May 27

1887

injustice

Hells Canyon Massacre

In late May 1887, a gang of horse thieves ambushed and murdered as many as 34 Chinese gold miners at Deep Creek (now Chinese Massacre Cove) on the Oregon side of Hells Canyon, one of the deadliest anti-Chinese attacks in the American West. Contemporary accounts do not fix a single day; the massacre is variously dated to roughly May 25-27, 1887, and this entry anchors on May 27.

Content note: racial violence.

1901

injustice

Insular Cases Begin (Downes v. Bidwell)

In the first of the Insular Cases, the Supreme Court held the Constitution does not fully apply to 'unincorporated' territories-the doctrine that still shapes the status and rights of Guam, American Samoa, and other Pacific territories. (Shares May 27 with the Hells Canyon Massacre.)