A White Mob Massacred at Least 18 Chinese Residents

Narrative

On October 24, 1871, a white mob in Los Angeles attacked the Chinese quarter, looted businesses, and killed at least 18 Chinese residents in one of the deadliest anti-Chinese massacres in United States history. Early telegrams reprinted in The Deseret News announced that “fifteen Chinamen have been hung,” while later reports in the Chicago Tribune described victims stripped, robbed, shot, and hanged amid “wholesale pillaging” of Chinese homes and stores. Trial testimony published in the Los Angeles Daily News showed how prisoners were dragged from custody and hanged as armed crowds surged through Negro Alley and the Coronel building. The violence left the Chinese community dead, wounded, dispossessed, and terrorized.

Related Newspaper Article(s)

The Los Angeles Lynching—Wholesale Hanging of Chinese.

The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah)

October 25, 1871 (Page 2)

Telegrams report Los Angeles mobs hanging fifteen Chinese men on Oct. 24 1871, with more targeted until ropes run out. Authorities finally curb the violence as crowds disperse, leaving the city on edge after one of the deadliest anti-Chinese lynchings in U.S. history.

Ku-Kluxing in California

Yorkville Enquirer (Red Bluff, California)

November 2, 1871 (Page 2)

A Yorkville paper claims a Los Angeles mob of 500 armed whites hanged fifteen Chinese and besieged their quarter during an attempted arrest, vowing to expel the race; order returned only after heavy violence.

Later Particulars—Robbery as well as Murder—Brutal and Cowardly Atrocities

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois)

November 7, 1871 (Page 4)

A detailed follow-up on Los Angeles’s 1871 massacre notes extensive looting of Chinese businesses (up to $20,000), mutilation of the eighteen hanged victims, and fears of renewed violence. Coroner and grand-jury inquiries proceed amid witness intimidation and rumors of vigilante instigators.

The Los Angeles Tragedy

The Beatrice Weekly Express (Los Angeles, California)

November 18, 1871 (Page 3)

Eye-witness narrative of the 24 Oct 1871 Los Angeles massacre describes Negro Alley’s squalor, rival “Hop” and “Ah Chop” tongs, and a 3,000-strong mob that killed at least ten Chinese, hanged prisoners, burned shops, and looted goods.

Trial of Crenshaw for Lynching

Los Angeles Daily News (Los Angeles, California)

February 18, 1872 (Page 3)

Court testimony recounts Richard Crenshaw’s 1872 Los Angeles riot trial: witnesses describe mobs storming Chinatown, shots fired, rooftop fights, and attempted lynchings during the city’s infamous anti-Chinese violence.

Trial of Crenshaw for Lynching Chinese

Los Angeles Daily News (Los Angeles, California)

February 18, 1872 (Page 3)

Testimony at the Crenshaw lynching trial recounts the 24 Oct 1871 Los Angeles massacre: hundreds besieged the Coronel Building, shot Chinese on Los Angeles Street and Negro Alley, and hanged one victim at a gateway while up to ten others lay dead nearby.

Trial of Crenshaw for Lynching

Los Angeles Daily News (Los Angeles, California)

February 18, 1872 (Page 3)

Los Angeles 1871 massacre trial: witnesses recount mob of 200–300 that hanged Gene Tong and attacked Chinese quarter.