Ten white men, in ordinary garb and miner's uniforms, arrive at coal pit number six at the Rock Springs mine at 7:00 a.m. on September 2, 1885.
They declare that the Chinese laborers have no right to work in a particularly desirable "room" in the mine; miners are paid by the ton, thus location is important to the miners.
A fight breaks out, and two Chinese workers at pit number six are badly beaten.
One of the Chinese workers later dies due to his injuries.
The white miners, most of whom are members of the Knights of Labor, walk out of the mine.
After the work stoppage at pit number six, more white miners assemble near the town.
They march to Rock Springs by way of the railroad, carrying firearms.
At about 10:00 a.m., the bell in the Knights of Labor meeting hall tolls, and the miners inside the building join the already large group.
There are white miners who opt to go to saloons instead of joining the gathering mob, but by 2:00 p.m., the saloons and grocers are persuaded by a Union Pacific official to close.
With the saloons and grocers closed, about one hundred and fifty men, armed with Winchester rifles, move toward Chinatown in Rock Springs in two groups and enter Chinatown by crossing separate bridges.
The larger group enters by way of the railroad bridge and is divided into squads, a few of which remain standing on the opposite side of the bridge outside Chinatown.
The smaller group enters by way of the town's plank bridge.
Squads from the larger group break off and move up the hill toward coal pit number three.
One squad takes up a position at the pit number three coal shed; another, at the pump house.
A warning party is sent ahead of the squads into Chinatown.
They warn the Chinese they have one hour to pack up and leave town.
After only thirty minutes the first gunshots are fired by the squad at the pump house, followed by a volley from those at the coal shed.
Lor Sun Kit, a Chinese laborer, is shot and falls to the ground.
As the group at coal pit number three rejoins them, the crowd presses on toward Chinatown, some men firing their weapons as they go.
The smaller group of white miners at the plank bridge divides itself into squads and surrounds Chinatown.
One squad stays at the plank bridge to cut off any Chinese escape.
As the white miners move into Chinatown, the Chinese become aware of the riot and that Leo Dye Bah and Yip Ah Marn, residents from the west and east sides of Chinatown, have already been killed.
As the news of the murders spreads, the Chinese flee in fear and confusion.
They run in every direction: up the hill behind coal pit number three; others, along the base of the hill at coal pit number four; others still, from the eastern end of town, flee across Bitter Creek to the opposite hill; and more flee the western end of Chinatown across the base of the hill to the right of coal pit number five.
The mob comes from three directions by this time, from the east and west ends of town and from the wagon road.
By 3:30 p.m. the massacre is well under way.
A group of women in Rock Springs has gathered at the plank bridge, where they stand and cheer on the rampage.
Two of the women reportedly fire shots at the Chinese.
As the riot wears on into the night, the Chinese miners scatter into the hills, lying in the grass to hide.
Between four and nine p.m., rioters set fire to the camp houses belonging to the coal company.
By nine p.m., all but one Chinese camp house is burned completely.
In all, seventy-nine Chinese homes are destroyed by fire.
Damage to Chinese-owned property is estimated at around one hundred and forty-seven thousand dollars.
Some Chinese die on the banks of Bitter Creek as they flee, others near the railroad bridge as they attempt to escape Chinatown.
The rioters throw Chinese bodies into the flames of burning buildings.
Other Chinese immigrants, who have hidden in their houses instead of fleeing, are murdered, and their bodies are burned with their houses.
Those who cannot run, including the sick, are burned alive in their camp houses.
One remaining Chinese immigrant is found dead in a laundry house in Whitemen's Town, his home demolished by rioters.
