We begin close to home:
On 20 September 1885, the presence of over 3,200 Chinese miners, concentrated along the Tacoma-Seattle corridor bordering Puget Sound, led to a meeting of dis-gruntled workers in Tacoma. Rallying to the slogan "The Chinese must go," these workers considered exerting legislative and social pressures to harass the Chinese and deny them jobs. Many, however, favored more direct action—forcible expulsion...
The proposed ultimatum for the Chinese to depart Seattle alarmed the Imperial Chinese vice consul in San Francisco and the Washington territorial chief justice in Seattle. Having visited Rock Springs, Consul Frederick Bee knew what a racist mob could do. On 4 October he asked Governor Squire whether he could protect the Chinese and, if not, whether he would arrange for federal military protection. Although Squire assured him that local and territorial authorities would suffice, Chief Justice Roger S. Greene declared that, "while the presence of Chinese is an evil," any effort to drive them out "by lawless violence is suicidal."...
Violence erupted first in Tacoma on 2 November. Unopposed by local authorities, a mob of nearly 300 whites, many of them armed, forced some 200 Chinese to leave in wagons. During a drive in pouring rain to Lake View Station, where the Chinese were to board a train for Portland, several Chinese suffered ill effects from exposure and died soon after...
On 6 November [Governor Squire] requested troops from President Cleveland...[His] decision to send federal troops under RS 5298 came the same day...
Cleveland's proclamation clearly stated the reasons for military intervention: the governor had reported the existence of domestic violence caused by unlawful obstructions, combinations, and assemblages of "evil-disposed persons," that made impracticable the enforcement by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings of federal law in Seattle and elsewhere...The proclamation concluded with the admonition that all citizens desist, disperse, and retire peaceably to their abodes on or before noon on 8 November...
The troops enjoyed friendly relations with Seattle residents. Military discipline had become so lax that several intoxicated soldiers reportedly assaulted some Chinese. Visiting Chinatown on the night of 9 November, one group of soldiers extorted a "special tax" amounting to $150. The Seattle Call noted sardonically that citizens "will (soon) be called upon to protect the Chinese against the troops."
The only event that marred Gibbon's otherwise quiet entry into Seattle was his own inadvertent violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
And now, closer in time:
On November 6, 1995, with the team at 4–5, Modell announced in a press conference at Camden Yards that he had signed a deal to move the Browns to Baltimore for the 1996 season. The team would play at the Colts' former home (Memorial Stadium) while the new stadium was being built. Modell said he felt the city of Cleveland did not have the funding nor political will to build a first-class stadium. The very next day, on November 7, Cleveland voters overwhelmingly approved the aforementioned tax issue to remodel Cleveland Stadium.Despite this, Modell ruled out a reversal of his decision, maintaining publicly that his relationship with Cleveland had been irrevocably severed. "The bridge is down, burned, disappeared", he said. "There's not even a canoe there for me." In truth, Modell had been brought to tears when he signed the memorandum of understanding in September: he had even told Moag that signing it was "the hardest thing I've ever done" and meant "the end of our life in Cleveland." Years later, longtime Browns general counsel Jim Bailey told The Athletic that Modell was "an emotional wreck" when he signed the memorandum.
Oh, poor Art. I'm sure he gave a warm welcome to Dick Cheney in Hell this week, at least. Unsure if Grover's there or not.
In conclusion: the only good thing to happen on November 6 was my late mother's birth (not in Cleveland).
(Happy 78th, Mom. Miss you always.)
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