DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker's the source here, and I'm just the one carryin' the story down the road. Let me tell you about a group of people who got caught between a revolution, an expedition, and a law that said they didn't belong — and somehow wound up putting down roots in San Antonio anyway. It starts in March of 1916.
President Woodrow Wilson orders General John J. Pershing to lead an expedition into Mexico. The reason: Pancho Villa, the Mexican revolutionary, whose troops had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico.
Pershing goes in. And where soldiers go, commerce follows. Chinese merchants set up camps to supply the troops.
Now, that angered a native-born populace who already resented and feared the Chinese. And out there in the field, resentment has a way of turning dangerous real fast. So when Pershing came back across the border in February 1917, he didn't come back alone.
Two thousand five hundred Mexican civilians accompanied him — and among them, five hundred and twenty-seven Chinese. Here's where it gets complicated. There was already a law on the books — the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 — that banned Chinese immigration into the United States.
Flat out banned it. So Pershing had to request special permission just to bring these people across the border. Special permission.
For refugees who'd been living in danger. The permission came through. They settled near the base at Columbus.
Then, in June 1917, most of the group was moved to San Antonio, where they served as laborers, carpenters, and cooks at Camp Wilson — later known as Camp Travis — at Fort Sam Houston, and at Kelly Field, all in preparation for World War I. By every account, they worked admirably. And at night?
At night they attended an English school. It was established by a man named William Page, the civilian advisor for the immigrants. Now, that detail right there — a school, at night, after a full day of labor — that tells you something about what these people were building toward.
But when World War I ended, the threat of deportation loomed right back up. William Page and General Pershing weren't about to let that happen. With the help of a law firm, they developed a plan: ask Congress to act.
And Congress did. Public Resolution 29 passed in 1921. Then in January 1922, the immigration service began registering the Chinese refugees in San Antonio as permanent residents of the United States.
Permanent. After all of that — a revolution, an expedition, a border crossing that required special permission, years of labor, years of uncertainty — permanent. About half of them stayed right there in San Antonio.
Many opened businesses. They maintained their identity through church, through school, through ethnic organizations. And those five hundred and twenty-seven people who came across the border with Pershing became the foundation of San Antonio's Chinese community — which today remains one of the largest in the state of Texas.
Caught between a war and a law and a world that wasn't sure what to do with them. Turned out, they knew exactly what to do with themselves.
What the marker says
In March, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered General John J. Pershing to lead an expedition into Mexico to punish Pancho Villa, the Mexican revolutionary whose troops crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico. Chinese merchants set up camps to supply the soldiers, angering a native-born populace who already resented and feared the Chinese. In danger of retribution, 2,500 Mexican civilians, including 527 Chinese, accompanied Pershing when he returned to the U.S. in February 1917. Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), which banned Chinese immigration into the United States, Pershing had to request special permission to bring the Chinese across the border. They began to live adjacent to the base at Columbus. In June 1917, most of the group was moved to San Antonio, where they served as laborers, carpenters and cooks at Camp Wilson (Camp Travis), Fort Sam Houston and Kelly Field in preparation for World War I. They worked admirably and at night attended an English school established by William Page, civilian advisor for the immigrants. To prevent deportation of the refugees after World War I, Page and General Pershing, with the help of a law firm, developed a plan to ask Congress to take action in giving the immigrants permanent resident status. Congress passed Public Resolution 29 in 1921 and in January 1922, the immigration service began registering Chinese refugees in San Antonio as permament residents of the United States. About half stayed in San Antonio, with many opening businesses. Maintaining identity through church, school, and ethnic organizations, the refugees became the base of San Antonio's Chinese community, which today remains one of the largest in Texas.