in Virginia City.

47
H. G. Merriam, “Ethnic Settlement of Montana”, The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 12, No. 2, Jun, 1943,
p157-168. University of California Press. Ethnic groups mentioned in this essay includes German,
Norwegians, Swedes, Scandinavians, Germans and Chinese, even though their time of major presence is
slightly different.
38

3. Chapter Three: Creation of the GIS
3.1. Necessity for the Creation of the GIS for the Purpose of
Documentation, Visualization and Interpretation
Almost immediately after the Chinese pioneers migrated into Virginia City, they
began the adaption to their new conditions, but also kept many traditions alive.
Placer mining, laundry businesses, Chinese herb store operations, gambling,
festival celebrations, blacksmithing, and Chinese Masonic meetings, along with
many other cultural activities evolved together in the small but vibrant newborn
mining-booming town. These activities belong to different aspects of the small
society the Chinese pioneers formed. Taken together, they acted as different
cultural layers that belong to an integral social-cultural map which overlays the
remaining structures. To interpret the cultural heritage of the Chinese pioneers as
a whole, it is necessary to develop a system to organize these activities into a
multidimensional integral whole.
There are basically two major methods of site interpretation for a cultural heritage
site that can be applied to the history of the Chinese community in Virginia City:
39

on-site interpretation and museum interpretation. The on-site interpretation of a
historic site requires that all of the known historic evidence and information be
gathered together in a single database. In the second method, there are two
different types of museum interpretation: the “chapter” exhibition (or thematic
grouping) and the exclusive exhibition. The “chapter” exhibition refers to that type
of interpretation which places objects within a larger context so the exhibition
becomes one part of a much broader experience. For example, an exhibition of
the laundry businesses of Chinese pioneers on United States West Coast in Gold
Rush era might include the artifacts of laundry businesses in Virginia City as a
“chapter” in a broader presentation. The other contemporaneous laundry
businesses in other Chinese settlements on the West Coast could be used for
comparison. This method could help raise the level of interpretation by adding
more effective comparative study opportunities; however, it lacks the ability to
show the complexity of the culture and the interrelationship among different
cultural aspects within the specific site under investigation. In contrast to the
“chapter” method, the exclusive exhibition method could resolve the difficulty of
interpreting a multidimensional culture heritage site. Through curatorial efforts that
divide the cultural heritage into several different categories, the different aspects
of cultural heritage could be clearly shown. However, without a systematical
40

division, the interpretation will be weak in showing the interrelationship among
different aspects of the cultural heritage site and how these aspects dynamically
function together to form the culture of the site. In other words, it also requires a
system to organize all the different aspects together into a whole.
To sum up, based on different conditions of the culture heritage site, for the
documentation and interpretation of a multidimensional cultural heritage, both
on-site method and in-museum method could be feasible. Both of these two
methods rely on an overarching system to organize the information database. The
system could be a well preserved cultural heritage site or a carefully designed GIS.
In the case of documentation of interpretation of multidimensional Chinese mining
camp and its legacy in Virginia City, Montana, a HGIS to organize all the different
culture aspects (such as mining, laundry business, Chinese herb store
operations, gambling, festival celebration, blacksmithing, mysterious Chinese
Masonic meetings) is indispensible.
Current Condition of Historic Remains
Nowadays, the biggest challenge we face with the issues of documentation and
interpretation of the culture heritage of Chinese pioneers in Virginia City is the
vast contrast between the wide range of records (historic photographs, historic
41

artifacts, census record, trial record, historic maps, etc.) and almost complete lack
of historic building remains. The Chinese mining camp in Virginia City, which used
to cover up to around one-sixth of the town, is now almost completely gone. Some
of its structures were simply abandoned, then destroyed in the 19
th
century; some
of them like the Chinese Temple were demolished when the construction of the
state high way cut through Virginia City in 1948.
The only historic remains that can be linked to the historic Chinese mining camp is
a two-story partially reconstructed structure with Chinese artifacts from a Chinese
herb store and Chinese Temple in Nevada City, the adjacent mining town that is
about one mile away from Virginia City. During the rebuilding process done in the
1940s, Charles Bovey’s staff often reused historic building remains, and there is
no record to prove that they followed a strict system of documentation or
reconstruction procedures to make sure the reconstructed structures would still
maintain historic integrity. Visitors can often identify evidence of this haphazard
style of reconstruction from the Bovey era, such as a painted plank that used be a
part of a store signboard that was installed upside down in a reconstructed
structure, or a sill log that was put on the top of the log wall in a log structure.
These efforts were undertaken at a time when historic preservation in America
42

was in Infancy. While, some historic Chinese structures were saved during
Bovey’s reconstruction effects in 1940s, due to the lack of clear records and poor
conditions, these remains are hardly eligible to be used as primary interpretative
materials for Chinese pioneer heritage in the history of Virginia City.
3.2. The Structure of the HGIS
Like normal Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the structure of the
spatial-referencing database of a Historic Geographic Information System (HGIS)
comprises two sets of data: attribute data and spatial data. The spatial data
indicates where the feature is; the attribute data shows what is significant about
the feature.
Chronological Data: Data Capturing Standard
A key aspect of HGIS in terms of database structure is the incorporation of
chronological data into the attribute data for most features. The chronological data
is critical for the tracking of changes of different social, cultural, and physical
aspects in time, which are often the focus of historic research.
Therefore, to assure the integrity of the database and the usability of it for historic
study, the first question that needs to be answered is how we should date our
43

features in the system. In the case of Chinese mining camps, not all the features
extracted from various resources are dated. Among the ones that are dated,
some of them are dated as a point in time (as in the cases of many dated
photographs), some are dated as a period of time (as in the cases of many dated
structures). Among the ones that are not dated, some are associated with a
historic structure or a historic event, which is dated or could be dated with the help
of archaeological evidence in the future. Since the objective of the creation of the
HGIS for the Chinese mining camp of Virginia City is to document, visualize and
interpret a complex, highly integrated heritage site that does not require clear
chronological data for each feature, we need to use different standards of
chronological data processing for different features to make sure that we could
incorporate as much valuable information as possible to show the various social,
cultural and physical aspects of the heritage site and their interrelationship while
keeping the accuracy of the whole system. Following the research objective of
this thesis, three different standards have been used to capture the chronological
data of features from different categories of resources:
44

• Precise dating (to a specific year): this standard applies to features that could
reflect urban form changes or/and social structural changes over time, such as
historic maps, historic photographs of the site, and census records;
• General dating (to a longer interval): this standard applies to features that
could reflect the different cultural aspects, such as diet, business activities,
recreational activities, customs, social activities, housing, public safety, historic
events.
• No dating: this standard applies to the features that do not change much over
time, such as climate, topography.
Spatial Data: data capturing standard
The precision of spatial data required in different systems should not be the same.
The size of the system could cause the difference. For example, for a study of car
sales within a nation, the precision of the spatial data is on a city-wide scale. It is
unnecessary and sometimes impossible to refer the feature to a location as
precise as a building structure. The type of the feature could also cause the
difference. For instance, the spatial data of a census report could only be referred
to the scale of the census region. For a historic GIS for Chinese mining camps
45

with different types of features from a multifaceted society, similar to chronological
data, different standards need to be set for spatial data capturing:
• Precise geographic referencing: this standard applies to the features with a
clear, strong connection to a particular historic structure, such as all the cultural
aspects (festival celebration, Chinese Masonic clan meetings, gambling, opium
smoking) that happened within the Chinese Masonic temple, or funeral and
memorial ceremonies that were held in the Chinese cemetery.
• Category geographic referencing: this standard applies to the features with a
strong connection to a particular category of historic structure, for example, the
style of log construction with the low, arched ceiling that is widely applied to
residential buildings of Chinese mining camps, or the wide spread of using the
rooftops of residential buildings as a space to grow vegetables.
• General geographic referencing: this standard applies to the features that are
not particularly related to any structure or any types or structure but spatially
connected with the specific Chinese mining camp as a whole, such as census
data, public safety, diet and custom.
Attribute Data: selection and future development
46

