Libby, McNeill & Libby Cannery, Locke

Circa 1926, Libby Factory

At one time Locke was just a fragment of a 490 acre parcel owned by George W. Locke. This estate contained the Locke family orchard, the Locke family house, a barn, their G.W. Locke & Son packing house, and as newspapers note: dormitories for their workers at the packing house. A large span of land behind Locke and north of the property near the slough was also part of the Locke estate.

The town of Lockeport, as it was originally named (a.k.a. Locke) has been around for a very long time. There are records that show the G.W. Locke & Son company shipping their pears and asparagus from the wharf at the river, dated in the early 1900's.

By 1906, the Southern Pacific Railroad constructed a wharf and warehouse for their railroad, which brought working men to this beautiful Delta area. Around 1910, it appears that the building known today as the Locke Boarding House was constructed, more than likely to board railroad workers who needed rest before going back to work on the rail lines, or perhaps it was used as the "dormitories" mentioned in the Sacramento Union (July 27, 1915) that housed some of the workers for G.W. Locke & Son.

By 1912, George Locke allowed three Chinese merchants to establish businesses near the wharf to cater to the railroad workers, and by the end of 1915, when the Walnut Grove fire destroyed the section that housed Japanese and Chinese, the Locke family agreed to allow Lockeport to be built up even more.

By 1916, not only was the new cannery opened, but because it created hundreds of new jobs, it brought people into the Delta from all over the country (and immigrants from all over the world). voting registries and directories from 1916-1918, list various residents of Locke including:

George Carlton, Proprietor; Gan Moon Chew, Merchant; John A Henning, Clerk; James Hunter, Wharfinger; Chun Kam, Salesman; Chin King, Merchant; Alice & Clay Locke, Farmer; Lloyd Locke, Farmer; Martin Malley, Laborer; Grace Melbourne, Housewife; Mat Reese, Laborer; John Rhine, Laborer;  Francis Riley, Drayman; William Turner, Bridge Tender; Wong Fin Yuen, Bookkeeper.

The Start Of The Cannery

The Libby, McNeill, Libby Cannery first opened on April 2, 1916. This was around the same time that the further construction to Locke was underway. Remember, the fire in Walnut Grove happened only about 6 months earlier, in October of 1915. This cannery, which records indicate their address was in "Locke", was approximately a mile north of where the "historic district" stands today. Sadly, the cannery no longer exists.

One thing people today do not understand is that early on Locke was considered larger than what it is considered to be today.  In fact, back behind the historic district near the slough, there was once a village of about 29 dwellings where Russian families lived. Some of those families worked at the Libby factory, while others made their living as fishermen or working for the railroad. That area was still considered a part of Locke, and those residents are accounted in Census records as being residents of Locke.

When the Locke estate was sold in the 1970s, it was sold in its entirety of 490 acres because that is what it consisted of.  Sometime in the last 20 years or so, the area now known as the Delta Meadows State Park was sold to the Department of Parks & Recreation agency and those Russian families dwellings were demolished. In 2004, more of the original Locke estate was broken up and 10 acres of the town was sold to the Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency, where they proceeded to sell individual to individual homeowners and businesses.

As you can see, the boundaries of Locke  (originally Lockeport) were much larger in its beginnings than the tiny section that is outlined on the maps today. Census records and directories of earlier times show that the residents living within those larger boundaries of George Locke's property and around it, were in fact all "residents of Locke."

(Copyright 2016- J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

Sources:
Western Canner & Packer, Vol. 8
Various periodicals, 1916-1920
Voting Registries, 1916-1918
Sacramento Directory, 1916

1930 Census Shows Diversity

1930 Census, Locke, CA

The 1930 Census records shows there were 550 residents living in Locke at the time. Out of those 550 people, there consisted 136 separate "households".  Most of the residents at the time were Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, American, Italian, along with Swedish, German, Japanese, Filipino, Mexican, Turkish, Armenian and various others.

