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TaiPing Rebellion
My name is Fa Mai Lee. The year is 1863, and the TaiPing Rebellion targeted my village in the Jiangsu Province. Many houses were razed to the ground. Fortunately, ours were left mostly intact, but many valubles were stolen. Mother and Father decided to move to America! We left before China's economy collapsed. -
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Immigration Timespan
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Angel Island
Today, after many weeks of travel, we arrived at Angel Island. We waited for a very long time in line, but were detained after legal inspection. Alas! How were we to know that the Chinese calender differed from the American? Father expected us to be out soon, but warned that we may have to wait weeks more. -
Work in San Angeles
I passed inspection and we arrived in San Angeles. Our boarding house is small, and we shared it with another family of three, but still, we are in America! Father found work at a cannery. Mother and I still pull our keep, however, and work at a dressmaker's shop. It is tiresome work, and does not pay too well, but we endured to survive. -
Injury
There was an accident at the cannery. One of the machines broke apart and sharp metal flew everywhere. Father is alive, thankfully, but he has a deep laceration on his arm, which will prevent him from working. Mother and I's meager wages cannot sustain us. I do not know what will happen, Mother says not to worry, but the thought still haunted us at night. -
Horse for Sale
While at the market, I saw that there was a horse for sale. It was a good horse, and the price was not to high. Coincidentally, Father found a poster advertising land. Apparently, an act, called the Homesteader Act, was passed that allowed us to get land free of charge, as long as we stayed on the land for five years and made improvements. Free! Free land! I hardly believed it. Father wanted to move West. I was inclined to agree. -
Homesteaders
It's happening today. We are going to the West! All of our things are packed up, our final bills paid. Our horse, who I have named Bun Dan, has been saddled up. Father is the one who is actually racing for the land. He was a fine horesman back in China, so I am confident that we will do well. We are homesteaders! -
The Race
We travelled many miles by wagon train, and arrived at a homesteading camp. There were almost as many people there as there was in San Angeles. Father raced for land today, and I was anxious to find out the results. -
Home in the West
Father found the place of my dreams! A plot with a river running lazily through. In this heat, though, even that beauty could not be appreciated. I felt faint even as I thought of venturing outside our house. Speaking of our house, it is made of sod. That originally made me wary of a house of dirt, but it has proven to be a stable and cozy home. I could tell that my life in the West as an immigrant will not be an easy one, but I was excited for what was to come.
