06/13/2026
On June 8, 1869, a group of Japanese immigrants arrived at Gold Hill, two miles south of the town of Coloma, and established the first and only silk and tea farm in California. That farm was known as the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony, which is believed to be the first permanent agricultural settlement by Japanese immigrants in North America.
In April 1869, John Henry Schnell, a European diplomat attached to the Prussian embassy in Japan, arranged for passage aboard the steamship SS China for himself, his Japanese wife Jou, their daughter, their nursemaid Okei Ito, and 22 samurai supporters of Matsudaira Katamori, who was the leader of the Tokugawa faction that was just defeated during the Boshin Civil War.
The Japanese immigrants arrived in San Francisco on May 20, 1869. The Daily Alta California newspaper published their arrival a week later. The Daily Alta reported that the group brought with them 50,000 mulberry trees, bamboo plants, 500 vegetable wax trees, and 6 million tea seeds. The group quickly moved to the 200 acre farm Schnell purchased at Gold Hill.
Later that year, the group proudly displayed their agricultural products at the California State Fair in Sacramento. A drought in 1871 and loss of financial backing from Japan led to bankruptcy of the colony and the sale of the property to Francis Veerkamp in 1873. A few of the original members remained on the property and worked for the Veerkamp family until the early 1900s.
The site of the colony was dedicated 100 years later in 1969 and the site is a registered California State Landmark (No. 815). The American River Conservancy purchased the property in 2010 and the organization preserves and interprets the historic site today.
Reproduction of a watercolor illustrating the Japanese settlers in 1869 by George Mathis, courtesy of the American River Conservancy.
