Item No: #306902 [CDVs of Chinese Immigrants in Helena, Montana]. J. C. Brewster, photographer.
[CDVs of Chinese Immigrants in Helena, Montana]

1868 Portraits of Chinese Immigrants in Montana

[CDVs of Chinese Immigrants in Helena, Montana]

Notes: This is a rare pair of photographs of Chinese immigrants, a man and a woman, living in or near Helena, Montana, in the late 1860s. In both pictures, the subjects are seated on a chair with their arm on a draped table. Both are wearing Chinese clothing. The man has a long queue (braid) that nearly touches the ground when he is seated.

The images can be dated to the earliest days of Chinese immigration to Montana. The first recorded mention of Chinese immigrants in Montana was in 1865, although it seems likely that some miners had arrived at least a year or two earlier. These photographs have the mount of J. C. Brewster who, according to Peter Palmquist (Pioneer Photographers of the Far West, 1840–1865), had three different locations in Helena during his two years there. Based on the address on these CDVs (35 Main Street), the photographs date from between May 1867 and fall 1868, when Brewster moved to Salt Lake City.

On the back of the woman's portrait someone has written "Mrs. Hen. Sing" in iron gall ink. A pencil inscription on the back of the man's portrait has been partially erased, but it appears to include Chinese and English characters and may be recoverable with digital enhancement. In the 1870 census, there were just 128 Chinese women in all of Montana, so it may be possible to identify the sitters in these pictures (see Merritt, The Coming Man from Canton: Chinese Experience in Montana, 1862–1943, p. 9).

Early photographs of Chinese in America are very scarce, particularly as early as the 1860s.

2-7/16 by 3-7/8 inches. On thin mounts with photographer printed back.

Edition + Condition: Both photographs with clipped upper corners. Image of woman with some dents and chip missing from one corner affecting only the image background. Generally good or better.

Publication: Helena, MT: J. C. Brewster & Co., City Photograph Gallery, (ca. 1868).

Item No: #306902

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