In 2017, Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Experience aired Massacre at Hells Canyon which detailed the brutal murder of 34 Chinese miners in Hells Canyon in 1887. The 30 minute documentary included interviews, old photos, and new footage of a memorial stone being placed at the site. The story in and of itself was would have caught my attention - a racist massacre of Chinese men where none of the murders were ever held accountable. However, how the story came to light in the recent years was just meant to be a novel.
Over 100 years after the murderers were acquitted, the court documents were found in a safe in the Wallow County courthouse (not with all the other court documents on the courthouse records shelves). Hidden and then forgotten archival records revealing details about a racist massacre of Chinese miners, how is that not a story I want to read and write about.
I have a passion for elevating stories and records about people and communities that have been left out on purpose, overlooked, ignored, and/or deemed not worthy of saving. Those are the stories that move me. Those are the stories I want to help get out there in the world, so they are not forgotten and maybe we all can learn something. It is not my place to tell the stories as if they were my own, but to honor the stories by letting the records and people speak for themselves. To move out of the way and make room.
With all of this in mind, I started to work on a novel about a traveling archivist. My current pitch:
Oregon’s Traveling Archivist is about professional archivist, Della Waters, who believes leaving her job, city and a burgeoning relationship with Ana for a temporary job in a small town in eastern Oregon is the only way she can avoid feeling the pain of betrayal by her best friend. As she tries to immerse herself in working with the records, she discovers a misfiled deposition detailing a racist massacre of 34 Chinese miners over 100 years ago and the connections to their murders’ present day descendants; some who want to keep the story hidden at all cost. Can Della keep the truth from being buried while also learning to trust again?
I just finished editing based on wonderful suggestions from the editor I hired. She “gets” me and what I am trying to say. I am so grateful for her wisdom and kindness. Next step is my beta readers and working on my query.

After revising my novel, I realized a primary theme in the story is what do we do, particularly as white people, when our fore-bearers instigated or participated in atrocities. Do we, as descendants, make amends or continue to cover up the truth? What is our role in history?
Sidenote: OPB just re-reported about the documentary and the story of the Massacred miners. When it came into my inbox on Saturday I had a moment, or truthfully many moments, where I thought I had missed the boat and took too long to write my version of the story. But the world is wide and there is room for all of our stories and perspectives.
To learn more, check out these links:
Chinese Massacre at Deep Creek
Gregory Nokes, a former Oregonian reporter, did amazing research to help uncover the story and worked with the community to get a memorial placed at the site. Massacred for Gold: The Chinese in Hells Canyon is a great resource and a swift read too.
And this story blows my mind too. I have visted the site twice and feel honored to have been in the space at all. My hunch is that you will be just as facsinated by the story of Kam Wah Chung as I am.
Thank you Mary for giving voice to those who were erased by racial hatred and violence. The road to healing is to give voice and acknowledge. To ignore the past is indifference and only perpetuates the wound!
This story is so sad and important. I love that you have chosen it.