International Hostilities on Millside Car - Hindoos and French-Canadians Mix in Lively Scrimmage En Route to the Fraser Mills (June 25, 1912)

Note: Today's historical article comes with a full sized historical infographic, complete with newspaper article and street car maps (hyperlinked here) . Best viewed on desktop, but you can zoom and look around on your phone.

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When the train arrived at the B.C.E.R station in Millside (the company town at Fraser Mills) on the evening of Saturday, June 22, 1912, many of those in attendance on the platform likely didn’t expect a grand melee between South Asian and French-Canadian labourers to spill out from the passenger car doors. Once at its destination, the battle was renewed with reinforcements and resupply. Former bystanders turned into combatants, and each side armed themselves with an assortment of improvised weaponry – planks, sticks, stones, and bricks. By the end of the battle, “there were many broken heads and bruised bodies after it was all over.”

This remarkable act of violence on mass transit (imagine this unfolding on the Skytrain today!) – and the following account in one of the local newspapers – gives us rare insight into the minds of European settlers in the Lower Mainland. A place where West meets East, and lingering racial tensions still clearly permeated everyday society even five years after the 1907 Vancouver anti-Asian riots.

How the fight came to an end is unknown, but it is certainly “known” how it began. As covered in today’s historical info-graphic, written exactly 111 years ago, the Vancouver Daily World published an article to give us an idea of what happened – or more accurately, how these events were perceived in the local and dominantly White community.

Before I begin, I need everyone here to think like a historian; the contents of this article may be upsetting to others, especially because of its overtly discriminatory tone. However, as best noted by Julie Gilmore in her article titled Interpreting Social Disorder: The Case of the 1907 Vancouver Riots, we must recognize that “[...] fear may have real effects on people’s choices, even when it is based on misperceptions”, and that everyone “[does] what they do within a historical context, but to acknowledge this does not necessarily excuse their behaviour.”

The fight on the street car started on its way back from New Westminster, when the conductor reportedly retreated from “a gang of unruly Hindoo employees of the Fraser Mills” into the next train car as the conductor reportedly feared for his life (the actual reasons may never be known). There, he ran into a cohort of French-Canadians also on their way home. Once they heard the conductor’s story, it is said that they were “determined to teach the Hindoos a lesson. They did.”

What makes this particular news article interesting is not solely its contents, but rather its overt tone. Whereas the conductor is described as the victim, an upstanding individual “by all accounts”, the cultural representation of “the French Canadians” and the “the Hindoos” is far more black and white. The stereotypes of each side clearly show through (so much for journalistic integrity), giving us deeper insight into the general racial tensions still deeply embedded in 1910s Vancouver life.

The article attempts to establish certain facts, coloured by above-mentioned fears. Despite the fact that the South Asian labourers were also on their way home to company housing, the author states that “for some time, past gangs of Hindoos returning to Millside have been noisy and demonstrative [... and] that many of them have used loud and vile language in the cars in the presence of ladies.” Not a very kind portrayal, especially towards other fellow subjects of the British Empire.

While I could simply reiterate the full contents of the racial “bogeyman”, the narrative of the French-Canadian “rescue” is decidedly more favourable, clearly reflecting then-contemporary White fears over Asian immigration. To quote: “When the cars reached the terminus at Millside, the racial ructions were renewed. Despite superior numbers on the part of the Hindoo element and the fact that some more of their race at Millside came to their assistance, the fight was continued until in the opinion of the French Canadians and other whites who took a hand in the proceedings, the physical superiority of the occidental race over the oriental was conclusively demonstrated.”

The article ends on a speculative note, yes, but it is one that hints at what could have been done in the aftermath – racial segregation by train car. To quote: “Naturally, there is a strong feeling against the men from India at the mill as an aftermath of Saturday’s strife [...] and it is feared that it may be more serious next time as threats of using weapons has been made. It is even hinted that the people of Millside [...] will appoint a delegation to interview the management of the B.C. Electric Railway to ask that separate cars be provided hereafter for the brown men from India.”

The purpose of today’s piece is not intended to serve as a condemnation or excuse for actions in the past. Rather, I hope it serves as a reminder that some events – like this – never make it to the pages of contemporary local history books, and that the creation of historical knowledge is a deliberate and continuous act by those willing to look.

It also reminds us that History is similar to looking down at ourselves upon the surface of water: no matter how distorted it may appear and how turbulent our times may seem, we can make out reflections or features of ourselves upon its glassy surface no matter where we stand in time. It even helps us to better see ourselves as we are today.