Chinese cowboys worked ranches in the American West for decades: Archaeologists find new clues

A summer excavation at a remote Oregon ranch revealed artifacts suggesting Chinese immigrants worked as ranch hands and cowboys.(Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology;Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site)

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“Some of these ranches are long gone, some are still operated or owned by the same families for generations — and others, like the Stewart Ranch, are preserved on public lands.” 

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Rose, the director of SOULA, said her team found bullets, food scraps and floor sweepings — including broken dishes, glass bottle fragments and “animal bones representingpast meals.”

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Archaeologists also uncovered buttons and jean rivets.The artifacts may date from between the early 20th century and the 1930s, Rose estimated.

The meal remains were not unexpected;she pointed to a primary document that described one of the cooks as being famous for his mutton.

“This reinforces our need to gather more data.Luckily, we have multiple ranches we are eyeing for next summer.”

“We found a lot of animal bones at the site that reflect shared meals eaten by the crew, includingsome mammal remainsthat are consistent with sheep,” she said.

“So it is possible we’re seeing the scraps of meals made by [Jim Lee, one of the cowboys] for hungry ranch hands after a long day.”

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The ranch looks “much the way it did when Chinese cowboys and cooks were working there,” added Rose — an experience that felt like “going back in time.”

Researchers are still analyzing theartifacts foundover the summer, which she said “will help us pin down some dates of the material we found.”

Archaeologists uncovered broken dishes, bottle fragments and animal bones believed to reflect meals shared by ranch crews.(Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology)

“Another complexity is that we can’t distill down the presence of Chinese Americans on the ranch to artifacts that were made in China,” she said.

“These men lived and workedin the regionfor decades, and would have had access to goods and supplies from Chinese stores… What they used and owned would reflect their personal preferences, economic standing and what stores they had access to.”

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Rose added, “This reinforces our need to gather more data.Luckily, we have multiple ranches we are eyeing for next summer.”

She said the “coolest” part was “having the same views and sense of place as it would have 100 years ago.”

“We know of at least two Chinese American men who ran their own ranches as well.”

“Usually when we are working on a site, we have to work a lot harder to imagine how the space would have been used or experienced in the past… Sometimes that means ignoring a nearby McDonald’s,” she said. 

“While a few buildings have moved around over time, the Stewart Ranch house remains in place, the bunkhouse survives and the flow of traffic used by early residents remains clear to this day.”

Oregon Gold Rushin 1850 — and once represented nearly 80% of the miners in the area, she said.

“As gold waned, as it always does, these men had to pivot towards other opportunities, so it is no surprise many ended up participating in the growing sheep and cattle industry where they worked as buckaroos, ranch hands, sheepherders, cooks, farm hands and even as ranch foreman,” she said.

“To date, our team has uncovered ties between Chinese immigrants and more than 30 ranches in the area,” said Rose (not pictured).(Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology;Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site)

“We know of at least two Chinese American men who ran their own ranches as well.”

The Stewart Ranch excavation was described as a rare opportunity to experience a historic site largely unchanged for over a century.(Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology)

“Adding Chinese Americans to Oregon’s early ranching industry doesn’t take away from the many white families who worked hard to raise sheep and cattle under sometimes difficult circumstances,” she said. 

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“It adds richness and depth to the story.It allows us to look at the ways humans interacted and supported each other…how cool to be able to add them back to the stories where they belong.It’s Oregon history!”