Here are the surnames of those households: Carlton, Gay, Chan, Chung, Lom, Lewis,Chun, Ah,Mar, Chan, Tai, Ching, Jang, Low, Lemma,Chan Lin, Chans,Lee, Leong, Chan, Baker, Way, Benedix, Locke, Bard, Owyang, Sing, Chan, Yuen, Chan, Cheung, Lee, Chan,Chan, Kim, Chan, Witt, Chan, Chan, Chan, Law, Chong, Owyang, Lend, Foringer, Modick, Fadan, Muller, Reistetter, Kuramoto, Ross, Corpuz, Delacruz, Castillian, Yurasaki, Jacob, Dauegtost, Lederma, Perry, Rodriguez, Marino, Garcia, Stickel, Hehr, Lowrence, Brum, Herzig, Ledesma, Gonsalves, Bautista, Goureia, White, Jenkins, Nolte, Hollenstein, Caster, Gonsalves, Bentz, Chin, Schiling, Myer, Coleman, Stickel, Lindauer, Lenhart, Fuhsman, O'Donnell, Castellanos, Nelson, Radke, Aman, Espigaras,Gil,Guigni, Richina, Ruiz, Zbitnoff, Lyada, Fueranten, Ortega, Espiche, Luengo, Arigliano, Cafiero, Miller, Price, Kennedy, Kennedy, Cucciare, Casado, Petarine, Leslie, Arana, Chiccheng, Martin, Hanlan, Emodan, Gil, Novarro, Lopez, Lopez, Pegus, Romero, Rubiales, Silva, Navarro, Simonich, Lawrence, Miller, Fries, Moreno, Wardwell, Paredes, Salido and Garcia. (U.S. Census Records, 1930, Town of Locke)  

( ** note: the underlined names are Non-Chinese residents in Locke)

Also, according to the 1930 Census—

There were:  10 Chinese businesses, 3 Caucasian businesses, 1 Portuguese business, and 2 Japanese businesses running in Locke as of 1930:

Chinese: (3) General Stores (1) Cigar Stand (1) Pool Room (1) Dentist (1) Butcher Shop (1) Barber Shop (1) Restaurant (1) Rooming House

Caucasian: (1) Rooming House (1) Saloon (refreshment parlor) (1)Mechanic Shop

Portuguese: (1) Restaurant

Japanese: (1) Rooming House (1) Restaurant

I am still working on a spreadsheet for 1930's census, but I estimate that about 37% of Locke’s residents in 1930 were of Chinese ancestry (Chinese immigrants and Chinese-American born citizens). The other 63 % consisted of non-Chinese immigrants, children of non-Chinese immigrants born in the U.S. and Americans (Caucasian).  Even in 1930, Locke was a multi-cultural town, full of a wide variety of people from virtually every ethnic background. 

(Copyright 2016, J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com)
Sources:
U.S. Census Records, 1930, Town of Locke

A Town Founded By Chinese, or Not?

A Town Founded by Chinese or Not? 

So when exactly did the Chinese come to Locke? Well, interestingly enough, the story changes over the years depending on who you talk to. In James Motlow's book "Bitter Melon," Ping Lee, son of Lee Bing, claimed that the Chinese built Locke in 1914, after the great fire in Walnut Grove that destroyed all of its Chinatown (pages 32-34).

In articles all over the Internet, websites and even some books, the fire allegedly took place in 1914, 1915 or even 1916.

In August of 2015,  I was contacted by Mr. Motlow after I had been quoted in the Central Valley Business Times, backing up Martha Esch's claims that Locke was not exclusively a Chinese town, and that many other people of various backgrounds called the town home over the years. After asking Mr. Motlow about the rampant discrepancies online in dates of the Walnut Grove fire time frame, he graciously emailed me a few copies of the old newspapers of the time that finally puts this question to rest!  Sure enough, the date of the Walnut Grove fire occurred on October 7, 1915 as stated in the Sacramento Bee and Sacramento Union archives.

How  Did The Fire Start? 

"$100,000 FIRE WIPES OUT CHINATOWN"- 
Walnut Grove-  Fire which started, according to the best information, through the introduction of a lighted cigarette into a cleaning establishment, wiped out Walnut Grove's Chinatown today with a loss of $100,000 and only the shifting of the wind late in the afternoon saved the remainder of the town from destruction. At 5 o'clock the flames were under control, but were still burning in places.

When the fire first started water was thrown on the gasoline and the flames immediately spread all over the shop. Twelve hundred dollars were stolen from one of the big establishments in Chinatown, and practically the whole available force from the Sheriff's office has been called to Walnut Grove. The deputies besides endeavoring to catch the thieves, will prevent any possible disorder.

The fire broke out in the Oriental quarter just before noon, and although every effort was made to save the Chinese homes and stores, the wind swept everything before it. Although Alex Brown's two fire boats were called into commission and worked heroically to stem the blaze, the north wind forced back the fire fighters. Chinatown fell before the assault, and the saloon of Bob Rhodes followed.

