Mark T. Johnson, "The Middle Kingdom Under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana" (U of Nebraska Press, 2022)

New Books in Asian American Studies · Sep 6, 2022 · 58m

From the earliest days of non-Native settlement of Montana, when Chinese immigrants made up more than 10 percent of the territory’s population, Chinese pioneers played a key role in the region’s development. But this population, so crucial to Montana’s history, remains underrepresented in historical accounts, and popular attention to the Chinese in Montana tends to focus on sensational elements—exoticizing Chinese Montanans and distancing their lived experiences from our modern understanding. The Middle Kingdom Under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana (U of Nebraska…