Ron James: Regional Chinese Immigrant Mining History

RECORDING AVAILABLE (UNTIL 3/5/25): Ron James: Regional Chinese Immigrant Mining History

In the late 1800’s, when Idaho became a territory, thousands of Chinese came to Idaho to mine, work on railroads, and provide support services. Challenges were immense, including exclusion and violence in our rugged landscape.  Many who came had previous experience mining in China or California and practiced much innovation and tenacity to achieve varied degrees of success and legacy.

Ron James is a retired Twin Falls School District English and Social Studies teacher, adjunct instructor of East Asian History at Idaho State University, and a member of the Twin Falls County Historic Preservation Commission (TFCHPC).  He studied historical archaeology of 19^th Century Chinese gold mining sites and wrote his M.A. thesis on Ruins of a World: Chinese Gold Mining at the Mon-Tung Site in the Snake River Canyon.  He has done extensive archaeological and ethnographical research on the Chinese and Japanese immigration experience in southern Idaho, and is also interested in the Astorians and the early Pacific NW fur trade period.

Ron worked with National Park Service during the establishment of the Minidoka National Historic Site in Jerome County and was a founding member of the Friends of Minidoka non-profit organization.  More recently, he accomplished significant archaeological and historical research to help establish a Snake River Canyon Historic Mining District where there is a Mon-Tung archaeological site between Milner Dam and Shoshone Falls. Research at this site has helped recognize the broad impact of the Chinese community in Southern Idaho.

Ron met his wife, LiLi, while doing research in time Xiamen, Fujian, China.  They currently live in Twin Falls and will be on hand to provide historical context to our WINTER READ regarding regional Chinese miners/immigrants from 1860’s-1890’s.

This program is part of the 2025 Winter Read.