For research emphasizing documentation, visualization and interpretation, an
internal goal is to show the integrity of the cultural heritage. Therefore, many of
the sources used for the creation of the historic geographic information are direct
sources; however, some valuable secondary sources were used as well but only
after carefully considering the authenticity of the information. Moreover, even
though the sources used here cover most of the academic sources available at
this time, it does not mean this represents a complete record of the Chinese
mining camp in Montana. New archaeological evidence, newly opened museum
or library collections and newly revealed government archives could be added into
the database in the future. In other words, the database could always be updated
and used for different academic purposes in the future.
3.3. Digitization and Geo-referencing of Historic Maps, lithographs and
Photographs
Source Availability and Quality
For a researcher who wants to use the GIS software to create a historical GIS,
one of the crucial issues is source availability and quality. The source refers to
maps, lithographs, photographs or any other type of visual materials that could
47

reveal the spatial attributes of the site in a specific time period, among which
historic maps are the primary sources. For the availability of historic maps, there
are two critical questions to be determined: whether sufficient historic maps exist
for the proposed purposes of this study and whether they are digitized. For many
sites and many topics, the answer to the first question is usually “probably” and
the answer to the second is often no. Although government agencies like the
United States Geographical Survey (USGS)
48
or individual organizations like
ESRI (the company that produces ArcGIS software and provides associated
services)
49
do supply digital maps along with their datasets, most of them are
current or cotemporary maps. For historic maps, additional digitalization
processing is often required before geo-referencing (establishing the maps'
locations in a GIS system in terms of map projections or coordinate systems).
When using historic maps, lithographs, photographs and other visual resources, it
is important to have high-quality reproductions or even originals. A document with
poor legibility can only offer limited information but could be valuable in
determining specific portion of the maps.

48
US Geological Survey, http://www.usgs.gov/
49
ESRI, http://www.esri.com/
48

For this thesis, it was necessary to obtain paper reproductions, scanned files, film
prints from several different resources. In summer, 2009, during an internship at
the Montana Heritage Commission at Virginia City, Montana, the author of this
thesis obtained access to the collections of the Virginia City Library, the Montana
Heritage Commission and the Montana Historical Society at Helena, Montana.
These visual materials were stored in paper, microfilms, or digital format. After
looking through the catalogs and determining which maps were useful maps for
the research, this author checked their quality. Even though there are many maps
in the collection, legible visual materials that covered the Chinese mining are rare.
The current maps that were used as base layers for this study were obtained
through the USGS topo map collection
50
, USGS National map viewer and
download platform,
51
the Montana Cadastral Project
52
and ESRI map datasets
53
.
The following table shows the selected visual materials used to establish the base
layers of the HGIS.

50
US Geological Survey Topo Map Locator,
http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/%28xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&layout=6_1_61_48&uiarea
=2&ctype=areaDetails&carea=%24ROOT%29/.do
51
USGS the National Map Viewer, http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/
52
the Montana Cadastral Project , http://gis.mt.gov/
53
These datasets from ESRI are stored in disks, which could be found in the package of a purchased ArcGIS
software.
49

Table 1 Historic maps, lithographs and photographs used to establish the base layers of the HGIS
Type Year Description
Primary
Maps
1868 Parcel Survey map, surveyed and drawn by JL Corbett, Civil
Engineer
1878 Property map, originated by Fireman’s Fund Insurance
Company, San Francisco, CA
1884 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
1890 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
1904 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
1907 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
1922 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
1988 USGS Topo Map
2010 Property Map of MT, The Montana Cadastral Project.
2008 Streetmap USA, ArcGIS Map Data
2011 USGS National map viewer and download platform. (current
map covering topography, structures, transportation,
landcover, contours, hydrograph, scanned topo map, all layers
have ArcGIS downloadable datasets available for free)
50

Table 1: Continued
Lithographs
1868 Lithograph, Entered according to act of Congress
in the year 1868 by A. E. Mathews in the clerk’s
office of district court of the Southern District of
New York
1875 Lithograph, by Chas Shob, from Alder Gulch,
Looking East
Photographs
1865 Photograph, Wallace and Jackson 1865-1,
Montana Heritage Commission Collection
1865 Photograph, from Cemetery Hill looking south up,
Montana Historic Society Collection, 956-062
1866 Photograph, Virginia City 1866, anonymous
1868 Photograph, Wallace Street looking East, 1868
Montana Historic Society#956-063.
1875 Photograph, Wallace Street looking East after
1875 #956-065, Montana Heritage Commission
Collection
late 1870s Photograph, Wallace Street looking East from
Bummer Dan's, Montana Historic Society #95
1885 Photograph, Virginia City Christmas 1885 Montana
Historic Society Collection, 956-068
Unknown Photograph, “a view of Virginia City”, anonymous,
Virginia City Library Collection
unknown Photograph, NW Corner of Jackson and Wallace
Streets #PAC 96-73.1
1930s-1940s Photograph, Lower Wallace Street 1930s-1940s,
Montana Heritage Commission Collections
51

Digitalization and geo-referencing
After obtaining historic maps along with other visual materials it was necessary to
digitize the historic maps. After either the scanning or photographing process,
these maps were converted into digital versions (large maps were scanned in
portions and then combined together using Photoshop). However, these were still
raster datasets (compared with vector format). To make it possible to easily
compare changes over time and to add data to individual structures on a map, it
was necessary to add feature layers (.shp) and then edit on them based on the
information on the raster file. An example of this conversion is shown in figure 9.
52

Figure 9 An example of adding vector data on geo-referenced raster layer, Spatial Distribution of
Abstract features Chinatown, Virginia City, generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City,
created by Cheng Yang
In this example, the bottom layer (black and white) is a raster image produced
from geo-referencing an 1884 Sanborn Map, the layer above is the vector layer (in
the format of .shp file in ArcGIS in various colors on this picture), and all the
features on this layer are assigned with a specific set of data, which may it
possible to display the features in required ways (e.g. in this case, the GIS could
53

show whether the structure was occupied by Chinese or not, and, what was the
historic use of this structure at a given time.)
To combine the features from different sources, it was necessary to complete the
step of geo-referencing. To geo-reference a feature is to define its existence in
physical space. In other words, geo-referencing is to establish map locations in a
GIS system in terms of map projections or coordinate systems. In this way, we
can link all the datasets together based on the fact that they relate to the same
geographic locations. There are some different GIS tools available that could help
locate the images into a geographic control framework such as ArcGIS,
54

PciGeomatica
55
or Erdas Imagine.
56
The use of the GIS tools for historic
research involves complicated database design and input, locating historic maps
and other data sources, visualization and interpretation. For the purpose of
interpretation, it is also necessary to select software that is widely used so that
future researchers will have access to the dataset easily for their projects. For
these reasons, ArcGIS9 was chosen as the primary software to build the historic
GIS for Virginia City. It could offer the function that covers most of the required

54
ArcGIS, product of ESRI, http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/index.html
55
Geomatica, product of PCI, http://www.pcigeomatics.com/
56
ERDAS IMAGINE, product of ERDAS, http://www.erdas.com/Homepage.aspx
54

steps in the procedure mentioned earlier, except the visualization of 3D models
on the terrain (which could be achieved by using an expensive expansion of
ArcGIS). This element needs to be purchased separately and is very expensive.
57

A method to deal with this issue will be discussed in the next sub chapter.
To geo-reference a historic map or a structure or a specific spatial feature in
ArcGIS, one has to assign control point(s) to the feature; input the coordinates of
these points; choose a coordinate system; and then project the parameters. It is
not necessary that these points be the same. As long as their accurate coordinate
information is available, they are eligible to be used as control points. In this case,
control points were assigned for individual features based on the consistency of
certain features over time (for example, some street intersection). An example of
geo-referencing a 1904 Sanborn Insurance Company Map is shown on figure 10
through 13 (from digitalizing map to assigning control points to results):

57
ArcGIS 3D Analysis, ESRI product, http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/extensions/3danalyst/index.html,
accessed on March 1, 2011.
55