Then the fire boats received unexpected aid from an unexpected quarter. The wind shifted, and turned the blaze back on itself. As a result the streams of water from the fire boats were sufficient to down the flames. The loss was practically confined to the Oriental section of Walnut Grove. The hotel, store, bridge and the residences of the Americans are standing unhurt.

Dye brothers own most of the property on which Chinatown stood. It is not known how much Insurance they carried or whether they or the Chinese intend to rebuild."---  October 8, 1915

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"WALNUT GROVE ORIENTAL SECTION TO BE REBUILT"
Destruction of Chinatown resulted in $100,000 loss- Dye Estate and Alexander Brown heaviest losers- Modern Buildings will replace 85 structures consumed in flames-

Walnut Grove (Sacramento County) October 8- The destruction of Walnut Grove's Chinatown by fire yesterday afternoon resulted in a loss of approximately $100,000. It was stated today little insurance was carried.  The biggest losses were sustained by the Dye estate and Alexander Brown, the former's being about $24,000 and the latter's about $10,000. Eighty-five houses and stores were consumed by the flames, in addition to several barns and smaller structures. Rebuilding will start at once, it has been announced and the new buildings will be fully modern.

Started From Oil Stove- The blaze started in a Japanese woman's house near the river. She was cooking fish on an oil stove. she left the room for a few moments, and when she returned the room was a mass of flames. The fire spread rapidly, and was carried almost to the heart of the business section..... It was reported that ashes fell in Woodbridge, seventeen  miles away.  The town was saved by streams of water from fire boats, after a bad wind had veered."--- Sacramento Bee, 10/8/1915

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When the argument comes up about who started Locke, and who it "belonged to," you will always find that books and articles state the town belonged to the Chinese but that because they couldn't officially "own" property that is why they didn't own their homes in Locke. Yes, there were laws in effect back then excluding mainly Japanese, and Chinese from owning land, this was no different than how things were in Walnut Grove, where many of the Chinese and Japanese had been living prior to moving to Locke.

Still the fact remains that there is no conclusive evidence to show that had the property been available, that the Locke family would have ever sold it to anyone, Chinese or non-Chinese. In fact, in an oral interview transcribed and readily available to the public, Connie King admitted that she had approached the Locke family, long after the laws preventing the Chinese from owning property were overturned, wanting to buy her home, and that they refused to sell. The fact was that Locke belonged to the Locke family and the family intended to keep the property, the estate, together. They never had any intention to sell.

Another issue I have with this whole "exclusively Chinese" story is that there is documented evidence that shows there were other people (non-Chinese) living in Locke around the same time that it was claimed to be "founded by and exclusively for the Chinese."  There are also records showing many Chinese immigrants were claiming to have been born in the U.S. (by way of fake papers) which allowed many of them the ability to own land and businesses regardless of their national status. One of those being Lee Bing.

In the book "Bitter Melon" by Jeff Gillenkirk and James Motlow, the authors interviewed Ping Lee, the son of Lee Bing** (early resident of Locke),  who claimed that his father had four or five ranches* and that he "bought a lot of land" because, as it reads, "That law [ about Chinese not owning land] was pretty flexible."-- pg 34.  

So, did the Chinese exclusively start the town of Locke (Lockeport)? According to the documents and records I have found, I would have to say "no."  I believe the Chinese played a big part in helping the town grow, but to say that they solely founded the town, I would have to disagree. I believe that over the years, as time went on the town's population might have became primarily Chinese, but that from 1915 up until the 1930's there were lots of non-Chinese residents living in the boundaries of Locke. So that means there were all sorts of people living in Locke in its early years.

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*old parcel maps of the Delta also show  Lee Bing's name as owning a section of land on the other side of the river in Walnut Grove near Ryde. In fact, he is listed in several directories as also living in Walnut Grove and is listed as a registered voter, too.

**The 1900 Census shows Lee Bing working as a "servant" for Alex Brown (of Walnut Grove). His records on the Census and following Census records have him listed as being born in California with Chinese born parents although that is not accurate, as he immigrated to the U.S. in 1893 -according to Ping Lee's interview.

(Copyright 2015- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

Who Approached George Locke First?

Who's Idea Was It? 

