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Asian Americans and U.S. Law

Ambushed, The Hells Canyon Massacre of 1887 (2007)

Michael J. Nove, Oregon State Bar Bulletin, November 2007

One hundred and twenty years ago, in May of 1887, a band of horse thieves entered Hells Canyon bent on evil. There were six men in the band, and with a lust for gold and a hatred of the Chinese, they systematically gunned down no less than 10 miners. By some accounts as many as 34 Chinese were murdered, making this crime one of the worst in Oregon’s history.

Ambushed, The Hells Canyon Massacre of 1887