Figure 10 Geo-referencing of Historic Maps step 1: digitalizing
56

Figure 11 Geo-referencing of Historic Maps step 2: assigning control points in ArcGIS
57

Figure 12 Geo-referencing of Historic Maps step 3: referring control points to relevant points on the
reference map
58

Figure 13 Geo-referencing of Historic Maps step 4: minor adjustment
After this very time consuming process of geo-referencing all the raster files to
create historic map layers, the next step is to add features about the Chinatown of
Virginia City. The structure of the feature layer group is shown in figure 14:
59

Figure 14 Structure of feature layer group of the HGIS of Virginia City, Montana

3.4. Geo-Referencing of Abstract Spatial Features
3.4.1. Population
It was said that two Chinese arrived in Virginia City as early as in 1863.
58
The
Walla-Walla Statesman reported Chinese at Virginia City in 1866, the Montana
Post reported on Chinese mining activities in Alder Gulch as early as 1865.
59
At
the end of 1860s, many claims were abandoned by the Whites, and Chinese

58
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967

59
Sievert, Kenneth R., and Ellen Sievert. Virginia City Community Survey. Submitted to the City of Virginia
City, August 1992.
60

started to come to Virginia City in large groups. In the 1870 census report, nearly
280 out of a total population of 867 in Virginia City were Chinese.
60
In the 1880
census, there were 265 Chinese.
61
As the deposits of gold grew thinner and
regulations and laws were passed against them
62
and residents in neighboring
towns began to boycott them,
63
the Chinese started to leave at the end of 19
th

century. In 1901, there were about eighty people in Virginia City.
64
In 1911, there
was one Chinese man in the town.
65

60
Bureau of Census, Census of 1870, 1880, 1900, Montana Territory, Madison County, book 8, bound copy
of original at MHS Library.
61
Kenneth R., Sievert, and Ellen Sievert. “Virginia City Community Survey.” Submitted to the City of
Virginia City, August 1992.
62
John R. Wunder, “Law and Chinese in Frontier Montana” in Montana: The Magazine of Western History,
Vol. 30, No. 3. Summer, 1980, 18-31, Helena, Mont.: Montana Historical Society
63
Stacy A Flaherty. “Boycott in Butte: Organized Labor and the Chinese Community, 1896-1897” in
Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 37, No. 1. 34-47, Helena Mont.: Montana Historical
Society, 1987.
64
“Chinese New Year: Slight Preparations Being Made for Its Celebration”. The Madisonian, Feb. 2, 1901
65
“No Celebration of China New Year”. The Madisonian, Feb. 2, 1911

61

3.4.2. Business/Occupation
3.4.2.1. Cooking, Housework, Ranch Work and Laundry
When the Chinese first arrived at Virginia City in 1863, they started to work as
cooks, housecleaners or ranch workers. They worked in the farm homes up in the
Ruby Valley, in Ennis and other places
66
. Generally speaking, the Chinese took
the odd work most miners did not like to do. Among this work, laundry businesses
became the most established ones.
Wiley Davis, a former Virginia City local born in 1886, recalled the details of
Chinese laundry washing:
They did a lot of laundry work. A lot of people had Chinamen do their
laundry and it was quite interesting to watch them, and they did wash
clothes clean. They had a very sanitary way of sprinkling. When they were
ironing and they needed to sprinkle, there was a bucket of water set there
and they would take a drink and that would really spray…They made a
really fine spray, and that is the way they sprinkled.
67

There were quite a few Chinamen who did laundry work and they would
pack presents to the people in town. It might be a silk handkerchief or
something in the way of silk, or something like that.
68

66
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.
67
Ibid.
68
Ibid.
62

From his description, we know that there are many Chinese doing laundry work in
the nineteenth century. However, according to Sanborn maps, only the 1884 map
and the 1890 map showed the existence of a laundry house on Wallace Street on
each map in the Chinatown section of Virginia City (see figures 15 and 16). The
fact that only one laundry house was marked on each map does not quite match
what Mr. Davis described (and certainly it does not match some statements in
Virginia City and Alder Gulch,
69
in which the author said there are numerous
buildings indicated on Virginia City Sanborn Maps labeled as Chinese laundries.)
This confusion may be caused by the fact that the laundry houses labeled on the
Sanborn Maps were more established businesses (such as the Hong Sing
Washing and Ironing, an established Chinese laundry, recorded on 1884 Sanborn
Map, see figures 15 and 17), while other laundry workers may not have
established a long-term business but ran a small family operation. It is possible
that there were laundry workers in many log residences in which the Chinese
lived.
Why did Chinese take in laundry as a profession? Paul C. P. Siu, in his study, The
Chinese Laundryman: A Study of Social Isolation says that Chinese immigrants

69
Kenneth R., Sievert, and Ellen Sievert. Virginia City and Alder Gulch, Montana Magazine and American &
World Geographic Publishing,1993. p.40
63

turned to the laundry business because of hostility from the dominant
Euro-American population. Siu argues that laundering was one of the few
occupations that the Chinese were allowed to pursue.
70

As to the chronological data, these “odd jobs” around the house were generally
occupied by Chinese pioneers, from their arrival in the 1860s until their departure
in the early 1900s. As to the location data, other than the two laundry houses
clearly marked in Sanborn Insurance Maps, there is no clear record of this kind of
place of work. For the Chinese who worked as cooks, housekeepers, laundry men
or gardeners in Virginia City, on ranches in the Ruby Valley (near Virginia City)
and in neighboring towns such as Ennis, their location attributes were defined as
“generally in the Virginia City area” in the GIS.

70
Paul C. P. Siu, The Chinese Laundryman: A Study of Social Isolation, New York, NYU Press.1987.p.
44-54
64

Figure 15 section of 1884 Sanborn Map that
shows Chinese Washing place.

Figure 16 section of 1890 Sanborn Map that
shows Chinese Laundry

Figure 17 Hong Sing Washing and Ironing, an established Chinese laundry, recorded on 1884
Sanborn Map
65

3.4.2.2. Mining
Gold mining, along with railway construction, are the two major driving forces
behind Chinese immigration. Like the cases in many Chinese mining camps in the
America West, where the Chinese immigration pattern was described as “after the
gold rush,” the major number of Chinese arrived at Virginia City in the late 1860s,
after most of the mining claims were abandoned, instead of right after the gold
discovery in 1863.
71
As more and more gold was found elsewhere and the
deposits of gold in Virginia City became too low in yield to be worked profitably by
White workers, the Chinese started to take the abandoned claims and continue
working on them. They worked or reworked only what had otherwise remained
untouched.
72

There is evidence that about one hundred or more Chinese pioneers in Virginia
City started to work on mining using ground sluices as early as 1867.
73
They had
experience in placer mining before they came to Virginia City that they gained in

71
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.
72
Raymond Rossiter W. Statistics of Mines and Mining in the States and Territories West of Rocky
Mountains, Washington D.C. 1872.
73
McClure, A. K., Three Thousand Miles through the Rocky Mountains. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & CO.
1869. p 372-373
66

California, Idaho, Nevada or even before they came to the United States. They
worked closely with each other. They are frugal, skillful and extremely industrious.
They were often maltreated by evilly-disposed whites, but they rarely, if ever,
retaliated.
74

As time went on and deposits of gold became less attractive to the white miners,
the Chinese started to stake the abandoned claims. There is no clear record on
when and how the purchase of such claims happened. Mr. Davis stated he heard
of such a purchase in mid 1890s,
75
and others claimed that Chinese companies
bought the rights to rework some claims in the Alder Gulch.
76
The miners lived in
Virginia City as well as settlements they set up along Alder Gulch.
77
Their mining
technique was to sink deep pits into the gravel, shoveling the sand from one
platform to another, the different stages being just about the height that a man
could shovel conveniently. On the top level there was a sluice box into which the
gravel was shoveled by the station tender and it was washed carefully (see

74
Rossiter W. Raymond, Statistics of Mines and Mining in the States and Territories West of Rocky
Mountains, Washington D.C. 1872.
75
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.
76
Kenneth R. Sievert, and Ellen Sievert. Virginia City and Alder Gulch. Helena, Montana: Farcountry Press,
1993.
77
“Chinese River Miners”, Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, Feb. 4, 1906
67

figure 18). They occasionally had sites that could be worked in the ordinary
fashion (without digging deeply). However, that was a rare case in Alder Gulch
78
.
This bedrock mining was their way to get the gold out from the deep gravel layer
in the abandoned claims (see figure 19). During the 1870s until middle 1880s,
Chinese miners were also frequently employed by white companies doing
business in Alder Gulch. They worked for one dollar cheaper than the white
miners and they were very honest.
79

After the Chinese became too old to handle the hard labor in bedrock mining, they
would get a lease on some river or stream bar which had been stripped to bedrock
by earlier mining. In the cracks and crevices of the bedrock, and especially where
the ground was rough, they would scrape carefully at every little exposed crack,
turn over every rock that was loosened and scrape all of the black sand and the
gravel up in the heaps with a stiff whisk broom, and eventually pan the
accumulation for gold.
80
They seldom worked on drifting (or drift mining, which is
either the mining of a placer deposit by underground methods, or the working of
coal seams accessed by tunnels driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed.

