Territorial Timeline

Letter from General Nelson Miles to the Assistant Adjutant General, Division of the Pacific

Governor Watson C. Squire appealed to President Cleveland for aid following a series of riots instigated to drive out Chinese communities.
The President's proclamation authorized ". . . the employment of military force to suppress domestic violence and enforce the faithful execution of the laws of the United States, if the command and warning of this Proclamation be disobeyed and disregarded."

In September, 1885 mobs raided several communities of Chinese immigrants in Seattle, Aberdeen and Tacoma. Many of the Chinese working to build the transcontinental railroads had been laid off. Because the Chinese were often willing to work for lower wages than white residents, their presence was feared and resented by some people. The Chinese were driven out of Tacoma and threats of mob violence in Seattle caused Governor Watson C. Squire and President Grover Cleveland to issue proclamations threatening military action if the violence did not cease.
Even so, by February, 1886 most of the Chinese residents had been driven out of Seattle.