That Montana had a large Chinese population in the late-19th century is well known. However, most analysis of this community focuses solely on their challenges and contributions in the American West, paying little attention to the transnational nature of the Chinese experience. Mark Johnson, University of Notre Dame, helps us understand Montana’s Chinese pioneers through a global lens. They are seen as active and engaged participants who used the skills gained through their time in the American West to work for self-improvement and to strengthen a severely weakened China they had temporarily left but never forgotten.

Recorded August 17, 2017 at the Museum of the Rockies.