Afterword:
Joaquin Miller’s novel, First Fam’lies of the Sierras, (1876) describes the Caravan of Death on the frontier. The caravan, which returned the bones of dead Chinese immigrants to China, represents an important principle faced by both Chinese immigrants of that time and also historians looking back to appraise how they viewed themselves and their lives. Were they just passing through or intending to stay?
Some of the Chinese immigrants of the nineteenth century were sojourners, adventurers seeking their fortunes in the California gold rush or in other ways before returning home. Many of these immigrants wanted their remains sent home again if they died in North America. On the other hand, the United States was also a land populated mainly by immigrants and their descendants. Sin
