Chin Lin Sou

Chin Lin Sou (Colorado Heritage Magazine, 2002).

Chin Lin Sou is a significant figure in the history of Chinese immigrants in Park County, and in Colorado more broadly. While his name appears in different sources in various arrangements and spellings, Chin Lin Sou is identifiable by his distinct physical description.[1] The white community was accepting of Chin Lin Sou due to his unique blue eyes and six foot height, features more similar to their own.[2] Between his appearance, intellect, and proficiency in the English language, the Fairplay Flume proclaimed him to be “the ‘whitest’ of his kind.”[3] Like many others, Chin Lin Sou came to the United States to work on the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad. Once the transcontinental project was completed, he switched to placer mining.[4] Chin’s skill set made him especially proficient at being a leader, and his first job in Colorado was to be the head man of mining labor crews in Gregory Gulch outside of Black Hawk, Clear Creek near Central City, Boulder, and Park County in the 1870s. Some of these labor crews were as large as three hundred men. Having accrued much success, Chin Lin Sou was able to bring his wife to Colorado and in 1873 they had a daughter, Lily, who was the first child of Chinese descent born in Colorado.[5] Chin had multifaceted ambitions—he was a proprietor to land, mines, and stores, was a member of a Tong, and the unofficial mayor of Chinatown in Denver.[6] Most notably, in spite of anti-naturalization efforts against Chinese people, Chin Lin Sou became an American citizen.[7]