78
“Chinese River Miners”, Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, Feb. 4, 1906
79
Ibid.
80
Ibid.
68

Drift is a more general mining term, meaning a near-horizontal passageway in a
mine, following the bed or vein of ore. A drift may or may not intersect the ground
surface. This kind of mining is done when the rock or mineral is on the side of a
hill
81
). The Chinese probably avoided drifting out of both fear of going
underground or resentment from the White miners.
82

The Chinese worked in groups, more like wage workers than slaves. A silk banner
found in Virginia City showed that there was a company called Jiaxing Company
which many Chinese workers joined. This company was involved with or was part
of an ancient secret society of Chinese called Hongmen. Details about this
company and its rules among the workers will be discussed in social activities
section below.
As the deposits became sparse and more and more regulations were established
against Chinese immigration and their employment (such as the Chinese
Exclusion Act, a United States federal law enacted in 1882 and the Proposition 7

81
Paul W. Thrush, A Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms, US Bureau of Mines, 1968, p.350.
82
Boswell, Terry E. “A Split Labor Market Analysis of Discrimination Against Chinese Immigrants,
1850-1882” in American Sociological Review, Vol. 51, No. 3. p. 361. American Sociological Association,
1986.

69

by the Montana Constitutional Convention in 1889
83
), the Chinese started to leave
Virginia City. At one time there were probably 500 Chinamen in Alder Gulch,
84
but
by 1901 there were only 80 Chinese left in Virginia City.
85
In 1911, there was but
one Chinaman left in Virginia City, and he did not belong to the old Chinese
mining group.
86
This marked the end of Chinese pioneers in Virginia City,
Montana.

83
Wunder, John R. “Law and Chinese in Frontier Montana” in Montana: The Magazine of Western History,
Vol. 30, No. 3. (Summer, 1980) page 29, Helena, Mont.: Montana Historical Society

84
“Chinese River Miners”, Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, Feb. 4, 1906
85
“Chinese New Year: Slight Preparations Being Made for Its Celebration”. The Madisonian, Feb. 2, 1901
86
“No Celebration of China New Year”. The Madisonian, Feb. 2, 1911

70

Figure 18 Chinese processing ore in a sluice box
at a placer mine in Alder Gulch, Montana 1871 by
W. H. Jackson.

Figure 19 Elder Chinese working on scraping
bedrocks for gold mining
87

87
“Chinese River Miners”, Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, Feb. 4, 1906

71

3.4.3. Customs
3.4.3.1. Funerals
The Chinese pioneers brought them with their own traditions. Funerals, along with
festival celebrations, were the traditions that most bound the Chinese community
together.
A funeral recorded on March 1, 1877, in the local newspaper Montana Post
showed that the ceremony consisted of a procession on Wallace Street to the
Chinese Cemetery on Grave-yard hill (there were two Chinese Cemeteries on the
hill
88
) and a savage dog fight
89
(see figure 20) In the funeral procession, the
Chinese participants carried small pieces of bright red and white paper cut in all
kinds of shapes that were scattered behind the casket all the way to the cemetery.
The idea of this was that there would be plenty of time to get the Chinaman buried
and taken care of before the bad spirits could get around all of these papers. After

88
“No Celebration of China New Year”. The Madisonian, Feb. 2, 1911
89
“A China Funeral”, Montana Post March 1,1877
72

they buried the dead, they would hold the ceremony of “feeding the dead” by
putting a big tray of food on the grave.
90,91

Figure 20 A Chinese funeral, in Virginia City, Montana, February, 1900
After the burying and the “feeding the dead” ceremony in the days following the
funeral, the final step of the ceremony was to relocate the bodies and ship them

90
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.
91
A. K. McClure,Three Thousand Miles through the Rocky Mountains. Philadelphia, 1869. p. 372-373
73

back to China. This was overseen by the Chinese master of the colony.
92
After
the Chinese were gone, there were few bones remaining in the cemetery for
nearly all of them were taken up and shipped to China.
93

The cemeteries were on Grave-yard Hill (Nowadays, Virginia City cemetery). The
exact location of them is unclear. Future archaeological work, if necessary, may
offer further information on their geographic location. The procession from the
Chinese living section to the general cemetery area along Wallace Street could be
used for the geographic data for this abstract feature.
3.4.3.2. Festival Celebration
The celebration of traditional festivals was an important part of Chinese social life.
Celebrations included Ching Ming, Dragon Boat, Moon, Winter Solstice and New
Year festivals
94
. Most important of all was the New Year festival. There was a time
when Chinese New Year was one of the greatest pageants of the year.
95

92
McClure, A. K., Three Thousand Miles through the Rocky Mountains. Philadelphia, 1869. Pp 372-373
93
“No Celebration of China New Year”. The Madisonian, Feb. 2, 1911
94
Rose H..Lee, Growth and Decline of Chinese Communities in the Rocky Mountain Region , p. 273-280.
Salem, New Hampshire : Ayer Co. Pub. 1979
95
“No Celebration of China New Year”. The Madisonian, Feb. 2, 1911
74

In the community center, the Chinese temple, there was a platform or stage for
the Chinese orchestra which always played for New Year services.
96
The festival
starts on the last day of a traditional Chinese year, and lasts for fifteen days.
During the mining era, there were as many as six hundred Chinese coming from
all over Montana to Virginia City each year for this event.
The Chinese temple played a significant role in the festival celebration. Every
Chinese went into the temple during New Year and prayed. Non-Chinese were
even welcome during this time and were allowed to come into the temple. The
orchestra used traditional Chinese instruments. According to Wiley Davis, the
music was very loud, and could be heard as much as four miles away.
97

During New Year, the Chinese would hold a feast. They made rice, pork and
snacks. They barbecued pigs in a pit just off the street (beside the temple).
Everyone paid for his meal in the traditional way of “red pocket” (inserting money
into a red pocket and leave the pocket on the table instead of paying directly with
cash). Other than the feast and music, they also had games and lit firecrackers.

