Before the “Truckee Method”: Race, Space, and Capital in Truckee’s Chinese Community, 1870–1880

Abstract

ABSTRACTTruckee, California is known to historians as the site of a late 19th century campaign to expel Chinese from the town by boycotting their employers. Before the “Truckee Method” of expulsion was implemented, however, Truckee’s Chinatown was first isolated from the rest of the town and then physically relocated. This article explores how boundaries between “Chinese space” and “white space” were constructed during this period, as fears that Chinese buildings were especially flammable became the basis for the belief that it was necessary to isolate “Chinese space” from “white space.” Although white employers of Chinese workers are often depicted as opposing anti-Chinese racism, we argue that white employers played a crucial role in the process of isolating and relocating Chinatown, drawing on their status and financial resources to determine where Chinese could live, work, and own property in Truckee.