Last Stop to the 金山 Gam Saan
Private Collection of the Helen and Joe Chew Foundation
The Helen and Joe Chew Foundation (HJC) is seeking to find the Chinese American descendants of Tehama County to include them in the “Images of America: Chinese in Tehama County” a pictorial book.
Many residents of Chinese ancestry have parents or relatives from: Red Bluff, Tehama, Vina, Corning, Gerber, Los Molinos, Mineral, Paskenta, Paynes Creek, Proberta, Las Flores, Lake California, Manton, Rancho Tehama Reserve, and Richfield dating as early as 1850 until 1950. I am seeking stories from families and any pictures to showcase the rich Chinese history in Tehama County.
After gold was discovered near Coloma in 1848, the Chinese traveled on the steamboat as far north as possible in order to reach the “Gold Mountain” (金山 or “Gam Saan” in Cantonese). The last steamboat stop on the Sacramento River was Red Bluff, California in Tehama County. What is now known as Red Bluff’s Historic District, was once where the Chinese were segregated to live on High (Rio) Street called “Chinatown” and was prosperous beginning in 1850. It thrived because it was strategically located next to the steamboat stop, adjacent to the railroad, and eventually parallel to the old US Route 99. Moreover, Tehama County’s access to different modes of transportation offered a variety of jobs whether it was working on the mines, expansion of the railroad, seasonal farming jobs, subdividing parcels with rock walls or other seasonal work. There was once over 2,000-3,000 Chinese families living in Tehama County with descendants of many surnames. In the 1950’s Chinatowns in Tehama County were demolished. By 1970, the construction of I-5 to replace US Route 99(E) and 99(W) would change everything. Like many untold Chinatown stories, the construction of I-5 would forever eliminate the once thriving neighborhood ending the legacy of Red Bluff’s Chinatown in 1973 when the Ming Terrace Restaurant closed. It was the last residence and business to operate in the long lost historic Chinatown of Red Bluff. Although, a Chinatown no longer exists today, Chinese Pioneers now have descendants who have not only made America their home for generations but prospered paving the way for the advancement of all Americans today. The newest transplants of Chinese families have added to many towns’ growth and diversity in numerous ways.
Please help HJC locate families including anyone from Tehama County. I am specifically looking for pictures of: Charlie Peanut (died in 1942), Jew Sing (cook for Earl McKenzie), Big Sam or China Sam (worked for the Hanna family), Charlie Fong or Charlie Ramsay (died in 1956), Charlie Long (ranch handler), Wong Gene (cook who married Mary Woo), Chiney Sam (cook for the Butlers), Chung Kee (husband of Mary), Sam Wong (died in 1952), Quong Lee (from Vina), Little Lee (worked for the Hildebrant family), Ah Me (hotel cook), Hi Lee & Quong Long Hi (owned a grocery), Qu Sing (cook at Hanna Ranch), Wong Sing (died in 1901), Gay You (arrived in 1899), Wing Lee (Chinese Laundry owner), Choy (vegetable peddler), Autu (worked for William H. Spencer), George Hong (from Corning) and many others.
For more information contact www. redbluffchew.org/chewhistory. Jessica is the founder of the Helen and Joe Chew Foundation and the only grandchild of Joe You Chew who is American born in 1921. The Chew family immigrated to America in 1865 as herbalists and by 1870 resided in Red Bluff serving as a doctor for the Chinese laborers working on the Gold Mountain. Jessica’s great grandfather, Chew You journeyed from China to Los Angeles before the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1881 and invested concurrently in several different herbal businesses first in Los Angeles, followed by San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Red Bluff by the 1880’s. His investments came from his savings working as a cook and later owning his own restaurants. The Helen and Joe Chew Foundation was created in honor of Jessica’s promise to her grandfather that she would establish a scholarship fund at his alma mater Red Bluff High School. Her goal for the Foundation is to share her family’s loving memories of Red Bluff’s Historic Chinatown while encouraging education.