Nearly all of the Chinese who searched for gold in Siskiyou County over 150 years ago came from the rich lowlands of Kwantung Province. Periods of flooding, crop failure, and civil unrest forced many young Chinese men to seek opportunities of the California gold fields.
In 1860, there were approximately 500 Chinese miners in Siskiyou County. By 1880, the Chinese male population had risen to 1,568 (the census counted only men!). Some of these individuals had wives and families with them. While many Chinese men continued mining, others became merchants (highly respected and profitable positions) or they ran a laundry business, cooked, or became hired help. The Chinese also helped construct irrigation/mining ditches, roadways, and railroad lines.
During the 1880s, two events occurred in Yreka which drastically affected the Chinese - a fire and a flood. In 1886, a fire "reburned the area from Miners Street to Lane Street and from Center Street to Yreka Creek." Because of Chinatown's tightly clustered wood buildings, the fire destroyed this section of town quickly. A "New Chinatown" was constructed across Yreka Creek to the east, but again during the winter of 1889-90, flood water destroyed the Chinese business district. After this disaster, many of the Chinese population either moved away or dispersed throughout Siskiyou County.
The Chinese in Siskiyou County were late arrivals, but these quiet, hard-working people made a great contribution to the general growth and development of this northern California county.