Ah Kee & Ah Jack
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2) Carson and Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company check made out to Ah Jack. Signed by D. L. Bliss. For $96.59. This could very likely be for Chinese labor. Signed on back by Ah Jack.
Carson and Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company: The Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company was organized in 1873 with Duane L. Bliss as president and general manger and H. M. Yerington, D. O. Mills and J. A. Rigby as stockholders. It was probably the largest and most extensive lumber operation serving the mines of the Comstock. At its peak of operation, holdings included 50,000 acres of timber at Lake Tahoe and Lake Valley, three mills at Glenbrook, two steamers two logging railroads, logging camps, and a narrow gauge railroad. It operated several flumes to transport lumber down the mountain to the railroad depots and also maintained a box factory in Carson City. The primary function of the Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company was cutting timber until logging operations ceased around 1896. Virginia & Truckee Railroad: The Virginia & Truckee Railroad Company was organized in Nevada on March 5, 1868 with the objective of connecting Comstock mines around Virginia City, Nevada, with quartz reduction mills located just east of Carson City along the Carson River. On the return trip to Virginia City, the railroad would bring up needed supplies for the mining community including cord wood and mining timbers. Construction of a railroad between Virginia City and the Truckee River had been authorized by the Nevada Territorial Legislature in 1861 but actual construction on the line was not commenced until 1869. The major controlling interests behind the V. & T. Railroad were principals of the Bank of California and the Comstock mines and mills. D. L. Bliss: Duane Bliss founded the Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company in 1873. Bliss initiated a form of medical insurance for his employees, charging fifty cents per month for complete medical care. A well-paid laborer received $4 per day. After the end of the logging era in 1893, Bliss anticipated the tourism potential of Lake Tahoe. He moved his logging trains from Glenbrook to Tahoe City on the northwest shore of the lake and converted them to passenger service. Bliss's Lake Tahoe Transportation Co. was later connected to Southern Pacific's international rail service to Truckee, California. In 1907 he completed the renowned Glenbrook Inn which became a tourist destination for the elite families of San Francisco. A. J. Ralston: A. J. Ralston was the brother of William Chapman Ralston - the Bank of California magnate. Ralston would serve time as the Bank of California representative on the Comstock. From there he would slowly become involved in many other major Comstock affairs. the V&T Railroad being one of them. At the time of the check he signed he was also agent for the Bank of California. The Bank and/or its major investors owned the V&T, most of the Comstock mines and mills, and many water companies. George King: George Anson King was a banker who established the Nevada Bank of San Francisco in Virginia City, and served as director of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. He was also the vice president of the Nevada and Oregon Railroad Company which was organized to build a narrow gauge railroad from a point at or near Aurora, Esmeralda County to a point at or near Goose Lake, Oregon. This would actually later become the NCO. The rather imposing house he built in Carson City is still an iconic structure. Ah Kee: The 1875 check is addressed to Ah Kee. He was the first choice for Henry Yerington owned companies when it came to Chinese labor. Dr. Ah Kee was well known in Carson City. An 1873 advertisement in the Carson Daily Appeal lists him as a 'Botanical Physician' using herbs and natural remedies for illnesses. A Reno Gazette Journal articles wrote, " Dr. Ah Kee attended the sick for two bits. His treatment consisted of having the sick person lay supine on the Joss altar while the druggist, with eves closed, drew out one slip of cane from a goodly parcel of others. This was cut up and shaken in a deep cup and was supposedly good for a "sick abdomen." One wag who had been successfully treated remarked that some townsfolk who were literally bellyaching around, not knowing what ailed them, should give the Joss House doctor a trial." Ah Kee was well respected by the Chinese and the whites. In 1877 he convinced the Carson City Superintendent of School to allow his children and all Chinese children to attend public schools. Ah Kee ran the Sze Yup Company. The term "company" is used to demote a social organization which promoted solidarity and mutual aid in order to cope with the hostile social environment. Companies offered a variety of services to their members and insulated them from white society. Companies owned and operated stores, brothels, gambling halls, and opium dens, all of which brought them considerable profit. They controlled the labor force that would be used by the whites. Ah Sing was his 'special agent.' Ah Jack: Ah Jack was another of a select few whom Yerington trusted to provide Chinese labor. As a lumber and railroad contractor, Ah Jack would be expected to provide living quarters, food, tools, medicine and medical attention for his Chinese gang as needed. Although he worked in the Truckee Meadows he was noted for sending his crews as far away as Carson City - mainly working for Yerington. The Carson Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company records at the University of Nevada show purchases from Ah Jack as early as 1872. The 1880 census shows that Ah Jack was living between Reno and Verdi. He is 42 years old and is listed as a labor contractor. He was more than a labor contractor as he was regarded as the official interpreter for the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. Summary: These checks are very interesting for a variety of reasons. But their ties to the Chinese community in 19th Century Nevada are quite important. |
Bibliography:
1. "The Chinese and Green Gold: Lumbering in the Sierras" by Fawn Chung 2. "Chinese in the Woods: Logging & Lumbering in the American West" by Fawn Chung 3. United States census 4. Local Reno newspapers 5. "A Guide to the Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company Records" at the University of Nevada, Special Collections 6. PacificNG.org 7. "Virginia & Truckee Railroad Historical Society" online 8. "Pacific Tourist" 1881 9. "Cemeteries of Carson City and Carson Valley" by Southerland 10. "Chinese in the Woods: Logging and Lumbering in the American West" by Chung 11. Reno Gazette Journal, May 21, 1977 |