Intrigue Continues for 1887's Unsolved Murders

The unsolved murders of more than 30 Chinese gold miners in Oregon's Hells Canyon in 1887 drew two dozen guests to the High Desert Museum on a snowy night last week. They came to hear how an author unearthed evidence pointing to an improbable gang of rustlers and schoolboys, one age 15, as the killers. R. Gregory Nokes, who traveled the world as a reporter and editor, talked about the facts he uncovered about the crimes while writing the book Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon.

The Chinese gold miners at Deep Creek near the Snake River were killed during two days in 1887. A gang of about six – or possibly seven – local horse thieves saw the Asian immigrants collecting the gold before robbing and murdering them. The killings went unnoticed until bodies began to be found along the shores of the Snake River near Lewiston, Idaho. A man turned in six alleged murderers, but claimed that he had nothing to do with it. The six were arrested, but three escaped. A jury of non-Chinese found the remaining three not guilty.

The event was forgotten until a transcript of the trial surfaced in 1995. When Nokes read about the discovery, he wrote about it for The Oregonian. Nokes continued investigating, drawing upon his experience as a reporter for The Associated Press, where he was chief state department correspondent in Washington, and covered Presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan.

The images of memorial ceremonies at the site, officially named Chinese Massacre Cove, were poignant. A Nez Perce medicine man’s cleansing ceremony included chanting and sage burning. Chinese participants honored the victims by burning paper offerings so that the smoke would carry the message to the heavens.

Museum Volunteer Thomas McDannold covered Nokes’ talk for High Desert Musings. McDannold, emeritus professor at Ventura College, who has written extensively about the Chinese in the West, presents Oregon’s Chinese Heritage: A Legacy of Places, about Oregon’s ethnic history, April 2 at 2 pm at the High Desert Museum.