In the 1880s, the railroad paid 12-year-old Kwong Lai an apple a day to carry water. He struggled toting the full bucket from dawn to dusk. The railroad paid whites more than people of color and exploited laborers like Kwong.
Although Kwong later prospered as a Clark County businessman and dairy farmer, daily he faced the anti-Chinese bigotry prominent in America from the late 1800s until the mid-20th century. Yet he longed for U.S. citizenship, even Americanizing his name to Kong Loy. He saved every penny he didn’t spend on clothing and food, and probably sent money home as well.
In the late 1880s, a countryman loaned him $500 to sell merchandise. Kong warehoused his goods in Portland. Then in the spring of 1894, heavy rain and snowmelt raised the Willamette River above the flood level and washed away Kong’s stock and savings.
With little left, he turned to farm work. Soon, a Chinese gardener impressed by Kong’s work ethic offered him half interest in a vegetable wagon. Kong accepted and shared his profits until he bought his partner out. As a produce sales agent, he supported the local fair and designed a parade float made entirely of vegetables in 1909 and again in future years.
Kong’s neighbor, Simeon Durgan, encouraged him to enter the dairy business. Skeptical, Kong declined, confessing he didn’t savvy cows or milk and feared locals wouldn’t believe his milk safe. The two then hit on a plan. Durgan asked the Vancouver Barracks, his largest customer, to test Kong’s milk. They did and found Kong’s barns and equipment clean and bought his milk. After that, Kong expanded his sales to hospitals, restaurants and boarding schools.
Kong applied for U.S. citizenship in 1911. The government, increasingly restrictive on Asian immigration, refused his request. A year later, The Oregon Journal described Kong as “one of the most prosperous Mongolians in the West” in a story reporting his automobile ownership. Denying citizenship based on race was commonplace, regardless of financial stature.
In 1915, the 48-year-old wed Rose Fong, 17. They had four children together. She also worked as Kong’s bookkeeper. Kong was a member of the Chinese Masons, and his wife involved herself in various Portland Chinese women’s clubs, fundraising and helping Chinese refugees.
By 1930, Kong’s dairy grazed 100 milk cows, operated a fireproof brick dairy house and sanitized milk using state-of-the-art processing equipment. The dairy sold Grade A milk for 30 cents a gallon and cream for $1.40 a gallon. The same year, Kong was hospitalized after a man beat him with a pipe and stole $200.
At different times, Kong managed dairy operations at two locations. One became the Kaiser Shipyard during World War II, and the other was the Sisters of Charity of Providence at Fourth Plain and Fruit Valley Road.
Reports claim Kong “sold” his dairy in 1939. A 1948 rumor inferred he invested in the St. Elmo Hotel in downtown Vancouver. However, Washington’s 1889 constitution forbids noncitizen land ownership, and during the 20th century, the Legislature passed stricter exclusionary laws. Not until 1966 could Asians own land, making it unclear how these sales occurred.
Martin Middlewood is editor of the Clark County Historical Society Annual. Reach him at ClarkCoHist@gmail.com.
