Missoula’s Chinese Cemetery
At its height, the city of Missoula had a Chinese population of close to 100. The population lived mostly on Front Street, near West Main and Woody Street, where they ran laundries, restaurants, and gaming halls. Some modern reports note Missoula’s Chinese population reached as high as 405 persons in 1890. This is indeed true for Missoula County in total, but not for the city of Missoula. In 1890, Missoula County was considerably larger than it is today. With the creation of Flathead, Teton, Granite, and Ravalli counties in 1893, Missoula County’s total size decreased considerably. Therefore, what appears to be a dramatic decline in Missoula County’s Chinese population from 405 in 1890 to 113 in 1900 is due to the geographic restructuring of Missoula County.
The city’s Chinese community buried its dead at a cemetery in the Lower Rattlesnake area at the base of Mount Jumbo, seen on this 1884 map of Missoula. Community efforts are ongoing to tell more of the Chinese community’s history in Missoula, specifically focusing on the cemetery in the Lower Rattlesnake neighborhood, which is now covered by residential housing. See Missoula’s Forgotten Cemetery: Chinese History Lost to Time for more information.
This image of a funeral procession from Missoula’s Chinatown on Front Street out to the burying ground in the Lower Rattlesnake area may be the burial references in this 1891 article:
“The Dead Mongol: Impressive Ceremonies Held Yesterday Over a Celestial’s Grave”
“The Chinese funeral held Sunday was a gorgeous affair . . . witnessed by nearly the entire population of Missoula. The Mascot band was engaged for the purpose which with the assistance of the unearthly tom-toms of the Celestial musicians succeeded in making all the noise desired. . . . The usual supply of pig and other mysterious edibles was on hand . . . lamentations were numerous . . . the personal effects of the deceased were burned, thereby obviating any possibility of their being wrangled over by the many heirs present.” Missoula Weekly Gazette, March 25, 1891.