Frederick Bee - Mandarin of the Blue Button
In this episode of Ricky's Historical Tidbits, I share with you the story of a man who made his mark everywhere he went. Whether it was mining for gold, building a telegraph line across the country, constructing railroads, potentially inventing the pony express, and most notably Consul for the Chinese people in the United States. His name? Frederick A. Bee.
The year was 1825, John Quincy Adams is the President, The Kansa Tribe gave up their land that would go on to be known as the state of Kansas, the Erie Canal opened and Frederick Alonzo Bee was born.
Frederick's parents were English immigrants to the new world encouraging their children to do great things in the wonderful new place called America. This would come into play when Frederick was about 23 years old when news from the West came that the place known as California was covered in Gold and soon men young and old raced to California to make it rich.
Frederick’s older brother Albert left for California first, arriving in San Francisco in June, then Frederick Showed up in September.
Albert wrote a diary of his trip which if you have the time, is a great read
In the early years of the Bee Brother's time in Placerville, they were firstly miners, Albert having been the more successful but even still Frederick had an operation where he employed about 20 Chinese men to work. Here is an article describing Frederick’s Mining operation.
Albert and Frederick ran a store together in Placerville, a basic grocery store you can see here in this picture. they sold all kinds of things butter, food, tools, and even ice.
Frederick also experimented with growing hops, which if you didn't know, is used to make beer.
By the end of the 1850s, Frederick had begun a new career in the Telegraph Business. Telegraphs were the future. and Frederick’s goal in the long term was to be able to send a message all the way to the other side of the country. But until then Telegraphs didn't even go from California to Nevada.
The goal was to start the telegraph line in Placerville and have it go over the Sierra Nevada mountains into Carson City and then up and over to Salt Lake City. This was around the same time that Snowshoe Thompson had started his mail route you can read about him here.
Within a few years not only had the telegraph line been built from Placerville to Salt Lake City but all the way to the eastern states where the 1st transcontinental telegraph was sent to Abraham Lincoln. From the state of California. It was October 25th, 1861
“In the temporary absence of the Governor of the State I am requested to send you the first message which will be transmitted over the wires of the telegraph Line which Connect the Pacific with the Atlantic States the People of California desire to Congratulate you upon the Completion of the great work.
They believe that it will be the means of strengthening the attachment which bind both the East & West to the Union & they desire in this the first message across the continent to express their loyalty to that Union & their determination to stand by the Government in this its day of trial They regard that Government with affection & will adhere to it under all fortunes”
The next day, Albert Bee (Frederick’s brother) sent his own transcontinental telegraph saying…
“The Pacific Telegraph calls the Atlantic cable.”
The person on the receiving end replied…
“Your message received. The Atlantic cable is not dead, but sleepeth. In due time it will answer the call of the Pacific telegraph”
Also, I mentioned it in the very beginning but it is worth mentioning that Frederick was listed among a bunch of other names behind something called The Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company, which was the parent company of the Pony Express.
The Pony Express was replaced by the Telegraph.
Once the task of the telegraph was done, Frederick moved on once again to another career, the Railroad. For the next decade or so Frederick would invest in multiple rail lines continuing to move up in the world while the Civil War was being fought. His railroad days ended when he had to sue the San Francisco and Humboldt Bay railroad.
From there he worked on trying to get a mail route to Australia that didn't work out and he did some stuff in Samoa which seems to have been part of the Australia mail route which failed.
By 1878 Frederick’s new and last career in advocating for the Chinese in America came to be and so he became Consul for China.
As Consul, Frederick investigated instances of immigration, deportation, working conditions, and murders of the Chinese people in America. He would go to congress and advocate on behalf of the Chinese people in the midst of the Chinese exclusion act going on to saying in front of congress...
I believe that the immortal truths of the Declaration of Independence came from the same source with the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount... As surely as the path on which our fathers entered a hundred years ago led to safety, to strength, to glory, so surely will the path on which we now propose to enter bring us to shame, to weakness, and to peril.
Proving himself to be an honorable man, the Chinese Emperor appointed him a Mandarin of the Blue Button which is a high honor and this is what the blue button looks like.
This article tells you more about what the Mandarin title means.
Over the years, Chinese immigrants were often attacked and murdered and there have been plenty of massacres of them.
Some of the most famous examples of anti-Chinese riots or massacres are the...
Rock Springs Massacre in Wyoming in 1885 where the coal miners were going on strike but the Chinese workers refused to go on strike so the striking coal miners killed 28 Chinese men and then rioted into Chinatown there burning 78 homes.
The Seattle Riot of 1886 was not as deadly, but the people of Seattle chased the Chinese out of town to the docks to herd them onto a ship to go back to China.
And the Hells Canyon Massacre of 1887 in Oregon where 34 Chinese miners got ambushed and killed.
Here is a picture of Frederick during his investigation of the Rock Springs Massacre.
Frederick never stopped working on behalf of the Chinese and even though he never saw the end of the Anti-Chinese movement he is honored today all around the country having Bee street named after him in Sausalito and being one of the "miners" featured in the new Miners on Main scavenger hunt down on Main street in Placerville.
