After the changes in history, there have been hundreds of thousands, even millions of Vietnamese people settling in the United States. They are Vietnamese or people of Vietnamese descent living and working in the United States of America.
Who was the first person to set foot in this country?
Previously, during a long period with official historical sources, the first Vietnamese person to set foot in America was identified as Mr. Bui Vien. Coincidentally, Bui Vien Street in Ho Chi Minh City is also known as the Western Street. If you go to Bui Vien Street, you will see that the number of foreigners here is certainly greater than the number of Vietnamese, and they dress in a slightly stylish way, sometimes people might even mistake them for foreigners rather than Vietnamese. The Western Street here is understood as a neighborhood where the presence of foreigners is predominant, not meaning Europeans or Americans, but whether Mr. Bui Vien was indeed the first Vietnamese to set foot in America.
From a political and diplomatic perspective, Mr. Bui Vien is considered the first envoy of Vietnam to America to establish relations between the two countries. Mr. Bui Vien was originally from Tien Hai, Thai Binh, born into a Confucian family. In 1864, he passed the Tú Tài exam and later participated in the Hội exam, achieving the title of Bachelor. Mr. Bui Vien had connections in the capital with reformers such as Nguyen Tu Gia, Nguyen Truong To, and Dang Duc Thuan. He was tasked with developing Ninh Hai port into a trading port, which later became the precursor to Hai Phong port, and also led naval forces to combat pirates. But why did someone like him go to America? The story is a bit long, but simply put, he was an envoy.
The first destination of the envoy according to the Nguyen king was not the West or the New World, but Hong Kong, a gem developed by the British, that is, Hong Kong. There, merchant ships from Europe and America came and went bustlingly, the streets were clearly a very developed place, quite different from the streets of our country with its Eastern characteristics. And it was from here that Mr. Bui Vien sought to interact with Chinese dignitaries present in Hong Kong, who had experience in dealing with countries of Western civilization. From these interactions, he became acquainted with an American consul. This envoy also had a Chinese mother, so even though he was American, his Chinese was no less than that of the locals, while our envoy also had some knowledge of Cantonese. Therefore, the discussions were not too hindered.
From the information exchange between the two sides, Mr. Bui Vien's horizons were broadened to know about a powerful country in the western hemisphere that was still unfamiliar to our people. At that time, the president of the United States was Mr. Grant, not President Lincoln as some books record. Having a friend from America, Mr. Bui Vien asked for a connection, and this American friend immediately wrote a letter of introduction for Bui Vien to the highest leader of the United States. Thus, the next destination of the Nguyen envoy was determined. He immediately boarded a ship to Japan, and upon arriving in Japan, he took another merchant ship to America and moved towards the western hemisphere.
Needless to say, a Vietnamese person at that time was extremely astonished by what appeared in America, and he stayed here for a whole year for what purpose. Because during this time, he had to find every possible way to meet the president of the United States, and to not waste his time, he did not miss any opportunity to visit various towns and cities across America. Old books record that he became so accustomed to the customs and practices there that he no longer found them strange; the languages and people who were different from his own country were no longer considered unusual. Thus, the first Vietnamese envoy to America also met the supreme leader of the United States, which was President Grant, who served from 1868 to 1876. His thoughts and desires were presented to the leader of the United States. However, at this point, there was a disadvantage because Mr. Bui Vien did not have an official letter and had no way to prove that he was a legitimate representative from our country.
Not discouraged, Mr. Bui Vien continued his journey back home, hoping to continue a new journey to achieve his aspirations. Upon returning to Thuan An, he met King Tu Duc and presented all his knowledge about the world during his mission to the king, asking for permission to be appointed as the full ambassador to negotiate with the American government. Although still hindered by conservative officials, the official letter was eventually drafted. Thus, he continued to America for the second time, but the situation had changed. The last time Mr. Bui Vien was in America, the relationship between France and America was not very warm. Therefore, the Americans were willing to engage and assist Vietnam. This time, however, the relationship between France and America had warmed up again, and even with the official letter in hand, President Grant refused to assist Vietnam against France. Thus, after many storms and perseverance, Mr. Bui Vien returned empty-handed, having to embrace disappointment and return home.
Was Mr. Bui Vien the first Vietnamese to come to America?
In the book "The Path of Heaven" published by the Cultural Information Publishing House, researcher Nguyen Hien Le provided convincing evidence proving that 20 years before Mr. Bui Vien, a Vietnamese person had undertaken an adventure in the wild West of America like a true cowboy. That was Mr. Tran Trong Khiem, born in 1821, the second year of Minh Mang's reign, the son of a prominent family in Lam Thao, Phu Tho, but always ready for adventure. At the age of 21, after his wife was plotted against by a local chief and killed, he avenged her and then went to Hung Yen to work on a foreign merchant ship, beginning his adventure around the world.
From 1842 to 1854, Mr. Tran Trong Khiem traveled to many lands around the globe from Hong Kong to England, the Netherlands, and France. With his intelligence, he learned the languages of those countries, and by 1849 he set foot in New Orleans, Louisiana, starting a four-year journey in America until he found his way back home. After arriving in America, he disguised himself as a Chinese person named Le Kim and joined a group of gold seekers in the West. In the group, he was known for his polite and decent behavior, earning great respect. It was indeed a risky journey, with more than half of the group perishing due to hardships, hunger, and dangers along the way.
After accumulating some gold as capital, Le Kim arrived in San Francisco. In the mid-19th century, this was still a dusty town full of thieves, and being knowledgeable and fluent in many languages, Le Kim quickly found work as a freelance news runner for several local newspapers and later became an editor for the Daily Evenings newspaper, with many of his articles still preserved in the University of California library. In 1854, after being weary of life in America and feeling homesick day and night,
Le Kim sought a way to return to Vietnam, but he also managed to leave his mark in America as the first Vietnamese to arrive in the country, the first Vietnamese to ride horses and shoot guns like a true cowboy, and also the first Vietnamese journalist for American newspapers. In 1854, Tran Trong Khiem returned to Vietnam still under the name Le Kim to avoid being hunted down; he did not dare to return to his hometown but had to take on the identity of a Chinese person to settle in new lands. He was instrumental in founding the village of Hoa An, Phu Tan Thanh in Dinh Tuong province. Here, he married a woman named Phan and had two sons.
In his will, he instructed all his descendants to take the middle name Xuân to remember his old hometown in Xuân Lũng village. However, ten years later, when the village began to prosper, our country was invaded by French colonists. Le Kim abandoned his home and land, using all his assets along with Vo Duy Duong to gather thousands of soldiers to raise the flag of rebellion in Dong Thap 10. The shooting skills he learned during his adventurous years in the American West, along with his experience in building fortifications, helped him become a skilled general. His language skills also helped him win over a group of French soldiers and use them to attack the French forces in Cai Be, causing great distress to the enemy.
In 1866, during a crackdown by French troops, the rebellion was defeated, and Le Kim chose to die rather than fall into enemy hands. Thus, not only was he the first Vietnamese to come to America, but Le Kim, known in Vietnam as Tran Trong Khiem, was also one of the courageous patriots who stood up against French colonial invasion. Although his rebellion shared the same fate as many other uprisings in Southern Vietnam, which were all crushed by the French colonists, he is still recognized as one of the greatest figures in Dong Thap in the 19th century.