Buckaroo Sam’s obituary on the May 8, 1935 edition of the East Oregonian (L); photograph of elderly Buckaroom Sam (R) in the John Day Chinatown.
Courtesy of the East Oregonian and the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site
The cowboy is one of the most potent symbols of American Western mythology. But while pop culture might call John Wayne or the Marlboro Man to mind, real history tells a different story than Hollywood or history books. Cowboys in the West were racially diverse, and in Eastern Oregon, Chinese Americans played a big role in ranching and local economies.
As part of work to reclaim histories of the early Chinese diaspora in rural Oregon, archaeologists and community historians are on the trail of Eastern Oregon’s Chinese cowboys. That pursuit takes us to the historic Stewart Ranch in Grant County to learn more about Buckaroo Sam, cook Jim Lee and others who lived and worked there. We’re kicking off a special series in collaboration with OPB’s “Oregon Experience,” the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology and Jefferson Public Radio about unearthing Oregon history — the real stuff.
Listen to all episodes of The Evergreen podcast here.
