Homegrown Racism
Ignorant racism in early Missoula was often practiced with little, or no restraint, especially regarding Native Americans and Chinese people. Open any newspaper that existed in Montana around the beginning of the twentieth century and you will soon be introduced to examples of it. The dear ‘Missoulian” newspaper was no exception. Occasionally, local newspapers presented straightforward articles when reporting on these people, but all too often they regressed to mockery and ridicule. Examples of each type of article from that period appear below:
From The Daily Missoulian, October 8, 1906
Who among the Missoula county candidates employs a Chinese cook? Is it not about time that this should be sprung just for a little diversion. Things are not sizzling enough to suit some.
SONG FOR THE GLEE CLUB.
“I should like,” said the choirmaster of the democrats, “a catchy campaign song for the glee club when Mr. Walsh speaks in Missoula.”
“Do you think you’d like to hear something about his Chinese cook?”
“The idea appears to be a good one.”
“Well, then, read this.”
He read:
He’s me cook; he’s me cook,
He makes the chop suey for me;
I know he’s yellow, but he ain’t a bad fellow –
He don’t draw much salary, you see.
I’d rather have him at a dollar a week,
Than the white man before him I shook,
He’s the best ever wuz, I like him becuz,
He’s me cook, he’s me cook.
A second example of an article a good deal less demeaning occurred in the Missoula Gazette on May 1, 1891:
AROUND TOWN
Chin Fooey, a Chinaman with no distinguishing differences from the thousand and one other Chinamen one sees every day, dropped into the corridor of the Florence hotel yesterday and approaching the desk of the Rocky Mountain Telegraph office said he would like to send a telegram. Operator Richardson stepped forward to write it for him, but the celestial took the blank himself and producing a pencil, went to work. In the course of half an hour he produced the following model of style, brevity and business, written in a neat hand:
“Charlie Ning, Portland, Oregon. I like you come cook for me $30 a month.
Chin Fooey”
[Keep in mind the fee for telegrams was per word.]
On being questioned Chin said he had learned to read and write English in Portland.