The crime was discovered weeks after it happened, but no charges were brought for nearly a year, when gang member Frank Vaughan, son of a well-known settler family, confessed and turned state’s evidence. Six men and boys, all from northeastern Oregon’s remote Wallowa country, were chargedbut three fled, and the others were found innocent by a jury that a witness admitted had little interest in convicting anyone. A cover-up followed, and the crime was all but forgotten for the next 100 years, until a county clerk found hidden records in an unused safe.
In bringing this story out of the shadows, Nokes examines the once-substantial presence of Chinese laborers in the interior Pacific Northwest, describing why they came, how their efforts contributed to the region’s development, and how too often mistreatment and abuse were their only reward.
The crime was discovered weeks after it happened, but no charges were brought for nearly a year, when gang member Frank Vaughan, son of a well-known settler family, confessed and turned state’s evidence. Six men and boys, all from northeastern Oregon’s remote Wallowa country, were chargedbut three fled, and the others were found innocent by a jury that a witness admitted had little interest in convicting anyone. A cover-up followed, and the crime was all but forgotten for the next 100 years, until a county clerk found hidden records in an unused safe.
In bringing this story out of the shadows, Nokes examines the once-substantial presence of Chinese laborers in the interior Pacific Northwest, describing why they came, how their efforts contributed to the region’s development, and how too often mistreatment and abuse were their only reward.
![Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.10.4)
Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon
208![Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.10.4)
Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon
208Paperback
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780870715709 |
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Publisher: | Oregon State University Press |
Publication date: | 10/01/2009 |
Pages: | 208 |
Sales rank: | 1,052,613 |
Product dimensions: | 6.26(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.49(d) |