Ah Yut - Chinese New Year
Hailed as “the last of the Chinese" in Fairplay[1], Ah Yut lived in this location for over thirty years. The Fairplay Flume reports that he worked on the placer mines for years, probably arriving as one of Thayer's new miners in 1875. When the other Chinese miners left Fairplay for the coal mines of Como in 1879, Ah Yut stayed on and continued sluicing.[2] While we know significantly more about Ah Yut's life than many other Chinese individuals who lived near Fairplay, it is still far from a complete picture. One difficulty is the variation in name spellings. In addition to Ah Yut, there are references to individuals in Fairplay named Ah Yot[3] and Ah Yat,[4] all of whom it is fairly safe to assume are one and the same.
The bulk of what we know about Ah Yut comes from the Fairplay Flume, which gives an account of his involvement with the Chinese New Year celebrations. By at least 1906 (if not earlier), it had become a tradition for the school children of Fairplay to visit Ah Yut at his home for lunch, accompanied by their teachers.[5] Ah Yut's 1914 obituary states that he was "well liked" by the white inhabitants of Fairplay.[6] The fact that he was allowed to host the local school children at his home suggests that he may also have gained their trust and respect. The adults who accompanied the children would repay Ah Yut's generosity by supplementing his food store following their "invasion." The visit was marked by candy for the young children and a lunch for everyone, held in a "spacious dining room."[7]
Ah Yut’s story closes in 1914. He was attended by Doctor Dunkle leading up to his death and the Richards brought him food supplies and medicine. They were the ones who found his body. A judge sent word to the Chinese community in Denver, assuming that they would want to take the body and bury it as they saw fit. The Chinese community in Denver declined, however, as Ah Yut was “not identified with any of their lodges.” The residents of Fairplay decided to inter Ah Yut in the Fairplay cemetery, where his grave remains to this day, an unassuming pile of rocks marked by a sign that reads "A Chinaman."[8]
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[1] “The Last of the Chinese Passes Away,” Fairplay Flume (Fairplay, CO), Feb. 6, 1914, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.
[2] “The Last of the Chinese,” Fairplay Flume.
[3] Linda Bjorklund, A Brief History of Fairplay (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013), 73; “Chinese Chin,” Fairplay Flume (Fairplay, CO), Feb. 9, 1883, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.
[4] Alice E. Wonder, “Chinatown, at Fairplay, as It Was in Early Days,” Park County Republican and Fairplay Flume, 1956, Summer Tourist Edition; Gerald E. Rudolph, “The Chinese in Colorado, 1869-1911” (dissertation, 1964), 60.
[5] “School Notes,” Fairplay Flume (Fairplay, CO), Jan 26, 1906, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.
[6] “The Last of the Chinese,” Fairplay Flume.
[7] “Chinese New Year,” Fairplay Flume (Fairplay, CO), Feb.15, 1907, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.
[8] “The Last of the Chinese,” Fairplay Flume.