Opium pipes and false teeth were also found. The sophistication of the settlement is even more surprising when one realizes that the Chinese Exclusion laws were in full force and the Chinese were not allowed to own property. They had to form partnerships with Caucasians to gain any control. But because the Chinese had to document their movements so thoroughly, a lot is known about this village.
Maps are so accurate one can tell exactly where each structure stood.
A theater was in the community. A great-granddaughter of the leader of the community has been found and researchers are hoping more information will come to light when she's interviewed. Woolen Mills Chinatown passed from the scene in 1901, about the time the mill, where many of them worked, was in decline. The results of the excavation will be published this summer in a book, Life along the Guadalupe River , available at the San Jose History Museum at Kelley Park. Barna is operations commander for a squadron of helicopters that spot fields of marijuana.