A Forgotten Hero From a Night of Disgrace
Cecilia Rasmussen
May 16, 1999
http://articles.latimes.com/1999/may/16/local/me-37851
Cecilia Rasmussen is a historian and author who wrote a column for the Los Angeles Times called "L.A. Then and Now". Cecilia's Chinese Massacre article appears to rely on information taken from Horace Bell and Paul M. De Falla. However,where De Falla criticizes Emil Harris, Cecilia portrays Harris as a hero.
Rasmussen starts with a brief background of Harris but then imputes race into a quote taken from Harris's testimony at the Coroner's Inquest. She writes, "Harris rapidly won a reputation for honesty and competence. He would reinforce the former in the massacre's wake when he unhesitatingly pointed the finger of blame at an "excited [white] multitude." But we know the mob was not exclusively white. Dr. Joseph Kurtz stated in his report "... we find the mob consisted of all nationalities as they live in Los Angeles ..." Witness Martin John Reilly testified, in relation to the lynchings that took place at Goller's shop, that "the whole proceeding seemed to be conducted in Spanish." Another witness, C. F. N. Dennuke testified, "should judge that the most active among those engaged in the shooting were Spaniards or native Californians, from the fact that after wounding or killing a Chinaman, they calledout in Spanish." Leon Baldwin testified "[I] heard after I got in the crowd, as much English as Spanish spoken." And multiple parties heard General John Baldwin remonstrate with the crowd in Spanish. Even Robert Widney stated "[I] endeavored to recognize some of the parties so as to exert an influence over them in favor of stopping the proceedings; only some 8 or ten were actually engaged in the hanging; spoke to them all; only two addressed understood English."
Rasmussen implies that Harris was brave because Los Angeles was "a place where 30 murders were committed each month." and that Harris was "assigned to police the town's toughest neighborhood, Calle de los Negros." Neither of these statements are true. There certainly were not 30 murders each month. If that were the case, 7% of Los Angeles's 5,000 residents would be murdered each year. And Harris, together with George Gard, was assigned to the Third Ward, while Calle De Los Negros was in the Second Ward; where Bilerrain and Sanchez were assigned.
Then Rasmussen describes the events on October 24 as "an ongoing feud ... erupted into violence in a dispute over the possession of a young woman named Ya Hit." First, we see the mis-spelling that originated with C. P. Dorland. Had Cecilia sought out any primary sources, she would would have used Yut Ho or Yit Ho. Second, the "ongoing feud" had not been actively ongoing for at least six months.
Cecilia repeats De Falla's fabrication about Bilderain being in Higby's Saloon, and adds her own embellishments, "Jesus Bilderrain was polishing off a whiskey at Higby's saloon. Most of the barroom patrons shrugged off the commotion, but Bilderrain--pistol in hand--dutifully went out the swinging doors into the street." Historians often repeat De Falla’s inference that Jesus Bilderrain was drinking in Higby's Saloon when the first shots were fired on October 24. This is not substantiated by any reliable sources. Bilderrain himself stated during testimony given during People vs Qong Wan and Ah Ying (Ah Shaw et al), "while talking with Sanchez, at the corner of Higby's, heard shots in the direction of Negro alley; was then on horseback; road off to Negro alley, telling Sanchez to follow me". Additionally, there is no mention of swinging doors or the reaction of the bar patrons in any testimony.
