Polly Bemis (September 11, 1853 – November 6, 1933) was a Chinese American pioneer who lived in Idaho in the late 19th and early 20th century. Her story became a biographical novel, and was the subject of the 1991 film Thousand Pieces of Gold. Early life On September 11, 1853, Bemis was born in rural northern China, near one of the upper villages. As a child, Bemis had bound feet, which were later unbound. When she was eighteen, there was a prolonged drought, during which her father sold her to bandits for two much-needed bags of seed. In 1872, Bemis was smuggled into the United States and sold as a slave in San Francisco, California for $2,500. It was common for Chinese men of that time to have multiple wives and concubines, all having some social status and living under the same roof. When a Chinese man moved to North America, he might take a concubine with him or acquire one there, as custom required him to leave his wife in China to take care of his parents. An intermediary took her from San Francisco via Portland, Oregon, to Idaho, where her buyer, a wealthy Chinese man, possibly named Hong King, ran a saloon in a mining camp in Warrens, Idaho Territory, now Warren, Idaho. She arrived in Warrens on July 8, 1872. Bemis was tall. How Bemis gained her freedom from her Chinese captor is uncertain. According to academic Priscilla Wegars, her Chinese owner helped her gain her freedom. In mid-1880, the census listed her as living with saloon owner and fiddler Charlie Bemis (1848–1922), who befriended her when she first arrived in Warrens, and protected her from unwanted advances. Charlie's "fearless personality, coupled with his skill at shooting, enabled him to maintain order without getting into trouble". During her time in her Chinese owner's saloon, Bemis would often call for Charlie if "things got too rough", or she would leave through the saloon's back door and enter through Charlie's, who "never failed her". Career Polly Bemis was not financially dependent on Charlie Bemis. Polly took in laundry from miners and ran a boarding house that Charlie Bemis built for her next to his own, a short distance from his saloon. Charlie was almost killed during a gambling dispute in September 1890, when he was shot in the cheek, and Bemis nursed him back to health. In addition to