1800s
1900s
1811: Hawaiians hired by John Jacob Astor arrive in Astoria, where they work in the fur trade.
1820: The Owyhee River is named after three Hawaiians who had been killed the previous year by the Bannock tribe.
1850: Chinese miners arrive in Oregon.
1859: Oregon rewrites its state constitution in order to prevent Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans from owning land.
1876: Chinese arrive in Astoria to work in canneries and other fishing-related jobs
1880: Miyo Iwakoshi, Riki Iwakoshi, and Tama Jewel Nitobe are Oregon’s first Japanese immigrants.
Portland has the largest Chinese community between San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C.; by this year, over 2,000 Chinese (mainly Cantonese) live in the city.
1882: Chinese Exclusion Act, federal law that prevents immigration of Chinese laborers, becomes law. It won’t be repealed until 1943.
1887: The Hells Canyon/Deep Creak Massacre (Wallowa County, Oregon) leaves 34 Chinese miners dead. Details remain unclear, but reports suggest a gang of seven white horse thieves robbed and later shot the Chinese miners.
“In spite of all this, one resolute Chinese businessman, Sam Yick, was planning a future for his family in McMinnville. He would have been the guy handing out Chinese lilies to McMinnville residents for Chinese New Year in 1887.”
Read more about McMinnville’s Chinese immigrants.
1890s: Portland’s Japantown (Nihonmachi) is born as hundreds of Japanese immigrants move to the area. The area would support hundreds of businesses before it was abandoned in 1942, when Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps.
1903: Rev. Shozui Wakabayashi arrives in Portland, Oregon’s first Buddhist priest.
1911: Ota Tofu Company opens, the oldest tofu shop in the United States.
1913: The Ghadar Party is formed in Astoria, with the goal of overthrowing the British and establishing self-rule in India. Many Indians who had been living in Oregon leave for India, where they are initially unsuccessful, but their efforts help lead to Indian independence in 1947.
1922: Portland’s oldest Chinese restaurant, Republic Cafe, opens.
1924: The Immigration Act of 1924 prevents immigration from Asia.
1925: During the Toledo Incident, a mob of white men force a group of Japanese, Filipino, and Korean laborers to leave the coastal Oregon city. In 1926, Tamakichi Ogura files a lawsuit against nine of the people in the mob, and wins $2500 in damages.
1942: Executive Order 9066 incarcerates all people of Japanese descent living in the west coast, moving them to inland camps. More than 3,000 Oregonians are sent to the Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho. This mass removal destroys Portland’s Japantown. By the 1980s, the former Japantown would become Old Town China Town.
1945: Internment camps close; around 69% of Oregon’s Japanese population return home, where many face discrimination.
1965: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 removes discrimination in immigration policies. Immigration from Asia rises by 35%.
Korean immigrants to Oregon first settle in Gresham, then Beaverton.
1967: Portland Japanese Garden opens.
1981: The Rajneeshees buy land in Eastern Oregon, creating a community of over 7,000. By 1986, the area was a ghost town after several leaders were convicted of a variety of crimes.
1986: The China Gate in Old Town Chinatown is built
2000: Lan Su Chinese Garden opens.