She then condenses the initial shootout into just three sentences and suggests that Jesus Bilderrain was shot as he blew his whistle, and that Robert Thompson was shot by the same gunman, "A short distance away, he found a man named Ah Choy shot through the neck. As Bilderrain blew his whistle to summon help, bullets struck him in the shoulder and wrist. Running to his rescue, saloon owner-turned-rancher Robert Thompson was killed, shot through the heart by the same unseen gunmen, who also wounded some of the bystanders." Bilderrain was shot inside the Coronel Adobe while attempting to arrest a Nin Yung man. During his testimony at Sam Yuen's trial, he recalled the events, "[I] got as far as the aisle leading to Beaudry's building when I saw a Chinaman lying down wounded I think; [I] captured a Chinaman who had a pistol in his hands; the parties that assisted were Ventura Lopez and Juan Espinosa, they assisted me in taking the pistol from him; I went along with them; proceeded as far as the store of Sam Yuen; stood in front of the door and saw a Chinaman with a pistol in his hand; believed him to be the same man that ran from Negro Alley into the Coronel building; then left Ventura Lopez and Espinosa with the Chinaman already under arrest and proceeded to arrest the one with a pistol in his hand; proceeded into the house and the Chinaman met me and pointed his pistol to my breast; I took hold of his pistol and when the trigger was pulled the hammer struck my thumb; was going to strike him on the head with my pistol when somebody shot me; I dropped my own pistol, being disabled; four or five of them then commenced to fire at me; I thought that I was mortally wounded and was anxious to die outside; attempted to go out through the same door that I had entered by; opened the door and got out the Chinamen following me; saw Juan Jose Mendibles there when I came out; heard parties at Caswell's store calling out to me; could not understand what they said; stood there a few minutes with Mendibles when he was shot in the leg; heard parties then say, "get down or they'll kill you;" got down from the corridor and blew my whistle." Walter Lyon described the scene this way "[Bilderrain] rushed into the third door on the corridor in about a minute, the officer came running out with three Chinamen at his heels; he attempted to run towards Main street; the Chinamen which followed him with pistols in each hand taking deliberate aim and in fact firing promiscuously all around them." There also wasn't a single Chinese gunman. The entire Nin Yung company was armed for conflict. Constable Hester was the third officer to arrive at the scene and testified, "I ran into a yard in order to keep the guilty parties in the house, and found twenty-five or thirty Chinamen there; told them to give themselves up; they said "no," and commenced firing at me; I fired back three shots and ran out into the street again."
Rasmussen then insinuates that City Council member George Fall was one the leaders of the mob, "an angry mob of 500 Angelenos--some of whom were led by City Councilman George E. Fall--surrounded Chinatown." George Fall was on Main Street soon after Robert Thompson was shot. He encountered Yo Hing and hit him in the head with a board, for reasons entirely unrelated the affray. Fall explained how Yo Hing's men killed one of his horses the year before, "[I] saw Yo Hing in front of Alec's barber shop just after Thompson was shot; he went through the Blue Wing saloon with a brick after him fired by me; Alec Rendon has him now to keep until after the excitement; I threw a chair at him also and broke an arm in doing it; [I] threw the brick at Yo Hing for the reason that last December a deputy sheriff came down from Santa Barbara with a warrant and an order for me to furnish private transportation as far as the Eight Mile House; I let him have my carriage team; after the arrest had been made and the parties were in the carriage, Yo Hing smashed in the front of the carriage; they fired two shots into the carriage; shot a Chinaman inside in the back, and killed a horse; Jake Metzker was driving; the horse died about a mile and & half from town." After his encounter with Yo Hing, Fall went to the Bella Union to meet with Sheriff Burns and former council member, James Brown Winston. Afterwards, he returned to his office.
Rasmussen repeats several more of De Falla's lies; first, that one of the victims was fourteen years old. The youngest victim was eighteen years old. And second, that Marshal Baker was "also the city's dogcatcher". The City of Los Angeles did have a pound at this time, but that pound was not for dogs. The pound was for livestock that would occasionally stray from their owners and caused damage to crops. It wasn't until 1872 that a municipal ordinance was approved that directed the city Marshall to register and license dogs.