96
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.
97
Ibid.
75

Another tradition during the New Year festival was paying debts.
98
The Chinese
believed that if they did not pay their debts by the end of the year, their ancestors
would suffer in their hereafter.
99

In all, the traditions the Chinese brought with them enabled them to build a strong
bond among themselves and also a strong cultural connection with their
ancestors and family and clan members in China. Unfortunately, many
anti-Chinese Americans in the mining age would take the Chinese customs as
evidence that these people could never be assimilated into American society. And
they sometimes for their own economic benefit might use the strength of these
customs to portray Chinese pioneers as a cultural threat to the nation.
100

3.4.4. Social Network
The Chinese pioneers in Virginia City formed a very tight and vibrant social
network. This occurred for several reasons. First, as stated earlier, the Chinese
came mostly from the same region. Many of them even came from the same

98
“Chinese New Year: Slight Preparations Being Made for Its Celebration”. The Madisonian, Feb. 2, 1901
99
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.
100
Robert Jr. Swartout, "From Kwangtung to the Big Sky: The Chinese Experience in Frontier Montana," in
The Montana Heritage: An Anthology of Historical Essays, ed. Harry Fritz and Robert Swartout, Jr. (Helena,
Mont., 1992), p.61-79

76

village. After they arrived in the United States, they might still maintain a social
organization based on that of their traditional clan and lineage.
101

Another reason was the absence of females. There were only two Chinese
women and one Chinese girl among a population that reached two hundred and
eighty in 1870.
102
To meet their cultural and social needs, the men maintained
community living by establishing the temple and by forming or joining secret
organizations. In this way, they succeeded to bind themselves together to obtain
maximum profit from working closely together and protect themselves from the
bias of anti-Chinese Whites.
One organization that facilitated this was the Chinese temple. The temple met
their social, cultural and recreational needs. Another is the Chinese Masonic
organization many Chinese joined, named Hongmen. There is no evidence to
verify whether the Chinese Masonic Lodge where the members of this secret
organization met is the same structure as the Chinese temple. However, the
banner of this secret organization has been preserved. It is a banner with

101
, Michael H. Hunt, The Making of a Special Relationship.65-73. Columbia University Press. 1983
102
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967; Ellen Baumler. “More than the Glory:
Preserving the Gold Rush and Its Outcome at Virginia City” Montana: Magazine of Western History. Vol. 49,
No. 3, Special Gold Rush Issue, (autumn) 1999, p73.
77

regulations written in Chinese (see figure 21). There were twenty one rules of the
organization called “Hongmen”, one seven character Chinese poem and nine
rules of the company called Jiaxing. The first part is dated as 1854 and the third
part is dated as 1876. Both were written in the Chinese sexagenary cycle. Some
rules were designed to protect the group from outside threats such as “after
joining Hongmen, you should never leak secrets of this organization, or you will be
punished by cutting off one ear” and “if arrested, he should not compromise his
brothers,” Some of the rules were designed to regulate the social behavior such
as “do not occupy your brother’s property” “do not open your brothers mail”. Some
of the rules were designed to regulate social events such as “of the money
gathered by wedding or funeral, no one should keep it for himself.” The regulation
on the banner offers us a explanation of why the Chinese were honest and
generally did not bring trouble to Virginia City.
One thing that deserves a closer look is the name of the organization “Hongmen”.
Hongmen, was a secret organization established in early Qing dynasty in the
eighteenth century. It was established originally as a communal organization
among the brothers but later was involved in the activities against Qing rule. It had
great influence on many historic events in Chinese recent history, even the Xinhai
78

Revolution or Chinese Revolution of 1911, the Chinese Civil War and the later
establishment of New China.
103
Hongmen was brought with its members when
the Chinese pioneers came into the US. Many overseas Chinese joined Hongmen
during the mining era to obtain protection and socialize with the others. This
organization had a ranking system, which might be the reason why in the early
days, the Chinese workers were considered as “slaves” who belonged to a
“Chinese overseer”.
104
Hongmen was organized in units called Tang. Each tang
had a person in charge. The Tangs all belong to Hongmen, but were very loosely
organized. If a dispute arose between Tangs, which was very rare, there might
even be Tang fighting.
The coexistence of the name “Hongmen” and “Jiaxing Company” proved that the
organization Hongmen was into business in the mining community. This
relationship might have helped the Chinese to make a much stronger relationship
while working on the abandoned mines. This helped to make their mining more
efficient and made it possible for them to make a profit from abandoned claims.
This special business-model is very different from the White miners, many of

103
Yaoji Liu, History of Blood and Tears of Hongmen.(in Chinese) Sanmin Press. 2001.
104
A. K. McClure, Three Thousand Miles through the Rocky Mountains. Philadelphia, 1869.

79

which worked individually. Even though some of them started to form a company,
the relationship of the company members was far weaker than the Chinese secret
fraternity.

Figure 21 Banner (portion) of Virginia City Chinese Masonic lodge, MHS collection
3.5. Geo-referencing of Historic Events
3.5.1. China War
There was a bloody fray between two Chinese companies of Hi Chung and Sam
Wah in Alder Gulch. It happened in about 1880 in a place called Water Gulch in
Alder Gulch (detailed location is unknown). On the morning when the “China War”
80

happened, almost all Virginia City Chinese went to the fight “for the scene of
action”.
105
The restaurant, hotels and households who hired them had to hire
cooks or go without meals. The vendors of ammunition sold enough powder and
lead to supply a group of White marksmen. They also used traditional weapons
(see figure 22).The net result were several dead and wounded. And following that
was a single arrest of one Ah Wah, whose charge was dismissed later due to lack
of evidence.
106

The banner of Virginia City Masonic Lodge told us the story of a deep bond
among the Chinese community, and the incident of “China War”, on the other
hand, reminds us that there were still differences, competition and even
resentment among different groups of Chinese in Montana Territory.

Figure 22 Chinese spears used in China War in about 1880. Virginia City Museum collection in
Thompson-Hickman County Library

105
Lucille Dixon, “Chinese in Alder Gulch”, Pioneer Trails and Trials, Great Falls, Mont.: Blue Print & Letter
Company.
106
Ibid.

81

3.6. Visualization and Geo-Referencing of Important Historic Structures
Based on available information from historic articles and historic photographs and
on their significance, the Chinese temple, a Chinese commercial building and a
typical residential structure were selected for the purpose of visualization and
interpretation in this thesis. Among these, a 3d model of the Chinese temple was
created.
3.6.1. The Chinese temple
3.6.1.1. Historic and Cultural Background of the Chinese Temple, Virginia
City
The Chinese temple in Virginia City was a significant structure in the Chinese
mining community. It is also referred to as the Joss (Josh) House. Its construction
period is unknown (prior to 1878) and the structure was gone before 1922 (as can
be determined by the 1922 Sanborn Map). However, historic photographs,
interviews, historic newspaper articles and historic artifacts reveal many aspects
of this special structure. The Chinese temple in Virginia City was a two story log
building with different functions on each floor (as shown in figure 23, 24 and 25).
82

Figure 23 Chinese Temple at foot of Wallace Street MHS Collection

Figure 24 Chinese Temple at foot of Wallace Street MHS Collection
83

Figure 25 Chinese temple, the Joel F. Overholser Historical Research Center in Fort Benton

Figure 26 Wallace Street looking East after 1875
84

Figure 27 Wallace Street looking East from Bummer Dan's, late 1870s

Figure 28 Virginia City Christmas 1885
85

The most detailed description of the Chinese temple is from a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group held in January, 1967, which featured
guest speaker Wiley Davis who was born on April 6, 1886 and lived in Virginia
City until the 1910s. At this meeting, he, claimed to be one of the last people who
remembers the Chinese well enough to discuss their way of life, and offered much
first-hand information (in some cases, the only information) about the Chinese at
Virginia City. He described the Chinese temple as follows:
Just west of the store was the china temple. It was a two story log building;
up stairs was where they went to pray to their Buddha. As I remember
there was one in the center of the room two on the north wall and a kneeing
pad before each one(see figure 29), and a platform or stage for their
orchestra which always played for their New Year Services. This was
always in February and lasted for a two week period. During this China
New Year there were chinamen who came from all over the state and it is
estimated that there were as many as 600 Chinamen in Virginia City during
their New Years…. Now every Chinamen went into the temple and prayed
before the New Years was over. ….Now on the ground floor of the temple
was where they smoked opium. There were several of what you might call
booths, and each one had a bunk in it where the Chinaman would lie down
and enjoy his pipe…The temple is completely gone now. It was fairly large,
a building about 25 by 30 feet square… the Josh house was down stairs
and the temple was the second story…both the Josh house and the temple
were open to anyone who could stand the music. … (in the temple) the
seats were on the left…. To find the China Temple, you would go down
Main Street and then turn. (is it) Where the theater (the opera house) now?
No, across the street. This isn't exactly where it was, but it was right in
there. There was a building where the barn or theater is now. On that side
of the street was the only place where the Chinamen lived. They lived at
the end of the street. There were houses across the end of the street and
86

then on the street at the end of the block, right down the hill there across
was one building that was occupied by the Chinese.
107

Figure 29 Interior Chinese Temple MHS
From the description above, we can determine that building was definitely in the
center of the Chinese mining community. It offered space for recreation activities
such as smoking opium and an orchestra, and religious space for prayers. It is

107
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967
87

remembered by people who used to live in Virginia City in the mining age as a
beautiful building.
108

3.6.1.2. Geo-referencing of the Chinese Temple
As to the geographical location of this structure, even though the structure is
completely gone, the description above offers us very useful clues: one is that the
Chinese temple stood to the west of the Chinese commercial building named
Chung Own (see figure 30), the second is that it is on the west side of the town
and on North side of the intersection of Wallace Street and Main Street. More
precisely, according to Davis’s description, it should be on the Northeast corner of
the intersection of Main Street and Wallace Street. That would be opposite the
current opera building. These two clues allow for the location of the temple (as
well as the store) to be revealed on the Sanborn Map, and thus make it possible
to geo-reference the structure to the map.

