During the 1860s Chinese workers began to arrive in the American West, drawn to the land known as Gum San (the Land of the Golden Mountains). Chinese labor helped build the railroads, worked in the lumber camps, and did the hard work of placer mining. In 1868, Chin Chun Hock became one of the first Chinese to settle in Seattle where he founded the Wa Chong Company. In 1898, Chin Chun Hock began to expand his business into Butte, Montana where he constructed a new building for the Wah Chong Tai (Beautiful Old China) Mercantile. The two-story building, completed in 1899, had a store on the main floor and a noodle parlor on the second floor. There was also a cheater story—a space between the first and second floors that was only about six feet high which was taxed as part of the first floor. This floor probably housed some small, informal businesses, such as Chinese doctors. The cheater story was common in Chinatowns.
The Wah Chong Tai Mercantile was patronized by both Chinese and non-Chinese. For the Chinese community, the mercantile was more than a store: it was a place of social interaction functioning as a post office, a bank, and a meeting place.
The Wah Chong Tai Mercantile was the busiest store in Butte’s Chinatown. In 1941, the store closed. Today, as a part of the Mai Wah Museum, the store’s inventory at the time it closed—2,500 items—are on display. The items range from tea, to fish heads, to knives, and other items. Photographs of the displays are shown below.
The sign shown above was at the front of the store and is translated as “together happiness meeting place.”
Shown above is a traditional Chinese drum. According to the display:
“Chinese Drums are constructed of stretched animal hide over a hollow wooden vessel, and often played with tapered bamboo sticks. The earliest known drums in China date to the Shang Dynasty (c.1600-1100BC). Percussion is the oldest form of non-vocal music, and in China, traditional drumming is still associated with pomp and circumstance. It is a modern hallmark of prosperity and celebration, uniting people through rhythm during festivities, including weddings and national holidays.”
The Cheater Story:
The cheater story contains a number of small rooms which were used for lodging, informal businesses, and storage. Wandering through the cheater story today is like wandering through an archaeological site as it is maintained as it was when it was abandoned.
There were originally a number of small stairways leading to the cheater story to allow the patrons of the small businesses to have some degree of anonymity in entering and leaving the area.
