This is a multi-faceted book. It is the story of a Chinese concubine named "Polly" and her life as the wife of a gold miner. She seems to have arrived in 1851 and the story follows her through the early years of the Gold Rush and on into a life of seclusion with a husband in the secluded area of the Salmon River in Idaho.
It is also the story of the first Chinese in America and the various jobs they held. From camp cooks to railroad workers, the Chinese immigrant of the time did so much to change the face of America. The Chinese women, who came later, were largely bought over as concubines for the more wealthy, and as prostitutes for the more desperate.
Mirroring the sex trafficking of the present, Chinese families were often forced, by economic hardship, to sell their daughters into servitude. This often meant sending them to America where they would become "camp girls" or prostitutes. Lucky ones, like Polly, would be wagered at poker games and some, like Polly, would fall into the hands of a kind man and become wives. This is what happened to Polly.
Charlie Bemis was a native of Connecticut when he caught the "gold fever" and headed west. There he set about, like so many others before and after him, to seek his fortune up and down the "gold coast". It was during this period that he engaged in, and won, a poker hand that included "Polly" as part of the stakes. He wins and then takes her hand in a marraige that spans decades.
More than just the story of Polly Bemis, the book is a chronicle of life in San Francisco from the first cry of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848 to the 1930's and rural Idaho. By that time, Polly Bemis was a widow and cared for by two prospectors who lived on an adjoining piece of land. Mrs. Bemis left them her land in exchange for their years of care.
Twice yearly she made a trip down the mountain and into the town. It is there that she sees her first automobile and moving picture show. But she always returns to the seclusion of her home.
Incorporated into this book is a history of the Gold Rush Era as well as a sociological look at the make up of mining towns. Composed mostly of men, chores usually left to women become the province of the men. Laundry, cooking and cleaning were relagated to the Chinese workers who came by the droves to earn money in the gold fields.
It is interesting to note that neither James Marshall, nor John Sutter, the owners and operators of the sawmill where the gold was first discovered, ever made much of their lives after the discovery. Marshall became a drunk, while Sutter spent the rest of his life trying, without sucess, to sue the government over land rights associated with his claim.
This is also a book about San Francisco and it's early growth from a small port to a great metropolis. The author explores the social, as well as the financial, aspects of this growth. It takes you into the history of the Chinese "hatchet men", who were the forerunners to the Triad and the counterparts to the Italian Mafia.
One section of the book deals entirely with prostitution. It describes some of the myths surrounding the issue. For instance, in a typical gambling hall, the women were free to engage in sex or not. Their primary purpose was to entice the men to drink and gamble. To that end, women became croupiers and dealers. It was far easier to get the men to a table where a pretty woman presided over the games.
Dancing halls were also a way for the women to make money and stay vertical. The price of a dance was one dollar. A woman was expected to dance with fifty men a night and split the money with the owner. A good dance hall girl could make up to $100 a night. This was more than the average prospector could hope for.
This is a fast paced and informative book that will leave you with a new impression of the Old West.
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