Who thought of moving to Locke first? The answers may surprise you. You see, there is an alternate story that has been circulated and even published over the years, stating that the Japanese were actually the first to think of moving to Locke as a group. Originally, a large amount of Japanese were also living in Walnut Grove's Chinatown. After the fire they were displaced, and no longer wanting to be associated with the Chinese, they approached George G. Locke about moving to his land first.

According to Eiichiro Azuma, the curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, his published work,"Interethnic Conflict under Racial Subordination: Japanese Immigrants and Their Neighbors in Walnut Grove, California, 1908-1941" the story is clearly presented.

Azuma cites sources documenting that after the fire in Walnut Grove, the Japanese immigrants wanted to disassociate themselves from the Chinese all together. Despite what many may assume, the two cultures were very much different and did not get along. After the fire the Japanese wished to rebuild, but this time they wanted a Japantown. Unfortunately the Japanese were divided. Some wanted to rebuild on the Dye brothers' land in Walnut Grove, while others eyed the property of George Locke. Cited sources used by Azuma state that "George Locke demanded $20,000 from the Japanese for the construction of a new living quarter. If they agreed on it, he promised to provide a maximum of $10,000."  The Japanese are the only ones to provide such evidence, and the dates coincide with the Walnut Grove fire, as it was only about a week after the fire that this is mentioned in various papers at the time. The Chinese have not provided any written documentation that the idea to move to Locke was their own. (Japanese Association of Walnut Grove, “Kawashimo Nihonjinkai Kiroku,” October 15, 1915 in JARP; and Nichibei Shimbun, October 18, 1915.) 

According to Azuma, once the Chinese heard that the Japanese were planning to move to George Locke's land, they quickly approached George Locke and "hastily signed lease contracts on the most convenient lots on Locke's land."*  There was a personal issue between both groups, one having complaints against the other. The Japanese thought of the Chinese as greedy and "menacing", who lived in filthy conditions and made their money by promoting undesirable practices (ex; gambling halls.)

Likewise, the Chinese thought the Japanese to be vulgar and would not let their children play with Japanese children at school. The opinion of the Japanese people was that the Chinese were "conspiring" against them at all times. From pushing the Japanese farm workers out (who were working the agricultural areas of the Delta since the early 1900's), to quickly flooding into the town of Locke, the animosity between the two groups didn't end there.

There were some Japanese that chose to stay in Locke, despite the high population of Chinese who moved there from Walnut Grove. For one, a Mr. Wakayama opened a barber shop in Locke after being displaced in the Walnut Grove fire.  For this choice he was "excommunicated" by his people, and a letter was sent to his home village in Japan, to shame his family for his "misdeeds." After several years, he was able to clear his name by writing a letter of apology to the Walnut Grove Japanese Association. Wakayama was not the only non-Chinese resident in Locke, though, there were many others.

(*there has been no written documentation presented proving the Chinese signed lease agreements with G. Locke, although the story has been orally passed down.)

(Copyright 2015- J'aime Rubio)
--originally posted on October 5, 2015 (Dreaming Casually)

The Structures In Locke -- Western All The Way

False Front Architecture,  American-Western Design

If you visit the Delta town known as Locke, you will notice one thing, it looks exactly like any other ghost town found in the west. The only difference now is that there has been signs put up over the years with Chinese writing or designs decorating the exteriors of the buildings.

The town of Locke was built on the Locke family's land, by Caucasian contracters and carpenters, although many Chinese did live and operate businesses there.

The National Registry for Historic Places file for Locke stated "the buildings were mostly erected by Caucasian contractors along conventional lines typical of the region." One of the carpenters who helped construct the buildings in Locke was Cleveland Hill, a native of North Carolina.

Did you know that the architecture used for the majority of the buildings in Locke consist of the false front design? Yes. In fact, this design was one of the most popular styles found in your typical ghost town.   "From the Canadian to the Mexican borders, hardly any commercial building-store, saloon or livery stable- was built differently after lumber came to hand. The false front appears to have been, more than anything else, a product of unabashed braggadocio, a desire to appear substantial and imposing. Since this medacious facade- which perhaps included a massive cornice overhanging frankly phony windows- hoodwinked nobody, it was a nearly useless conceit. Nevertheless, the facade did frequently serve as a sort of billboard where the proprietor could blazon forth his business title and advertise his wares."--- The Old West: Townsmen, 1975.

(Copyright 2016- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

Life for the Kuramoto's

Locke Boarding House

The Locke Boarding House which sits at the corner of Locke Road and Main Street, in Locke, predates the other structures in town by at least a couple of years. According to the NCCSAH the structure was more than likely constructed in early 1910; However, the State Parks Department's website clearly points out that this structure was actually built in 1909, meaning it predates all the buildings in Locke. 