108
Dixon, Lucille, Chinese in Alder Gulch, Pioneer Trails and Trials, Madison County 1863-1920, Madison
County History Association. 1976, Great Falls: Blue Print & Letter Company
88

Figure 30 Chinese Merchandise Store on Lower Wallace Street, Virginia City
As mentioned before, there are six major maps in the mining ages with detailed
information on property uses and number of stories (see table 2).
Table 2 Major maps in the mining ages with detailed information on property uses and number of stories
1878 Property map, originated by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, San
Francisco, CA
1884 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
1890 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
1904 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
1907 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
1922 Property map, Sanborn Map & Publishing Co.
89

To locate the temple, the key step is to locate a Chinese merchandise store at the
corner of Wallace Street and Main Street. The 1878 Map indicates the northeast
corner of Main and Wallace as a Chinese quarter, but lacks further information on
individual buildings; the Sanborn Maps of 1884, 1890, and 1904 indicate there
was a Chinese store at the corner. The map of 1907 shows the store was vacant.
And the map 1922 shows that several buildings were gone. The following
illustrations reflect cropped area from these six maps (see figures 31 – 37).
90

Figure 31 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City
91

Figure 32 1878 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City

Figure 33 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City
92

Figure 34 1890 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City

Figure 35 1904 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City
93

Figure 36 1907 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City

Figure 37 1922 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Map of Virginia City
Based on the maps above and Davis’s description, it can be confirmed that the
plan on the Sanborn maps marked as “Chinese M’D’S’E’” is the location of the
Chinese store (see figure 33-35). It was established before or in 1880 and
94

remained in operation until some time between 1907 and 1922 (see figures 35 -
37). Historic photos and museum artifacts further verify this conclusion. On a
business license (see figure 38) in the Virginia City Museum (in
Thompson-Hickman County Library) that is dated June 11, 1880, can be found
the name of this store’s owner, Hoh Lung Chung. This information matches the
sign on the store which can be seen in figure 30. That reads “Chung Own: Dealer
in Chinese merchandise Xiang An (in Chinese)”. The abacus the Chinese
pioneers used in the store was also found in the library museum (see figure 39).
95

Figure 38 A business license to a Chinese pioneer in 1880

Figure 39 Chinese abacus used by Chinese pioneer merchant
96

Upon locating the Chinese store, it is possible to locate the Chinese temple.
According to Davis’s description, the temple should be a two story log structure on
the west of the store. However, on all of six insurance maps, the two buildings to
the west of the Chinese store are both single story structures. Since there is no
possibility that the surveyor had could have made the same error so many times,
it should be safe to conclude that the temple was further to the west of the store,
and outside the survey area of the Sanborn Map boundaries.
Therefore, to locate the Chinese temple, another way needs to be found. Upon
examination of the historic photographs of the townscape of Virginia City that
include the Chinese temple, the Green Front boarding house can be located right
across the street from the Chinese temple (see figures 40-43) where it still exists
today (see figures 44-45).
97

Figure 40 Wallace Street looking east from Bummer Dan's, late 1870s MHS

Figure 41 Wallace Street looking east from Bummer Dan's, 1870s MHS
98

Figure 42 Wallace Street looking East after 1875 MHS

99

Figure 43 Virginia City Christmas 1885 MHS

100

Figure 44 Green Front Boarding House, photo by Cheng Yang, July, 2009

Figure 45 East facade of Green Front House, Photo by Cheng Yang, July, 2009
Therefore, the Green Front House can be used to locate the exact position of the
Chinese temple using the historic photos of Virginia City in which the temple is
shown. The Green Front House features two distinctive gables and an adjoining
porch at the rear of the structure on the east (see figures 44-45). These two
101

features can be used to identify the Green Front House on the historic
photographs.
From these historic images, we can draw the follow conclusion: the Chinese
temple was located opposite of the Green Front House across Wallace Street; it is
to the west of the intersection of Wallace Street and Main Street, and it is at the
corner where Wallace Street made a turn. The distance between Green Front
House and Chinese temple should be the width of the current Wallace Street.
Since Wallace Street now turns from Main Street, which differs from the historic
photographs, which have it turn another block away to the west of Main Street
(three structures away to the west of Green Front House), the location of the
Chinese temple should be right on the current Wallace Street. Mr. Davis
mentioned it was about 25 by 30 feet square, and judging by the picture, we could
tell that the length of the building should be around twice the length of Green Front
House. We could use these data to establish the boundary of this structure on the
historic maps (see figure 46). Details on how this was created will be discussed in
the GIS in the following chapter.
102

Figure 46 Geo-referencing the Chinese temple, generated from the HGIS of Chinatown of Virginia
City, Montana, created by Cheng Yang
Eventually, the old Chinese temple which stood at the lower part of the town
burned down.
109
Due to its significance as the community center for the Chinese
pioneers, it will be meaningful if we could reconstruct it or create a model to
visually interpret the temple.

109
Dixon, Lucille, Chinese in Alder Gulch, Pioneer Trails and Trials, Madison County 1863-1920, Madison
County History Association. 1976, Great Falls: Blue Print & Letter Company
103

3.6.1.3. Visualization (3d Modeling) of the Chinese Temple
To create a model for interpretation and future reconstruction, sufficient
information on the dimensions of this building need to be obtained. Since the
building is long gone and no archaeological evidence of this structure has been
found so far, accurate measurement of its dimensions could not be obtained. After
the examination of available documents on this structure, two photographs from
different angles could be used to estimate the dimensions of the building (figures
47 and 48). Using the standing figure in figure 48 as a scale for estimated height,
an estimated dimension of the length and width and height of the structure as well
as the proportion of the windows and doors could be made. The steps are shown
in figure 49. Line EF stands for the standing person in figure 48. The estimated
height of a Chinese person at that time is 1.65m/5feet. Using EF, it is possible to
get the estimated height and width of the structure, and then using that, a further
estimated length of the structure. And finally, by combining all the estimated
numbers, an estimated plane and elevations as shown in figure 39 could be
obtained. Finally a model of the building could be made using SketchUp, as
shown in figures 50 through 56.
104

As a visual interpretation of the Chinese Temple, this model could be presented in
poster-size on the original site of the structure to help with the interpretation.

