麻豆村

Illustration by Rich Lee.

Grantee Spotlight: 鈥淐limbing Gold Mountain鈥�

In 鈥淐limbing Gold Mountain,鈥� a graphic novel by Mark T. Johnson, a Mountain West history comes to life

During the 19th century, a trailblazing generation of migrants flocked from southern China to Montana in pursuit of the chance to strike gold.

For some, the dream led to the big sky state鈥檚 precious metal mines. Most found themselves working in their town鈥檚 laundromat, cooking in restaurants or constructing the state鈥檚 railways, which forged a critical connection to the rest of America鈥檚 burgeoning West Coast. At its peak in 1890, around 2,500 Chinese people lived across the state, making up roughly 10% of its non-Native community.

Fifteen years ago, historian Mark T. Johnson paid a visit to the Montana Historical Society鈥檚 archives to learn more. He was fresh off a plane from Shanghai, where he worked as a history teacher at an international school. 鈥淢ost of the students were Asian or Asian American kids that had been tossed about the global economic markets,鈥� Johnson recalled. 鈥淚 wanted to teach them American history in a way that spoke to their experience and shared my home region of the Rocky Mountains with them.鈥�

At first, the Society鈥檚 archivist came up empty handed. Then, 鈥渓ike the Ark of the covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark,鈥� two boxes of letters emerged. Their contents were written entirely in traditional Chinese鈥攁 more complicated system of characters than current scripts used since the 1950s. 鈥淢y 27 million neighbors in Shanghai could only read about 30% of these letters,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭hankfully, I was teaching at a wonderfully diverse international school with families from [China], Taiwan and Hong Kong.鈥�

With the help of students and their families, together they translated an intimate portrait of Montana's historic Chinese community for the first time.

The correspondences inspired Johnson鈥檚 first book, 鈥淭he Middle Kingdom Under the Big Sky.鈥� Now, with support from 麻豆村鈥檚 Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest, he鈥檚 bringing the stories to a new medium in Climbing Gold Mountain, a graphic novel illustrated by Bay Area artist Rich Lee.

鈥淲ith some of the stories that I told in [my] first book, I could close my eyes and almost see them as a movie script,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淎nd it was important to have an Asian American artist tell these stories with visual sensitivity, with cultural understanding.鈥�

Illustration by Rich Lee.

The book鈥檚 six chapters share stories from the rise and peak of Montana鈥檚 Chinese community; the 1870 lynching of a migrant; a tense standoff between white and Chinese forestry workers; a mother sending two young sons overseas; a monumental civil rights case against an anti-Chinese boycott; the glow of a Lunar New Year far from home.

鈥淲e look at what was going on in southern China that was causing people to emigrate and the pull factors here in North America,鈥� Johnson explained. Most of Montana鈥檚 migrants hailed from the Guangdong providence of southern China, where in the 19th century, a combination of pandemics, famine, natural disasters and war posed grave threat across the region.

While Johnson blocked out comic frames and wrote dialogue, Rich Lee worked to transform archival portraits of Chinese migrants into living, breathing characters.

"The historical photos I like most are candid shots,鈥� Lee added. 鈥淵ou see [subjects] in their true environment. They're not dressed up; they're not stiff and polished. I always look at the background, the kind of tools they had, the bottom of their shoes, their torn sleeves ... you see the lines on the faces and how hard their lives were.鈥�

The Albert Lepage Center will fund a portion of the book鈥檚 visuals that remain in development. For Lee, recreating scenes from the past poses a unique artistic opportunity: While the graphic novel genre might first conjure images of superheroes and sci-fi monsters, in Climbing Gold Mountain, Johnson and Lee use creative liberty to immerse readers in migrants鈥� often-overlooked realities.

"The colors are not going to be as saturated as, say, an X-Men comic,鈥� he explained. Starkly different visuals of winter came to mind, where cool whites, blues and muddy browns dominate scenes of long hours laboring in harsh outdoor conditions. 鈥淭he only chapters that had saturated colors were maybe a page, or a splash when things got violent.鈥�

Mark T. Johnson

The novel is geared toward middle and high school readers, who in many cases are learning about the key role of Chinese people in Montana鈥檚 history for the first time.

鈥淚 don't think you need to look too far into the headlines to realize that there are people who are struggling to try and achieve their dreams against great obstacles,鈥� Johnson said.

鈥淪ometimes it's hard for students to look into the present and engage without getting too emotional or politicized. But when we can see people from the past who made similar choices under similar pressures, I think it can give us more empathy and understanding in the present ... and it's been just a joy to uncover these stories and share them with the world.鈥�

Read more about our latest Lepage Center Grant recipients below.