It's been thought that the earliest use was as a lodging structure for laborers, more than likely accommodating the Southern Pacific workers, and the workers at the G.W. Locke packing shed on the same property nearby. So far, not a lot of information in regards to who ran the boarding house prior 1921 has surfaced besides a few newspaper articles dating back to 1915, that mention "dormitories" on the Locke property that were used for their workers at the packing shed. The first family we are certain that ran it as a true boarding house, with rooms for rent,  was the Kuramoto family.

Almost all mentions of this building include that the house has not been associated with Chinese residents of Locke. The boarders typically were Caucasian or Japanese, with occasional Filipinos and Indians (Hindu).  According to Peter Cowan, whose father ran a trucking yard in South Locke in the 1950's, many of this building's transient residents were Oklahoma truckers who worked for his father. Peter Cowan said that he also lived in this same boarding house for awhile. Mr. Cowan owns a large portion of South Locke still today (2016), which was part of the Union Oil Company Railyard in the early 1900's, then a few decades later became his father's trucking yard.

The Beginning of Sam's Rooms

Sukiei Kuramoto, Nobu Kuramoto, their daughters Matsue, Kikue and son Eimi came to the United States and the family eventually ended up in  Locke around 1921, when they bought the boarding house, naming it Sam's Rooms. According to interviews with Sam Kuramoto, he claimed that his father loved the name Sam, and that later when he was born in 1928, that is why his father also called him Sam. They also had another daughter, Haruko who was 7 years older than Sam.

The Kuramoto's lived in the downstairs of the boarding house, on the backside of the structure, while the upstairs had the rooms for rent. While maintaining the boarding house, the Kuramoto's also worked in the agricultural field, traveling to Lodi and Stockton to pick grapes and strawberries, or packing asparagus and pears in the packing sheds nearby. At times the family would be gone all week, so the younger children were at home and learned quickly to run the boarding house if needed, while their parents were gone. In interviews Sam Kuramoto claimed that his mother didn't believe in locking the doors to their home, so many times they would come home to find that their furniture or belongings had been stolen. They blamed it on the Chinese residents.

(There was an animosity between the Japanese and Chinese in Locke, which stemmed from various reasons which I will go into further detail in an upcoming blog post.)

By 1936, the patriarch of the Kuramoto family, Sukiei died, leaving Nobu a widow, with children to raise by herself. She continued to run the boarding house by herself, and managed to work in the fields picking fruit and vegetables to make ends meet. Working as a single mother, during the Great Depression, Nobu still had time to maintain a beautiful garden just behind the house, on the east side. There she grew vegetables with beautiful flowers surrounding it. 

By the time that the bombing of Pearl Harbor took place, there were rumors that the Japanese might be sent away to camps. According to the interview with Sam Kuramoto for the States Parks, he states that his mother panicked about this, and took everything she owned anyway related to Japan and burned it. She had taught her children they were born in America, and to be proud to be American, so it was apparent that she wanted to prove her loyalty to the country they were living in.

Unfortunately, when the time came in April 1942, the Kuramoto's were forced out of their home and sent to a detainment facility in Turlock. They would spend about three months there, before being sent to the Gila River facility in Arizona.

Gila River Camp

Located 36 miles southeast of Phoenix, sits the ruins of what once was the Gila River War Relocation Center, which once held over 13,000 Japanese-Americans.  Consisting of two separate camps, Butte Camp and Canal Camp, the internment facilities were originally built to house only 10,000 at full capacity.  Despite strict objections from the Gila River Tribe, the site was still used and the camp was constructed over a short two months, and opened on July 20, 1942.

Internees, as they were called, were brought in from as far as the Northern California Delta region, as well as the Central Valley area near Fresno and as far South as Los Angeles. Approximately, two thousand internees from an internment camp in Arkansas were also brought in to add to the population at Gila River. Although it was considered one of the least oppressive camps of its kind, due to the fact they only had one watchtower and the barbed-wire fences didn’t last, it was in no way what you could call “comfortable” living.