Figure 47 Wallace Street looking toward East from Bummer Dan's, 1870s MHS (Partial)
105

Figure 48 Chinese temple, the Joel F. Overholser Historical Research Center in Fort Benton

106

Figure 49 Steps to get the estimated dimension of the Chinese Temple for model construction.
107

Figure 50 Estimated plane, elevations of the Chinese Temple

Figure 51 model of the Chinese Temple-Roof Plane
108

Figure 52 model of the Chinese Temple-Elevations

Figure 53 model of the Chinese Temple - Bird View
109

Figure 54 model of the Chinese Temple – Perspective 1

Figure 55 model of the Chinese Temple - Perspective 2
110

Figure 56 model of the Chinese Temple - Details
3.6.2. Chinese Merchandise Store
The spatial data of the Chinese merchandise store and the owner information
have been discussed in the section above. In Davis’s description in 1967, we can
also find further information about this store:
There was a store in Chinatown and all of their supplies were purchased
through this store, and it really was quite a busy place. The China
storekeeper never put anything by way of figures down on paper. He
always used his adding machine (abacus) …their merchandise consisted
of many things from China shipped direct to the store from China. They
carried some China dishes, silks, and, oh, there were a lot of things that
were made in China that they carried down here. They didn’t have a big
stock of Chinaware but it was there and it was China made.
110

As stated earlier, the store was named “Chung own” (see figure 30). The original
license issued in 1880 is on display in Virginia City Museum in
Thompson-Hickman County Library (see figure 38). It's a false front structure as

110
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.

111

shown in the historic photo. Its exact location is shown on Sanborn maps as
Chinese merchandise (see figures 33-35).
In addition to the Chung Own store, there was another store mentioned in Mr.
Davis’s description. He said “Mr. Cary had a store down at Nevada City and the
Chinamen put a lot of faith in Mr. Cary. And he was very fair with them.”
111

3.6.3. Chinese Residence Structure
The Chinese were required by city ordinance to live on the west end of Wallace
Street.
112
They lived in log buildings and each one was up against the other
(which can be seen in Sanborn Maps, see figures 31-37) with a door in the front
and back and a window in the front. There were no windows in the back. There
was very little ventilation, if any. Each one had a cook stove for heat and cooking.
The beds were bunks made from lumber with a blanket.
113
The Chinese grew
vegetables on the sod roofs of the log structures.
114
Many Chinese lived in each

111
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.
112
Ellen Baumler, “More than the Glory: Preserving the Gold Rush and Its Outcome at Virginia City”,
Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 49, No. 3. Autumn, 1999, p. 73
113
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.
114
Ellen Baumler, “More than the Glory: Preserving the Gold Rush and Its Outcome at Virginia City”,
Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 49, No. 3. Autumn, 1999, p. 73
112

cabin, as Mr. Davis described, “Let me tell you, I don’t know where they put them
all.”
115
As to the living conditions, he commented that even though they didn’t
wash the windows, their places weren’t dirty by any means.
Although all of these Chinese residential structures are now gone, historic
photographs could still offer further visual information about them. These
structures were log cabins, with no clapboard on front facade (see figures 57-59).
The building shown in figure 59 is about 7 feet high. The ceiling was quite low.
There are windows and doors on the front. Their style is not Chinese, but typical
of the common type of cabin, which was prevailing during Gold Rush Era. These
structures are very similar to each other, very utilitarian and very sparsely
decorated.

115
Wiley S Davis, Chinese in Virginia City, Montana 1863-1898, meeting manuscript of a meeting of the
Montana Institute of the Arts History Group in January, 1967.
113

Figure 57 Chinese temple, the Joel F. Overholser Historical Research Center in Fort Benton

Figure 58 Log Cabin near Chinese Temple,
-Chinese woman, 1899, MHS
Figure 59 Soo Liang (Chinese Susie) Aug 1899
MHS
114

4. Chapter Four: Historic Interpretation Strategies for Unearthing Virginia
City's Hidden Chinese Heritage
Based on the historic study, it was possible to create the historic GIS by myself
using ArcGIS9. In this chapter, the procedure for this project will be explained,
giving examples of documentation, visualization and interpretation of the spatial
history of the Chinese pioneers and discussing the advantages and
disadvantages of using HGIS in this particular case and in historic preservation in
general.
4.1. Procedure of the Project
The GIS for Chinatown of Virginia City includes two major parts: maps and
various features. The maps consist of modern maps and historic maps as stated
in the previous chapter; the features are comprised of Chinatown properties,
abstract spatial features, and historic events, as shown below (see figure 60).
115

Figure 60 structure of layers for GIS Virginia City Chinatown
116

Figure 61 Structure of Map Group for GIS Virginia City Chinatown
For reasons of availability, applicability and quality, the ESRI database StreetMap
USA
116
data (.shp files) as the overall basic reference layer was chosen for this
study. This map layer could only be acquired from the data disks that go with the
purchase of ArcGIS software. It is not free but easy to acquire by GIS users and it
has a refined quality in terms of its combination of hydrology data and
transportation data. After deciding the reference layer, all the other maps were

116
Esri is a software development and services company providing Geographic Information System (GIS)
software and geodatabase management applications. ArcGIS 9, which is used in this project, is their leading
product.
117

adjusted using its projection and coordinate system and raster files (USGS topo
maps, satellite images and historic maps) were then geo-referenced to it. The
USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles acquired through USGS Topographic Maps, the
50 feet contour lines vector layer and orthoimages (with spatial information)
acquired through TNM (The National Map 2.0) were selected to illustrate the
topographic information of Virginia City
117
,
118
. The Montana cadastral mapping
layer is also included for making corrections to the georeferencing process of
historic maps
119
. These together serve as the modern map group layer (see
figure 61).
Seven historic maps from different time periods during the mining era (as
mentioned in last chapter) were incorporated into the system as the historic map
group layer. They were digitalized first and then geo-referenced by assigning
control points from the historic maps and referencing them to the reference map,
Streetmap USA from the ESRI map dataset package (see figure 61).

117
http://topomaps.usgs.gov/ USGS(The United States Geological Survey)
118
http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ TNM, USGS(The United States Geological Survey)
119
http://gis.mt.gov/ Montana Cadastral Mapping Base Map Service Center, Montana Information
Technology Services Division
118

There are four steps to geo-reference a historic map or a structure or a specific
spatial feature using ArcGIS:
• Digitizing the element (a map, a structure boundary, or a specific spatial
feature);
• Assigning control points on the element: to input the coordinates of these
points, choosing a coordinate system, and then projecting the parameters;
• Referring the control points to relevant points on the reference map
(Streetmap USA, from ESRI map datasets obtained from the purchased
package)
• Minor adjustment for corrections.
These four steps are shown in figures 62 through 65.
119

Figure 62 Geo-referencing of Historic Maps step 1: digitalizing
120

Figure 63 Geo-referencing of Historic Maps step 2: assigning control points in ArcGIS
121

Figure 64 Geo-referencing of Historic Maps step 3: referring control points to relevant points on the
reference map
122

Figure 65 Geo-referencing of Historic Maps step 4: minor adjustment
After this very time-consuming process of geo-referencing all the raster files to
create historic map layers, the next step is to add features about the Chinatown of
Virginia City. The structure of the feature layer group is shown in figure 66:
123

Figure 66 feature layer group of Virginia City, Montana
All the features in the GIS are based on the information gathered through historic
research done for this thesis. That covers information acquired through census
reports, historic maps, historic newspaper articles, interview manuscripts,
museum artifacts, historic photographs, historic lithographs, previous historic
studies, site inspection, and other historic research sources. Inputting the attribute
data into the feature layers is not a simple task. In fact, it is the most time
consuming part of the process due to the large amount of data needed to be
inputted for each feature (for example, the property type or year of first record for
a building). However, it is crucial since after all the data inputting, GIS software
could process the data and then visualize it. The very first step of data inputting is
124

very crucial: attribute form design. As stated before, each feature in a GIS has two
parts of data: spatial data and attribute data. The attribute data of a feature layer
is organized in the format of attribute form. Various fields could be added to
document the attribute of the feature. GIS relies on the values in these fields to
implement various functions such as displaying a subset of features (such as
showing all the Chinese related buildings in Chinatown) and assigning
systematical symbols for features or creating charts and so on. Therefore,
designing the form is critical. An example of attribute form for the layer of
Chinatown Properties is shown in figure 67:
125

