Disgruntled over the presence of 3000+ Chinese immigrants in the Seattle-Tacoma corridor, the Washington Knights organized a meeting on the 28th of September. The meeting was presided over by Tacoma's mayor, Jacob Weisbach, and the assembled men concluded they must rid the area of "Chinese slave labor". They intended to speak to employers about their discharge, and thus formed local committees to enforce the expulsion if all Chinese were not removed from the town by November 1. Some Chinese were persuaded to evacuate at this point and between November 4–14, some 150 Chinese fled Seattle. This prompted territorial Governor Watson Squire to telegraph President Cleveland for troops, and he received soldiers under the command of Brig. Gen. John Gibbon by train the next morning. These soldiers never took action and were ordered back to garrison on November 17. The tensions did not end there, however, as Knights of Labor meetings continued through January. On February 6, 1886, the Knights again met and charged a six-man committee with delivering an ultimatum to the Chinese that they must leave Seattle or be forcibly removed.