Butte Camp had a little over 800 buildings, while Canal Camp had approximately 400. Among the facilities on site were administration buildings, a hospital, living quarters or barracks, mess halls, laundry houses, warehouses, police offices, latrine and shower houses, churches, school houses as well as other buildings to maintain the camp. Shower rooms consisted of a room with a dozen shower heads or so, in a community shower atmosphere. The latrine rooms were just rooms consisting of toilets without stalls or separating areas for individuals. Some living barracks were divided by blankets and sheets or tarps used as makeshift walls that separated one living area from the next.  The term “shikata ga nai”, translated as “it cannot be helped,” was used often to summarize the Japanese internee’s feelings of helplessness in their living conditions.

The Kuramoto's spent 3 years at Gila River until they were able to move to Minnesota to join Nobu's oldest daughter, who had been released and given a job. The family remained in Minnesota until 1949, when Sam joined the Army. They never did return to their home in Locke, although he later recalled driving by on one of their visits to the delta region many years later. 

It is hard to imagine being ripped from your own home and taken to a strange place, and having no certainty of what lay ahead. One can only speculate how difficult it must have been for Nobu to be strong for her family during such a trying time.  It is said that when the Kuramoto's were sent to the internment camps, their neighbor Jack Ross (who lived in the house just north of them) took over the boarding house for them. He also ran the gas station and auto mechanic shop in Locke. Now this building is owned by the Department of Parks & Recreation and is used as a museum. 

Whenever I visit Locke, the boarding house is usually the first place I visit. Now, every time I see it, I will be reminded of the lovely family that made this house a home, and the sad struggle this family faced during such trying times.

(Copyright 2016- J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com) 

Sources: 

Sac Union, July 1915

1930 Census Records,

Family Search
Public Records,

NCCSAH newsletter, 2009
Transcribed Interview of Sam Kuramoto by Dr. Ettinger, Oral History Project (DPR)
Interview with Martha Esch (about Peter Cowan)

United State Japanese Americans Relocated During WWII, 1942-1946 database

Photos: Locke Boarding House, J. Rubio (Copyright 2015)

Gila River Camp - National Archives; photographer Hikaru Iwasaki (1945) 

Slander and Disappointment in Locke

This blog was originally set up to be a place where long forgotten, documented, factual evidence of Locke's history could be available to the public. It was never meant to be a sounding board or platform to vent but tonight things have changed, at least for this post.

Let me first start off to say that when I first started researching Locke back in 2012, I couldn't understand why after all these years that a place with such rich history, such as Locke, would have so very little written about it. Yes, you can find a book about it or an article online, but I have noticed it is always the same thing being regurgitated over and over...the same lazily copied and pasted history. There were no definitive historical stories, dates, or primary sources cited. And the few sources cited were secondary or third sources by books dated in the 1970s, but nothing from the time period that the events took place. Also, a lot of the history has been passed down orally, which is known to be less factual as the years go by.

It appears that most people just do not want to do real research anymore. They just rely on the other guy to do the research and they take their word for it, and share it, over and over and before you know it, there is a whole bunch of nothing out there. Which in this case has happened to Locke for nearly 40 years.

When I say a "whole bunch of nothing" that is exactly what it means. There are no details on the origins, the back stories, nothing. Why? Again, because no one bothers to do research anymore. There are a few of us out there though that still search the archives, the newspaper microfische, the old books and magazines, the census records and other directories searching for truth, and searching for answers. My blog is that truth. There is nothing on my blog that cannot be proven by the sources I list. That is why I list my sources in the articles themselves. So the reader has the choice to verify what I am showing them. You cannot rewrite a history that was already documented long ago, that is impossible.  I am bringing you the factual source material to give you the real history of Locke, one you can verify by documented evidence from the time period that the events took place.

Stop believing everything you are told on television shows, or even what certain people tell you in books, articles online or even in person. Unless they can show you the facts, the odds are that they are spinning a yarn and you are taking the bait. The ones who tell history without documented proof are the revisionists, even if they have been getting away with it for many years. And remember that an omission of history is still revisionism because if someone willfully leaves out facts or evidence about people, places or events in telling history they are changing or rewriting it to their own advantage and that is wrong. By excluding various people from Locke's original history, plainly ignoring or erasing those facts is an example of lying and revisionism. I am here to set that straight by way of factual evidence. Evidence you can look up on your own and read for yourself.

Tonight, this blog is to address the latest episode on Ghost Adventures. First off, I have never been a fan of the show. I am not really"into" shows about ghosts, as I have had my own experiences with paranormal and I do not find it amusing to watch sensationalized overly dramatic men jumping in the dark, scared by every little sound they hear.

