Immigrants Mah Shou Hing and Lee Dye were photographed in 1892 in Vancouver .

Vancouver Public Library VPL8584

A contract with China

By Lisa Smedman-staff writer

On a snowy February evening in 1887, a crew of loggers retired to their tents after a day spent clearing the dense forest that would one day be Vancouver 's West End . They laid aside axes and eight-foot-long crosscut saws and stripped off their waterproof coats. Before bedding down, they peeled off damp and sweaty checked shirts and trousers, pulled off muddy boots to change their wool socks, and tucked valuables like silver pocket watches into trunks for the night.

The crew was just like the dozens of other work crews that were clearing land so it could be subdivided and sold, except for one small detail.

They were Chinese.

That night, a mob, said by one eyewitness to number close to 300 men, made their way to the spot where the Chinese were camped. Lanterns in hand, singing the U.S. Civil War Union marching song "John Brown's Body" they converged on the tents around midnight.

William H. Gallagher was an eyewitness to what followed. More than 40 years later, when interviewed at the City of Vancouver Archives , his memories of that night remained vivid.

"There was snow on the ground, it was quite clear, and we could see what we were doing," Gallagher said. "There were many tough characters among the crowd, navvys who had been working for [Canadian Pacific Railway contractor Andrew] Onderdonk, hotheaded, thoughtless, strong, and rough..."

"When the Chinamen saw all these men coming they were terrified... the rioters grabbed the tents by the bottom, and upset them, the war cry 'John Brown's Body' still continuing. The Chinamen did not stop to see; they just ran. Some went dressed, some not; some with shoes, some with bare feet. The snow was on the ground and it was cold."

The camp was located near the foot of modern Burrard Street , where a spring tumbled over a bluff into Burrard Inlet. Several of the Chinese fled in this direction, choosing a 20-foot jump into bitterly cold water over facing the mob.

"The tide was in, they had no choice, and you could hear them going plump, plump, plump, as they jumped into the salt water. Scores of them went over the cliff," said Gallagher.

The mob tore down a wooden cook house, heaped the bedding and belongings of the Chinese into piles and set them on fire.

F.R. Glover, a reporter for the Vancouver News, saw the riot first-hand. The newspaper broke the story in its Feb. 25 edition, one day after the riot.

The mob had formed after a Thursday night meeting at city hall, organized by businessmen determined to "keep the city clear of the Celestials." Their aim was to put the Chinese on a boat and send them to Victoria .