Harlan Hague had already won wide acclaim for his non-fiction (‘One of our
great western historians’) before he turned his hand to western novels. One of
Harlan’s strengths is tackling stories and settings largely over-looked in
western fiction: A PLACE FOR MEI LIN
(winner of the GOLD WILL ROGERS MEDALLION AWARD) is set in the gold-mining
camps of the Sawtooth Mountains region of Idaho.
Mining camp Atlanta, Idaho late 19th Century
Aimless drifter Caleb Willis rescues a young Chinese girl, Mei Lin, from
prostitution and begins to find himself again. At the same time they face
threats from both locals and federal government trying to remove the Chinese
from Idaho, by violence if need be.
In 1848 there were only an estimated 323
Chinese immigrants in the U.S.A. By 1852 there were 25,000 – 2,000 arriving in
one day. The reason, of course, was the California gold rush. Over the next
decades Chinese immigrants arrived to work as labourers, particularly on transcontinental
railroads such as the Central Pacific Railroad, and in the mines.
Chinese workers in the 19th Century West:
While
industrial employers were eager to get this cheap labour, basic racial
prejudice among the ordinary white public led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of
1882, extended by the Geary Act in 1892. These laws not only prevented new
immigration from China but also brought additional suffering as they prevented
the reunion of the families of thousands of Chinese men already living in the
United States (that is, men who had left China without their wives and
children); anti-miscegenation laws in many states prohibited Chinese men
from marrying white women.
They had to pay special taxes and
couldn’t acquire American citizenship. They were sometimes subject to acts of
violence, such as the massacre in Hells Canyon, Oregon in 1887, where as many
as 34 Chinese miners were murdered.
Only in 1943 was Chinese immigration to the
United States once again permitted, by way of the Magnuson Act, and the Chinese
in America gradually achieved their full rights.
The issue of prostitution on the frontier deserves at least
another blog all to itself!
A PLACE FOR MEI LIN’s setting of a
Northwestern mining camp made me think of McCABE AND MRS. MILLER (which also has
a turn-of-the-century dating)
WARREN BEATTY in 'McCabe and Mrs. Miller'
PALE RIDER (set in California but partly filmed in the Sawtooth
Mountains)
CLINT EASTWOOD (and the Sawtooth Mountains) in 'Pale Rider'
and RIVER OF NO RETURN (which is Idaho’s Salmon River.)
MARILYN MONROE & ROBERT MITCHUM in 'River of No Return'
The Chinese element naturally brought to mind the TV series ‘Kung Fu.’
DAVID CARRADINE in 'Kung Fu'
The Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho
Reviewers of A PLACE FOR MEI LIN:
‘A marvellously researched and detailed work, recommended for historical
and romance novel fans alike.’
‘A wonderful, enjoyable read.’
‘A splendidly written tale of danger and prejudice, of redemption and
unexpected love… sure to become a Western classic.’
‘A PLACE FOR MEI
LIN is an exceptionally satisfying story that warms the heart ....
Written by a master story teller, A PLACE FOR MEI LIN will find a welcome
place on any bookshelf.’
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