Archives West Finding Aid

Chinese Americans in Butte

Chinese immigrants first came to Butte, Montana, in great numbers in the late 1860’s, attracted by work in placer gold mines and later by railroad construction projects. By the late 1880’s, nearly 2,500 Chinese Americans reportedly resided in Butte, and by the early 1900’s, Butte’s Chinatown had become well-established. As the gold mining boom ended and the railroads were completed, Butte’s Chinese were forced out of their jobs by discriminatory laws and ordinances meant to discourage cheap labor. In addition, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States. By the 1890’s, Butte’s Chinese residents were turning to work in the service industry.

One of the first Chinese districts in Butte arose in the Galena-Mercury neighborhood between Colorado and Arizona streets. Here, Dr. Huie Pock practiced Eastern medicine and ran a mercantile, while numerous other Chinese Americans operated general stores, laundries, noodle parlors, and herb shops. The early Chinese in Butte held onto much of their cultural heritage. They built places of worship, and many retained the dress and traditions of their homeland. In addition, they embraced some new world institutions, such as the Chinese Baptist Mission, established on Mercury Street in 1892. Some Chinese businesses thrived during this period despite growing hostile sentiment toward Chinese immigrants. However, during the first quarter of the 20th century, the Chinese population in Butte began to decline as Chinese Americans sought work in larger cities like San Francisco with flourishing Chinatowns.

By the early 1940’s, the population of Chinese in Butte had dwindled to just a few families. One of these families was the Chinn family. Albert (Yu Fong) Chinn had immigrated to America by 1912, settling in Butte with his wife, Lou, and daughter, Katherine. Albert became a merchant and by 1930 he had fathered nine children. He lived with his family at 21 West Mercury St. The Chinn family retained ownership of what are today two of the last remaining and best-preserved buildings of Butte’s Chinatown: the Wai Chong Tai Company building (15 West Mercury) and the Mai Wah Noodle Parlor building (17 West Mercury). William Chinn, a son of Albert Chinn, owned the buildings in the 1940’s, and rented the ground floor of 17 West Mercury to Paul Eno. Eno ran a lock and repair shop out of the building from late 1940’s until his death in 1986. His parents were Martha and Edgar Eno.

Martin D. Hudtloff family

Martha Eno and her family, the Hudtloff’s, moved to Butte from Wisconsin in the early 1890’s. Martha married Edgar Eno in 1901, and the couple had five children: Paul, Edward, Florentine, William, and Helen. Upon Edgar’s death in 1946, Martha moved to Vancouver, WA, to live with her son, Edward.

Martha’s brother was Martin D. Hudtloff. In 1893, Hudtloff began serving as pastor of the new St. Mark German Lutheran Church in Butte, a position he would hold for over 40 years. The congregation laid the cornerstone for their present church at the corner of Silver and Montana streets in June 1907. Martin was married to Julia Detloff, the daughter of Prussian immigrants William and Wilhelmina Detloff. Martin and Julia had five children: Walter W. G. (1894-1916), Arthur G. (1895-1968), Esther H. (1898-1950), Dorothy (1900-1908), and Martin J. (1902-1969). Dorothy died of spinal meningitis at age seven, and Walter died of a lingering illness at 22.

Arthur G. Hudtloff attended a year at the University of Montana (1914-1915). By 1916, he had moved to Seattle to study at the University of Washington, and was residing next to the campus at 4339 11th Ave NE. After graduation, Arthur served for some time in the U.S. Navy, and rose to at least the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade. He later moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he became the first superintendent of schools in the Clover Park School District in Lakewood, Washington. A middle school in Lakewood, Washington, a suburb of Tacoma, now bears his name.

Esther Hudtloff married Lloyd Sowders and settled in Detroit.

Martin J. Hudtloff graduated from the University of Montana and moved to Washington, D.C., where he served as Director of the Transportation Service Division for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Martin died in 1969 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Julia’s mother, Wilhelmina Detloff, lived with the Hudtloff’s in Butte after her husband William died, and later settled in Spokane, Washington, with her nephew, George Detloff, and his family.