BACK TO GHOST ADVENTURES

This particular episode, was centered on Locke, and it was a complete mess. Where do I begin? Okay, the story about Mei Ling, that is false. There is absolutely no evidence that this woman existed or that she performed, disappeared or died in Locke. There are no accounts of prostitutes being killed and dumped in the river.  By the way, the prostitutes in Locke were Caucasian. I have never found any documented evidence of Chinese prostitutes having lived in Locke until the later years (1950s-1960s).

Please read my other articles found on this blog, there are quite a few on the subject of prostitution in Locke. You might be surprised.

I found it interesting in the episode Zak acted like he was unaware of the Dai Loy Casino when speaking to Clarence Chu, but then later he seems to know all about it when he speaks about Fred Chisholm's murder.

Here's a news flash...George Shinn wasn't in the Dai Loy Casino when he shot Fred.  In fact, Fred was playing cards at one of the other gambling halls, there were 8 in total at that time period, and he ran out onto the road near the river, which meant he ran from one of the buildings facing the river. The Dai Loy Casino is located on an inner street. To top it off, Fred Chisholm was shot in the road, and he died in Walnut Grove.  Also, a mug shot photo of George Shinn was taken and used from this blog without asking permission. I also found it disgraceful that Jeff Belanger was given the factual information on Fred Chisholm's death for the episode, and yet the show disregarded the facts. I have the emails to prove that they were informed of the truth and still omitted it.

George R. Locke and his brothers (grandsons of George W. Locke, who was originally from New Hampshire) were heirs to their father's estate. George made his presence known in town, which is verifiable in numerous newspaper clippings of the time. G. Locke controlled many buildings there, including the houses of ill-repute to which he allowed his Caucasian madams, Grace Melbourne and Ruby Allen to run. Even Cleveland Hill, (Caucasian) from North Carolina ran a bar there, too.  This was as early as 1916 and well into the 1920s. Locke even had a "Watchman" named George Carlton, born of German/English immigrant parents. He was noted in the newspapers as the Constable.

Remember, when the Chinese moved to Locke they paid rent to the Lockes, their landlords, just like they had paid rent to the Dye Brothers or Alex Brown in Walnut Grove before the fire. There were buildings already present in Locke (known then as Lockeport) before the town itself was officially established. The residents of the area known as Locke, back then, was made up of  several people, all of whom came from various ethnic backgrounds.

The 1930 Census records state there were 136 households living within the boundaries of Locke. Out of those households there were 550 residents. Out of those residents there were 70 Chinese immigrants, 135 Chinese-Americans (a total of 37%) and the rest (a total of 63 %) consisted of backgrounds that varied from Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese, Americans, a few Scotts, English, German, Armenian, Turkish, etc. There were 10 Chinese businesses, and 6 non-Chinese businesses.


SLANDERING MARTHA ESCH

As the episode goes on, the crew starts to interview a man introduced as Dustin Marr in the Locke Garden restaurant. This person is quoted saying that Martha "is changing the history, how dare her. ..she does not believe there was Chinese here."

 This is a false statement.  Anyone who knows Martha, knows that what he said on national television is untrue. Martha is well aware that many Chinese lived there, that they had a presence there and they left their mark in Locke's history, but she also knows that others lived there too, which appears to be something that many people in Locke do not want the world to know.

Locke was built on the land owned by George W. Locke. Their family continued to own it until the 1970s when the last of their heirs passed away. No one bothers to speak about the Locke family in the episode either, by the way, which is shameful. If it was not for the Locke family, there would be no town of Locke today.

Unfortunately, just because you want something to be so, doesn't mean it is. Locke had many Chinese living there but the town was not built exclusively by, for and lived in exclusively by Chinese and it would be a lie to continue to perpetuate that.  The articles on this blog have the facts backed up by documented evidence. I am not here to please anyone, I am here to state the history, backed up by facts. Telling the facts doesn't take away from the accomplishments or the history of the Chinese community in Locke, but it is a misrepresentation of the truth to claim it was always solely Chinese.

Why is it such a big deal for people to accept that there were other people who made up the town of Locke from its beginnings and onto the years moving forward? Why does it matter so much to certain people to avoid the documented proof? Does it suddenly make Locke less important because other people from other lands came to live there besides the Chinese? No. It makes Locke's history even richer. I would think that those who are lovers of history would appreciate that the records have been researched and the facts that were always there are being documented for posterity. It just took some elbow grease to find it.

Back to the show..... 