Figure 67 attribute form for the layer of Chinatown Properties
The layer of Chinatown properties includes information about all properties in the
Chinatown of Virginia City (On north side of Wallace Street, between Main Street
and Jackson Street). Its attribute form includes fields: first record year, last record
year, Chinese-related or non-Chinese-related, property type, time of vacancy, and
126

floor number. The data are acquired through historic maps, historic lithographs,
historic photographs and other historic research sources. Based on values in
these fields, analysis and visualization tasks could be completed according to the
user’s need.
After the data inputting, various symbols should be assigned to subsets of
features based on their data to show their different attributes.
After the construction of the HGIS, this could be used to visualize, analyze and
interpret different aspects of this multifaceted cultural heritage depending on
various needs of the users. In the next section, examples are presented to show
the potential benefits of this HGIS for historic research and heritage interpretation.
4.2. Examples of Using the Virginia City Chinatown GIS for Interpretation
and Historic Research
The following are some examples of using this HGIS for visualization, analysis,
historic research and interpretation.
127

Figure 68 Location of Virginia City, Montana, generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City,
created by Cheng Yang
128

Figure 69 Virginia City in 50-foot contour line map, generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia
City, created by Cheng Yang
129

Figure 70 Virginia City in the high-definition satellite image that shows landscape context, generated
from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, created by Cheng Yang
130

Figure 71 Topographical Context of Virginia City, generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia
City, created by Cheng Yang
131

Figure 72 Chinatown in Virginia City, generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, created by
Cheng Yang
132

Figure 73 Attributes of Chinatown Properties, generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City,
created by Cheng Yang
133

Figure 74 Chinese Properties (year of first record; property type; vacant time), generated from the
HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, created by Cheng Yang
134

Figure 75 Chinatown as 1880 (using field values of attribute form to create a definition query to
display a subset of group of features) , generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, created
by Cheng Yang
135

Figure 76 Spatial distribution of abstract features (gambling, opium smoking, laundry, etc.) ,
generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, created by Cheng Yang
136

Figure 77 change tracking using HGIS, Spatial distribution of abstract features(gambling, opium
smoking, laundry, etc.) , generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, created by Cheng Yang
By geo-referencing and comparing between maps, we could find what spatial
changes happened, when and where. In this case, the 1868 survey map and
current street map showed us the change made to the track of Wallace Street,
which had a huge impact on one crucial part of Chinatown – the Chinese temple.

137

Figure 78 Mining Activities of Chinese Pioneers, Spatial distribution of abstract features(gambling,
opium smoking, laundry, etc.) , generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, created by
Cheng Yang
120

120
Estimated locations of mining activities of Chinese pioneers based on available description. Future
findings could be incorporated later to update the interpretation.

138

Figure 79 China War, generated from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, created by Cheng Yang
121

121
Estimated locations of “China War” based on available description. Future findings could be incorporated
later to update the interpretation.

139

Figure 80 Using dot density to interpret demographical changes of Chinatown over years, generated
from the HGIS of Chinatown, Virginia City, created by Cheng Yang
4.3. Some Advantages and Disadvantages of Using GIS for Historic
Research
Gathering historic records of the past is one part of our nature as humans. This
need for connections to the past includes a connection to the past building
environment. Since GIS allows us to document, visualize and interpret information
that is connected to spatial information, it is an ideal tool for organizing and
140

updating the memory of past environments. In fact, it is the best and generally the
only tool for integrating information and the visual aspects of the historic building
environment. This advantage allows us to use GIS to interpret very complex
multifaceted cultural heritage, especially when the site lacks enough historic
remains to sufficiently link all the other aspects of its history.
Another advantage of using GIS for historic research is that it requires strict
completeness and consistence. Even though it seems like a disadvantage, GIS
will push users to maintain a high standard and constantly ensure the quality of
the data. In fact, in GIS, entering ambiguous unreliable information in the fields in
the attribute form is difficult and the inconsistency is easily spotted by the facts,
such as showing parts of the map missing because of wrong data inputting.
The third advantage of the GIS system is the convenience of recording metadata
– data about the data sources and underlying data. This could be done to files that
are incorporated into the system at all different levels. The metadata of either an
overarching file such as the .mxd file which organizes all the files or an underlying
file such as a .shp file or even its field could be specified with metadata. This
record-to-record structure of metadata makes a large dataset for a middle size or
large size site well organized and easy to update when new evidence is
141

discovered. In the case of historic mapping of Chinatown in Virginia City, due to
the comparatively smaller volume of the data (to the data of a GIS on middle size
site which may require team work), the metadata fields in the system were left
blank. However, the main body of this paper includes underlying historic research
and analysis for the construction of this GIS, which could become the source for
metadata inputting in the future if such an action is needed.
The only major disadvantage of HGIS in historic research is data inputting: it is
most time-consuming and might require a great deal of time to acquire the data.
Given the fact that in historic research many features have attribute data in
multiple time sequences usually makes the volume of data inputting increase
great deal. Including the time field is the secret of the beauty of the HGIS and also
a major source of bitterness.

142

Conclusion
Based on the research on historic urban form and social and cultural aspects of
Chinatown in Virginia City, Montana, a historic mapping that incorporates most of
the different cultural aspects of Chinese mining camps over time was created. It
should prove highly useful for the user(s) to document, visualize and interpret the
spatial history of a cultural heritage site that lacks historic remains. This research
was initiated based on the shocking contrast between the rich cultural heritage
and the poor physical condition of this heritage site, and ends by fixing the
problem by testing and proving the potential advantages of using GIS as a
preservation and interpretation tool to integrate information and the visual aspects
of a historic building environment.
This is the first time that all the available information about Chinese pioneers in
Virginia City has been put together and well organized. The historic mapping
could be immediately useful for historic researchers and librarians who work on
documenting and interpreting the cultural heritage of Chinese pioneers. One
particular advantage of using this GIS is that it does not require as much
professional software skill as constructing the GIS does. After receiving basic
training on ArcGIS, every researcher could run this GIS. With accurate and
143

carefully designed data forms, the software could help the researchers by
generating customized analysis to meet different academic goals (e.g. population
studies or traditional cultural studies). When necessary, these users could even
contribute additional information to this system to update it to meet their own
needs.
One challenge faced during this project was the unavailability of some information
and the comparatively small size of the historic site, which is only one block. Even
though these facts made the construction of HGIS possible as a task for one
person, they limited the testing of GIS’ potential for historic research. The
mapping result is a sustainable system that could be updated in the future or be
incorporated into a larger system. Projects on a larger scale in the future could
prove GIS more useful for historic research and conservation planning.
To put it all in a nutshell, in the preservation world as more and more
conservators, historic researchers and planners work closely with each other, a
HGIS could be a very useful tool to document, visualize and interpret a
multifaceted cultural heritage site.

144

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148

Appendix: Supplementary Figures

Figure 81 1868 Parcel Survey map, surveyed and drawn drawn by JL Corbett, Civil Engineer
149

Figure 82 1878 Property map, originated by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, San Francisco, CA
150

Figure 83 1884 Sanborn Map
151

Figure 84 1890 Sanborn Map
152

Figure 85 1904 Sanborn Map
153

Figure 86 1907 Sanborn Map
154

Figure 87 1922 Sanborn Map

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Asset Metadata

Creator Yang, Cheng (author)

Core Title Mining the intangible past of Virginia City's Chinese pioneers: Using historical geographic information system (HGIS) to document, visualize and interpret the spatial history of Chinese in Montan...

School School of Architecture

Degree Master of Historic Preservation

Degree Program Historic Preservation

Degree Conferral Date 2011-05

Publication Date 05/03/2011

Defense Date 04/01/2011

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 3D reconstruction,Chinese immigrants,Documentation,geographic information system,ghost town,Historic Preservation,intangible heritage,interpretation,mining community,national historic district,OAI-PMH Harvest,spatial history,tangible heritage

Place Name Montana (states), USA (countries), Virginia City (city or populated place)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Breisch, Kenneth A. (committee chair), Heath, Kingston (committee member), Noble, Douglas (committee member)

Creator Email chengyan@usc.edu,yangcheng8549@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m3858

Unique identifier UC1442381

Identifier etd-Yang-4549 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-459422 (legacy record id),usctheses-m3858 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Yang-4549.pdf

Dmrecord 459422

Document Type Thesis

Rights Yang, Cheng

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu