Sikhs have a long history and came here as early as mid 1800's. Although, the earliest documented arrival of Sikhs was in San Francisco in 1899, they have been here since the mid 19th century. Most of the immigrants during this time were from Punjab - driven by a sense of adventure and economic advancement. They came via Hongkong to Canada or to San Francisco. As immigration restrictions tightened in Canada, more immigrants came directly to California, passing through the Angel Island station on their way to San Francisco.
Here is a studio portrait of Sikhs from California from around 1910.
Indian immigrants at the time were employed in lumber mills, factories and workers for the Western Pacific Railroad lines.
The image on the left depicts Sikh workers in the Pacific & Eastern Railroad construction from around 1909. Although, they were employed as workers in factories and railroads, they were skilled in agriculture and the lure of land lead them to the inland valley's of California. They began in the Sacramento Valley, working in the orchards, vineyards, and sugar beet fields, moving on to the vineyards and citrus groves of the San Joaquin Valley in central California. Due to their hardworking nature, they quickly built a reputation as efficient farm laborers and competent businessmen. Around 1920 the immigrants owned 2099 acres and were leasing 86,340 acres of farmland, almost exclusively in the Imperial and Sacramento Valleys, where they grew large volume cash crops like cotton, rice, but also crops that required intensive farming like peaches, grapes, pears, apricots, almonds, beans, peas, corn, potatoes, celery, asparagus, and lettuce.
The image to the left depicts a Sikh worker farming in Yuba City from around 1922.In addition to the farming communities that settled in California, towards the late 19th century, Indian students began coming to the U.S to study engineering, medicine, agriculture, and manufacturing. Most of them chose institutions on the Pacific Coast - the University of Washington, agricultural colleges in Oregon, Stanford, and, the University of California, Berkeley.
The immigrant community in California was largely responsible in 1915 for the construction of the two-story wooden Sikh Temple in Stockton, one of the first religious centers for Indians in the United States.
Punjabis from California gathered at the Stockton Sikh Temple several times a year. The temple was not only a center of worship for the Sikhs, but they were also meeting places where secular concerns were discussed and dealt with. The Punjabi's began to marry Mexican women. As a result, Catholicism became a prominent part of their culture.
Beginning from those times, Sikhs have come a long way and have been an integral part of California and the U.S. There is a huge Sikh population in the Bay area. The largest Sikh temple in the U.S is in San Jose. I would definitely encourage everyone to visit the temple and get an idea of the Sikh religion and way of life. Here is the website for the San Jose Sikh temple: http://www.sikhgurdwarasj.org
Here are some interesting sites that I used to refer for this blog:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/echoes/toc.html
http://www.sikhpioneers.org/SikhFarmers.html
http://www.nriinternet.com/Section4HistoryNRI/sikhsInUSA.htm
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