Road Trip To Wyoming and The History Of The Rock Springs Massacre in 1885
When we entered Wyoming in July 2011, I was amazed at how beautiful the landscapes were. Being from Tennessee I had never seen rock formations in colors like pink and red. It was a once in a lifetime drive for me and my husband in our 1987 VW Vanagon as we explored the world to see what new sights were around every corner.
Looking at these pictures I took it's hard to believe at one time Rock Springs, Wyoming was a completely different world. It was newly discovered and developed land in the late 1800s. It was a city full of immigrants trying to survive early life in the West.
Rock Springs, Wyoming: My First Views Entering The Area
![264885_682717033006_7705296_n(1).jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmajXPNPxFofhfgSgN4kZC3iezdmC1pEytL6RCeZaAamVu/264885_682717033006_7705296_n(1).jpg)
The Rock Springs Massacre
Looking at these beautiful views it's hard to imagine a riot happening here in 1885 leading to one of the worst incidents of violence towards immigrants in U.S. history. In the late 1800s immigrants arriving from China flooded the West in search of jobs that paid far more than people could earn in their home country. In the early days most Chinese male immigrants worked for the railroads. source
When railroad jobs disappeared, businessmen realized the usefulness of Chinese immigrants. They were hard workers, men didn't bring their families to the U.S. so they weren't tied down, and they are willing to accept lower pay rates. Immigrants were hired over white workers which caused racial tensions to arise.
Racism towards Chinese immigrants was extremely bad in the late 1800s. There are stories of protests and crimes committed towards Chinese individuals including beatings and murders.
Wyoming was a land of wide spread coal mining. By 1875, Chinese miners were preferred as employees in the mines because they accepted far less pay than white workers. The Chinese residents of Rock Springs lived in one section or town and white residents lived in another. The cultures were segregated and racism towards one another was strong.
![263100_682716998076_1825789_n.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmQsNDqFiaa3NT9dqjc4eCQMzurck4JhAVuzGJCMEdbFcT/263100_682716998076_1825789_n.jpg)
It was a fight between a group of white miners and a group of Chinese miners that started the riot. One Chinese worker was killed and another badly hurt. The fight was broken up but people were angry. White workers left to gather weapons and regroup. More and more white miners met up, angry about Chinese workers being hired over white workers and other racist ideals from the time period.
Around 150 white men and women decided they'd had enough and they decided to attack the Chinese section of town. They killed, looted, and set homes on fire. It was a vicious attack and federal troops had to be called in to stop the chaos. All the Chinese homes were destroyed and 28 were killed. Because hatred of Chinese immigrants was so horrible, everyone involved in the incident protected one another to the point no one could be charged with a crime because no witnesses would come forward. Source
![261955_682717067936_6183948_n.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZ64pmDjFY7ot7DYumGdG21dUDZiC8MweeAKreCa1pyyR/261955_682717067936_6183948_n.jpg)
It's hard to imagine a world without highways and interstates. In the 1880s roads here were smaller and made of dirt. People didn't have to worry about speed limit signs. The railroads use to be young and a main form of transportation. Today people use planes and cars to get where they want and trains like the one below are used to transport goods sold by corporations rather than people. People back then had their minds on survival in a developing world and headed West to new cities to find their fortune.
We passed a quaint train on our beautiful Wyoming drive.
![263575_682717207656_3903054_n.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmdxPjefKwJ6XJFoetuxZKRHK4eMF2PLNbuP6uAUd7NUHp/263575_682717207656_3903054_n.jpg)
One of my favorite pictures...The real @marxrab Marx the rabbit watching Wyoming as we drove through Rock Springs.
![262155_682717137796_4959866_n(2).jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmV1CvyxDJGE1kNAVzHU4WxhE66CCCcaiKi7mKH1QsGMop/262155_682717137796_4959866_n(2).jpg)
photo credit: all photos are my own.
wow dear @marxrab
this photography is very beautiful
Very true my Friend.
My heart goes out to those lives that were lost in the riots especially those Chinese.
I think if a person goes into a new environment, he should learn to establish a balance between how you act and how the environment reacts. If they has looked for ways to establish peace and resolve differences with the whites before the riot, I'm sure thats a better way to do things with lesser casualties.
BTW, Great photography
I learnt something from this post.
Thanks for sharing @marxrab
Thanks for the comment. I agree. People need to learn peaceful ways to deal with issues rather than resort to violence.
Bolehkah anda menceritakan tentang sedikit lewat gambar tersebut saya sangat suka post ini.
Namun sedikit lol saya membaca pakek translate
@marxrab
@marxrab I always like road but with little kiddo it is challenging sometimes especially if its a long hour of driving but when you reach your destination it pays off.
Don't I know it. My kid can make it an hour at the most before she cries. Traveling with babies is difficult. Looks like my road trip days are done for a long time.
terrible history, black stains that are hard to forget by the present generation.
It is terrible history. Bad events are always remembered.
Looks like y'all enjoyed the trip. Awesome pics! Never been out that way, so having your descriptions of the area gives an added depth to them. Thanks for the info on the history, too. I knew there were tensions in some regions, but this one was particularly nasty.
Thanks. It is a pretty place to visit. It's unique in terms of nature. Lots of pretty rocks and landscapes.
Beautiful scenery and I hope you drove slower than 75 so that you had time to soak it all in and enjoy it!!
Umm...sure...we drove slower than 75....except for that brief second my husband decided to try to hit 100 on a wide open road with no cops.... :)
Damn I hate road trips...The pain to the arse is killing especially when it's a long distance journey . It's cool to know you had fun in this one though . Wish I could have your grace to travel ...lolzz
I don't mind road trips for fun. I never take long trips like this unless they are fun. Thanks for the comment!
That looks like an amazing area, with all those big stone towers. DId you get to see Devil's Tower? I would love to see that! Apparently, some guy parachuted onto it back in the early days of parachuting and got stuck for several days. A group of climbers had to scale the tower and save him!
Looks like a great trip :-)
Unfortunately no. I wish we could have gone there though. We had a plan to hit like 20 different states. At some point driving through Wyoming my husband got sick so we headed straight to Idaho and spent 4 days there resting. I started feeling bad after that so we ended our "epic" trip early after hitting Montana and Yellowstone.
Ugh... Sorry. Nobody likes being sick, but it's always better to be home when you are. It looks as if you went though some beautiful countryside, though.
Wow really lovely, amazing pictures, you deserve more, I wish you enjoyed this beautiful trip
Thank you dear @marxrab for everything you offer and share with us pictures and ideas, I am always waiting to see more of you
Thank you! It's always nice to hear a comment from you.
Welcome dear @marxrab