Throughout the 1880s, anti-Chinese incidents became increasingly common. On September 4, 1885, the Rock Springs Massacre occurred in Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory and represented one of the deadliest anti-Chinese incidents in the United States during the nineteenth century. A group of coal miners drove out hundreds of Chinese miners and killed at least 28 of them. News of this event spread nationally and internationally and led to increased friction between the Chinese consulate and the United States government. This would become one of a string of violent incidents directed towards the Chinese population in the Pacific Northwest territories.