Then Rasmussen attempts to vilify Marshal Baker and claim that Harris was a hero in a manner that I find bizarre, "Marshal Francis Baker ordered his men to 'shoot any Chinese who try to escape.' Harris, however, refused to obey his superior's order. He personally captured a hatchet-wielding Chinese immigrant and attempted to escort him to jail, four blocks away. But before Harris could reach his destination, he was set upon by rioting thugs who pinned the patrolman to the ground and dragged his prisoner to the Tomlinson Corral at Temple and Spring streets, where they hanged him." First, Marshal Bakers did give instructions not to allow any Chinese to escape. But he never instructed anybody to shoot. According to Constable Bud Bryant, "[I] Was placed on guard on Negro alley by Marshal Baker who instructed me not to allow Chinamen to escape." It was Sheriff Burns that gave orders to shoot anybody who tried to escape, but only if the person could not be arrested. Additionally, his instructions were only to guard the Coronel Block. The man that Harris attempts to take to the jail was Ah Wing, who was coming from Beaudy's building. This is the relevant testimony from Burns himeself, "My order to those whom I deputized, and to the officers, were, that they should prevent any one from going in or coming out; that if they could not make arrests to bring them down, to prevent escape," and "[I] placed guards at various points; gave instructions to each one not to allow any one to escape; if any should be likely to do so, to first call upon him to stop, and if not shoot him," and also "my strict injunctions to those guarding the front of the Coronel block were, not to commit any acts of violence whatever; it was only those in the rear that I gave orders to shoot, if they could not in any other way capture those who might endeavor to escape". But what is particularly infuriating about Cecilia's narrative is that Ah Wing attempted to get from the Beaudry Building to the Coronel Adobe twice; and he was captured twice. The first time he was captured, his captors delivered him to Marshal Baker, who relieved Ah Wing of his gun and sent him back to the Beaudry Building. The second time he was captured, Ah Wing was carrying a hatchet and had to be subdued by a group of men. Harris did not "personally capture" Ah Wing. Harris attempted to escort Ah Wing to the jail with a man named Charles Avery. Harris and Avery were only a block away from the jail when the mob attacked both men from behind.
She claims, "Cries of "Hang 'em! Hang 'em!" soon gave way to "Burn 'em out!" as someone in the mob hurled a fireball onto a Chinatown rooftop. Risking the mob's fury, Harris ran inside, where a group of Chinese had taken refuge, grabbed the torch and flung it into the street." But she is confusing two separate incidents. There was a fire on the roof that officer Gard extinguished with a bucket of water. But that fire was not caused by a fireball, according to Gard, "the curtain around the bunk caught fire from a lamp used by Chinese for lighting pipes". Harris himself explained the fireball in his testimony, "Cox lighted the fire ball and threw it in the building; said he did not want to fire the building, but wished to see the body of the dead Chinaman." Charles Avery also explains, "saw a man throw a lighted ball into a house on Negro alley and then take it out; assisted this man in dragging a Chinaman out of the house; the Chinaman was wounded, having received three shots; gave the Chinaman water to allay his thirst although threatened with being shot." And finally from J. C. Cox himself, "saw Officer Sands there; he said he wanted help; told him I'd do what I could; asked whether I was "heeled," said no; told me to get a pistol; got one with 5 loaded chambers from Sargent; charged one that was empty; instructed me not to allow any one to escape; to keep them in until morning when they would be caught; a door was opened and several shots were fired; a Chinaman attempted to escape; told him to go back; didn't go: a volley was fired at him; fired one shot myself; saw the Chinaman crawl back;;shots were fired into the room where the Chinaman had crawled into; volunteered to go in and get the man out; obtained a ball dipped in alcohol, lit it, and threw it in the room; saw the wounded Chinaman; went in; took him out; when carrying the man over the street, a tall, sandy-whiskered man - an American - said the long-tailed son of a b--- was alive, and he would cook his goose for him; raise my pistol to him and said: "when he pulled, I would;" gave the Chinaman water to drink; the Chinaman told me that those who had done the shooting left the building immediately."
Another lie repeated frequently is that every house in Chinatown was broken into. "Then, every rickety shanty in Chinatown was looted. 'Boys, help yourselves,' was the cry." But the Coronel Adobe was the only location attacked by the Mob, because that was where Thompson's killers were located. There were multiple buildings on Negro Alley, and every one of them was left unmolested. Additionally, the area known as Chinatown, at that time, extended past Machesault Street.
Then Cecilia borrows a quote from Horace Bell's Further Reminiscences of a Ranger, "The next day's local newspapers called the riot a victory of the patriots over the heathens." The problem is that this article does not exist. Horace Bell wrote, " I have since searched everywhere trying to find a copy of this paper containing its account of the victory of the patriots over the heathens, but without success. That issue has disappeared, perhaps burned to destroy its awful testimony to the shame of a community." Bell could not find the article because it was never written.
Emil Harris was a hero. But so was Charles Avery, Officer Billy Sands, William Widney, Robert Widney, John Lazzarovich, Henry Hazard, John Baldwin, Leon Baldwin, Sam Foy, and Ed Roberts, who cut the noose from a man, saving his life,
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