In the sea of sterile mountains the Chinese in British Columbia examines the pioneer settlement and vital infrastructural development situated within the deeply fissured river canyons and vast, unforgiving alpine ranges of the British Columbia interior. Morton details how the region's imposing topography—specifically the sheer rock walls of the Fraser River Canyon, the isolated, rugged goldfields of the Cariboo, and the expansive cordillera of the Canadian Rockies—strictly dictated the margins of resource extraction and perilous railway expansion. By mapping the establishment of isolated mining enclaves and precarious rail camps woven directly into these steep, rocky corridors, the narrative highlights how this specific canyon and alpine geography anchored the Chinese immigrant experience to the province's most demanding terrestrial environments. Ultimately, this historical record serves as a deeply localized spatial history, demonstrating how the immense vertical scale and stark geological isolation of this Pacific Northwest frontier fundamentally shaped the tightly bound, terrain-dependent character of early Chinese communities in British Columbia.

British Columbia, British Columbia History, British Columbia Race relations, Chinese, Chinese British Columbia, Chinois Colombie-Britannique, History, Race relations

Introduction I. 1858-1871 II. 1871-1880 III. 1880-1883 IV. 1883-1886 V. 1886-1887 VI. 1887-1890 VII. 1890-1898 VIII. 1899-1908 IX. 1909-1923 X. 1923 to the present

Includes index

Includes index