In the midst of this apparent attack on Martha, there appears to be a second person (who was identified after speaking to locals, plus I recognized his shoes from the show, since they are the same shoes he is wearing on his Facebook profile photo). Anyhow, this person who is interviewed while cowering behind the camera is unwilling to be seen or even heard without a voice scrambler because of his apparent fear of Martha. Interesting since this is the very same person who has been making Martha's life a living hell.

He goes on to slander her even worse, calling her a "psychopath" and "certifiably crazy." Then he starts talking about some black smoke that swirls around the bar at Al the Wops and incites violent attacks at will and that he was an eye witness of this. That scene made me laugh. Are we really expected to believe that? Really?

What is interesting to note is that a newspaper dated in the Stanford Daily Newspaper on July 26, 1983, shows an interview with this same person where he literally talks about the incident at Al The Wops, except in the newspaper interview he completely leaves out the very paranormal aspect that he tries so hard to sell you on the Ghost Adventures episode. The subject matter of that part of the article was how the summer visitors in Locke were more rowdy than usual, especially those who frequented Al the Wops. In fact, this part of the article went like this:

(Name removed from article) 

Did you see any mention about black mist or smoke, or ghosts? Neither did I.

Getting back to the subject, it's funny that the person or person(s) who claim Martha is rewriting history don't seem to be providing any documents of their own to back up their stories. Yet, Martha willingly took the Ghost Adventures crew into her soda shop and spoke to them on camera for over 45 minutes showing them documented evidence of all of Locke's history, including census records, delta property deeds from 1893, Chinese artifacts and even documents from the Foon Hop Grocery Store from 1946-1957, and yet they left all that on the cutting room floor.

So in the end the show aired stories that were not backed up by factual evidence but then they took the one person on the show who had proof, and who offered it to them honestly and hospitably and they basically threw her under the bus.

Martha has never said that Chinese were not in Locke. We have had conversations for hours talking about all the fabulous history there, and most of which were stories she told me about Chinese families. Martha however doesn't pick and choose her history, she tells it all, including the parts that the chosen exclusionary history leaves out.

So who really is the bad guy here? And why was Ghost Adventures taking their side?

When I asked Martha what she thought of the Ghost Adventures episode and how dirty they played her, she said this:

"Anyone with half a brain, first of all probably would change the channel after watching Zak Bagans for about five minutes, because it is so obvious how much BS (blatant sensationalism) he builds into his stories. Past history of Locke was poorly portrayed, however the current history of bully gang mentality was clearly shown by two of the "self-elected" individuals seated on the Locke public agency boards of directors. Their defamation of my good character and reputation was taped by Bagans and the Travel Channel and shown on national TV for all to see - to try to make me look like a fool. Anyone who didn't fall asleep by the 15 minute mark, if they listen to my words, will see that I only wish for the history of Locke to be told with accuracy, to include the many nationalities of the people who've lived here, not just one." -- Martha Esch

Personally I hope Martha sues all the people who slandered her, including the people running the television show for their part of allowing her character to be assassinated on national television. Martha is an honest, caring and humble person who just wanted the whole history of Locke to be told, not just bits and pieces that have been picked over by certain individuals.

In the end, let's tell the truth. Locke is an amazing town, full of amazing history, which includes various backgrounds of people who have called this place "home."  In an upcoming blog post I will go into all of that even more. As it appears even more important than ever before to get those facts circulating.

I will end this blog with one of my favorite quotes by Cicero that says, "IT IS THE FIRST LAW OF HISTORY THAT THE WRITER SHOULD NEITHER DARE TO ADVANCE WHAT IS FALSE, NOR SUPPRESS WHAT IS TRUE." We should all be advocates for the truth, no matter what it may be, by making sure the whole history is shared, not just bits and pieces.

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(Copyright 2016- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)
Photos by Roland Boulware.


{DISCLAIMER: "If anyone decides to slander me in any way, be it on television, in a book, online, social media, news media, or any other manner, etc., be informed that I will sue you. I take my job seriously and I do not push false information to the public, that is why I cite my sources. Therefore it would be a very serious allegation to throw any slanderous accusations about me out there, if you choose to go that route. I will not be slandered the same way in which Martha was slandered. I have integrity about what I write about so with that being said, if you choose to slander me or my work in any way, you will be held accountable for it, and I will use every avenue available to the fullest extent of the law to go after you. So think before you speak or write anything about me."---- J'aime Rubio}