Tensions over Chinese immigrant labor came to a head in Rock Springs, Wyoming on September 2, 1885. White workers were upset that the Union Pacific Coal Department was hiring Chinese miners since they were paid less.
A group of the whites attacked many of the Chinese. When it ended, at least 28 of the Chinese were dead and 15 hurt. The rioters also destroyed around 75 Chinese homes.
Federal troops moved in to restore order. Several of the whites were arrested but a grand jury refused to in

True West March/April 2025
In This Issue:
Western Books & Movies
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- Truth Be Known
- What Has Taught Me: Deb Goodrich
- Earp, Cowboy Songs & Prairie Hygiene
- Trails of the Old West
- The Frontier Characters of South Dakota
- The Bowie Knife
- The Kindled Flame 1835
- King of the Scatterguns
- Selling the Mythic West and the Real West
- A Gut Punch Turns into a Miracle Reprieve
- The Beginnings of the Bird Cage
- Frontier Colossus