Honoring the Chinese laborers that built Sonoma’s wineries

By Jack Ding | Guest Writer

Imagine if you lived in Sonoma about 150 years ago. You would see the Mission and General Vallejo’s Home, but not City Hall or the Plaza because they had not been built yet. On the streets you would see many Chinese men – at that time about 25 percent of the local population were Chinese immigrants.  

They might smile and bow their heads, but there would be no conversation because they didn’t speak English. Without recognizable names, each and every one was referred to as “John Chinaman.”  

Buena Vista Winery, the first premium winery in California, was built in 1857 using a large labor force from China. Thanks to Chinese labor, the winery owners were able to clear the land, plant the grapes, set up irrigation systems, and build caves and wine cellars. The work they did was back-breaking and took great strength and perseverance. Just to clear the land, they had to remove huge, old oak trees; to create the wine cellars they dug caves in solid rock using only pick axes.  

The accomplishments of the Chinese laborers formed the roots out of which grew Sonoma Valley’s world-famous Wine Country.  

Life was very difficult for these men: they came to California to find a better life and help their families back home. The Chinese labor force was known as reliable and hardworking, however they earned only $1 a day, when the average wage was three times that. Living conditions were very poor and they could not afford a decent place to live; sometimes 20 to 30 people lived in the same room.   

Many had come to America to make their fortune in the Gold Rush or railroad, but were barely able to survive. Why didn’t they return home? Local historian Gordon Phillips and I believe that it had a lot to do with the culture and beliefs of the Chinese people. Many of the men were too ashamed to go home, because they had no money to bring back. Returning to China empty-handed meant failure; they could not bring glory to their ancestors. So, they stayed in America hoping to change their fortunes. Many lived out the rest of their lives in Sonoma Valley and died here, without ever again seeing their loved ones in China. You will not see any markers for them in our local cemeteries because they are non-Christian and not white.

I believe our history is our future. A person with no knowledge about the history of our country is like an orphan having no sense of where they came from or a family to learn from. The truth is America has been built by all people and all colors, but much of that history was erased or forgotten. But communities all over America are discovering their real histories and are shining a light on our proud heritage, just as we are doing here in Sonoma.

We do this to make right our mistakes from the past, and to teach our children the truth about our town, and both the good and the bad things we did as a nation. For a long time, many people have disregarded or hidden facts such as that the White House was built by slaves, or that Japanese-Americans were sent to live in internment camps during WWII. But now people know the truth about these parts of our shared story, and why it is important never to forget the lessons to be learned from our past. That is why we now have Black History Museum at the Smithsonian and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.   

This is why we are building a monument in Sonoma — a ceremonial structure known as a Ting — in Depot Park, so that people will know the true history of Sonoma Valley and learn about the huge contribution these nameless Chinese laborers made in making Sonoma what it is today.

With the recent Lunar New Year, we celebrated our history with lions and dragons, in true Chinese fashion. The beating of gongs and drums resounded to the skies. I think it may have awoken the spirit of these once forgotten Chinese laborers, and they smiled from above as we honored them.