The Story Behind This One Town In Wyoming Is Truly Tragic
Rock Springs is located in southwestern Wyoming and is mainly known for its ties to the coal industry. Unfortunately, it was this tie that led to one of the worst ethnic massacres in the history of the United States during the 1880s. Coal mining, both through the best and worst of times, has defined and given Rock Springs its unique character.
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Rock Springs is known as the "Home of 56 Nationalities" because of all the immigrants that came from all over the world to work in the coal mines.
The coal mines that the immigrants came to work in supplied the fuel to power the steam engines of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Unfortunately, one of the worst acts of anti-immigrant violence in the history of America occurred among the miners in Rock Springs on September 2, 1885. This went down in history as the Rock Springs Massacre.
The riot was between the Chinese and white immigrant miners. The conflict stemmed from racial tensions and a labor dispute. The railroad was paying the Chinese workers less than the white miners which caused the Chinese to be hired over the white miners.
In retaliation, the white miners killed at least 28 Chinese miners, injured 15 and burned 75 Chinese homes.
Francis E. Warren was the Wyoming territorial governor at the time. He appealed to the President of the United States, who was Grover Cleveland at the time, for the deployment of federal troops to Rock Springs.
As a result of the massacre, federal troops were deployed in Rock Springs. Pictured are the federal soldiers on South Front Street.
The Rock Springs Massacre set off a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment and violence throughout the United States.
The 56 nations of immigrant coal miners laid the foundation for Rock Springs’ culture and surprisingly enough, this diversity even survived one of the worst ethnic massacres in the United States.
