Founding

Pachappa Camp was founded in 1904 by Ahn Chang Ho, who is also known by his pen name "Dosan".^[5] Dosan and his wife, Helen Ahn, first arrived in San Francisco in 1902 to study Christianity and the English language but faced barriers finding employment due to anti-Asian sentiment in the area. Dosan and Helen moved to Riverside in 1904, with encouragement from two Korean friends who worked on citrus farms there and spoke of plentiful job openings.^[6] Despite the availability of jobs, Korean immigrants found difficulty in getting employment in agriculture due to the Japanese monopoly on labor contracts and the lack of their own labor bureau.^[2][7]

Dosan became acquainted with Cornelius Earle Rumsey, a retired executive of the National Biscuit Company, a church member of the local Calvary Presbyterian Church, and the owner of Alta Cresta Groves. Cornelius offered employment to Dosan and other Korean immigrants at the grove, as well as a $1500 loan to lease housing and office space for a Korean employment agency. The Korean Employment Bureau (also known as the Korean Labor Bureau) was set up in the Pachappa Camp location in downtown Riverside and was in operation by April 1905. It provided Korean immigrants with employment opportunities and ultimately spurred the growth of the Korean population and community in Riverside.^[2][7]

Many Koreans who arrived in San Francisco and were directed to Riverside to find work were Christian converts. They carried letters from American church leaders in Korea that certified full communion and they went on to attend, build relationships, and work on joint efforts with the Calvary Presbyterian Church. Rumsey’s loan was paid back within two months as more Korean immigrants moved to Riverside and found work. Eventually, the Korean immigrants rented and moved into the barracks nearby the labor bureau at the camp.^[2][7]

Growth and daily life

The site consisted of a community center duplex along with approximately twenty single-story living spaces. These buildings were originally constructed in the 1880s for Chinese workers who built the Santa Fe Railroad and were maintained in poor condition thereafter. The houses were not equipped with gas, water, or electricity, thus the residents used shared outdoor water pumps and outhouses.^[2][7]

Unlike labor camps, the camp was home to men, women, and children, and the family-based community was self-organized and governed. A strong sense of community was fostered within the settlement via the sharing of family-based values and lifestyles. Many men found work on the farms while others found work in local shops, hotels, hospitals, and as domestic laborers for wealthy families. The women spent their time maintaining and cleaning homes and cooking for the community. During harvest time, Korean women also worked at local packinghouses to help pack boxes of citrus fruit. The residents, led by Dosan, also allocated time and money to the Korean Independence movement. Funds were also sent back to Korea to help mitigate the famine the country was facing at the time.^[2][7]

In 1905, residents worked alongside the Calvary Presbyterian Church to establish a mission at the settlement. The mission provided English classes, social and cultural exchanges between the two church groups, and church services to its members.^[8] Over 200 Korean immigrants lived in the camp by 1907, 50-60 of whom attended church services.^[2][9]

Gongnip Hyophoe (Cooperative Association)

Under the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905, the short-lived Korean Empire became a protectorate of the Empire of Japan. That same year, Dosan and other community leaders established the Gongnip Hyophoe, also known as “Cooperative Association,” to develop democratic policies and institutions for the future founding of a democratic and independent Korean nation. The association established behavioral guidelines for the Pachappa residents in an effort to maintain cohesion and instill "positive virtues": lights were to be turned off at 9:00pm, Korean women were prohibited from smoking long pipes in the street, residents were not to go outside in undershirts, and white shirts were encouraged whenever possible to give off a "clean appearance." The Korean newspaper, Sinhan Minbo, reported 70 Gongnip Hyophoe members in Riverside in 1905, and 150 in 1907.^[2][7]

Gongnip Hyophoe eventually merged with Hapsong Hyophoe (the United Korean Society in Hawaii) and was thereafter known as the Korean National Association (KNA). Headquartered in San Francisco, the KNA provided help to Koreans newly arriving in the mainland United States. KNA chapters were founded throughout the United States and were significant for organizing Korean immigrants in their fight for Korean sovereignty.^[2]

The Hemet Valley Incident

In 1913, 11 Korean immigrants found work providing extra help with apricot picking in the nearby city of Hemet. Around this time, anti-Japanese and general anti-Asian sentiment was high. The Korean laborers were threatened by white laborers at the Hemet Valley train depot and the Korean laborers fled. The Japanese Association of Southern California urged the consul general of San Francisco to address the incident, arguing that the Korean laborers should be treated as Japanese subjects. The Koreans living in the United States prior to the formal occupation by the Japanese in Korea refused assistance, arguing that they were not Japanese citizens and that the issue was a separate, Korean issue.^[2]

With concerns surrounding the already strained U.S.-Japan relations (e.g., from the 1913 California Alien Land Law), Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan ordered an investigation into the matter. The president of KNA at the time, David Lee, communicated to Bryan via telegram that the issue was resolved and requested that the United States government end its dealings with the Japanese government regarding Korean immigrants in the United States. Bryan then published a press release announcing that the Hemet Valley Incident was settled, which functionally served as a de facto recognition of the Korean national status of Koreans in the United States. Korean immigrants who arrived in San Francisco were treated as political refugees and were thus able to land.^[2][7][10]

Closure

In January 1913, California experienced a Great Freeze, which decimated citrus crops within the state. As a result, job opportunities decreased and Koreans were forced to look for work outside of Riverside. Community members relocated to Los Angeles, as well as to Central and Northern California. In January 1918, the Riverside Chapter of the KNA closed. The 1920 U.S. Census showed less than ten Korean families residing in Riverside with none of them living in the settlement site nor in the vicinity. After Korean Americans departed from the site, Pachappa Camp was settled into by Japanese Americans, and later Mexican Americans.^[11] In the 1950s, the site was redeveloped for commercial use by oil and gas companies. The site today consists of parking lots, fencing, cinder block buildings, and gas stations. The adjacent railroad track is the sole remnant of the original settlement.^[2]

Memorial of Dosan in downtown Riverside

In 1999, the Patriot Ahn Chang-Ho Memorial Foundation of Riverside began fundraising efforts for a memorial to Dosan. The Korean government, along with over 400 individuals, raised more than $600,000 and the dedication ceremony took place on August 11, 2001. The memorial is located at 3750 Main Street in downtown Riverside and consists of stamped and colored concrete and landscaping granite, as well as a statue of Dosan.^[2][12]

Designation as a Point of Cultural Interest

On December 6, 2016, the Riverside City Council voted unanimously to make the site of Pachappa Camp the city’s first Point of Cultural Interest and have a memorial installed at the site. According to Riverside’s Historic Preservation Officer, city officials spent six months researching the legitimacy of Pachappa Camp as the United States' first Korean settlement, using documented records of births, deaths, and social activities.^[13][14]