The Transcontinental Railroad’s darkest secret is revealed at this LA museum

Chinese Workers’ Deadly Battle Through Sierra Nevada Mountains

The Sierra Nevada mountains stood in the way of America’s dream to link east and west by rail. In 1864, Central Pacific hired 21 Chinese workers out of desperation.

Soon, these men made up 90% of the workforce, yet earned just $31 monthly while white workers got $40 plus free food and tools.

They hung in baskets over cliffs to set explosives and spent 15 months drilling the 1,659-foot Summit Tunnel by hand. When 3,000 Chinese workers struck for fair pay in 1867, bosses simply cut off their food.

Nearly 1,000 died before Ging Cui, Wong Fook, and Lee Shao laid the final rail in 1869. The Chinese American Museum in California now tells this buried story of sacrifice.

21 Chinese Workers Got a Job When No One Else Would Take It

In January 1864, Central Pacific needed workers badly.

They started building in Sacramento a year earlier but couldn’t find enough help. Construction boss James Strobridge hired 21 Chinese men near Auburn, California when he got desperate.

White workers kept leaving for gold and silver mining jobs that paid better. The Chinese workers did such good work that Strobridge hired more.

Most came from southern China, running from troubles at home and looking for better jobs in America.

The Workforce Grew to Thousands in Just a Few Years

By 1865, Central Pacific started hiring lots of Chinese workers from California and straight from China.

Their workforce jumped from those first 21 men to over 3,000 by late 1865. The company split them into groups of 12-40 men, each with one white boss and a cook.

Chinese workers soon made up 80-90 percent of all Central Pacific workers, with about 12,000 working by 1868.

Between 1863 and 1869, about 15,000 to 20,000 Chinese workers built the western 690 miles of the railroad.

Chinese Workers Got Paid Less But Had to Pay for Everything

Chinese workers earned only $31-35 each month, while white workers got $40 for the same work. The unfair treatment didn’t stop there.

White workers got free housing, food, tools, and medical care from the company. Chinese workers had to buy all that stuff themselves from their smaller paychecks.

Despite this unfair treatment, Chinese workers sent most of their money back to their families in China.

They lived in simple wooden shacks in camps that moved east as the railroad grew.

Men Dangled From Ropes to Blast Through Cape Horn

In summer 1865, Chinese workers tackled one of the most dangerous spots: Cape Horn.

They spent about a year blasting a curved three-mile ledge along steep cliffs, 1,200 feet above the American River near Colfax. Workers hung from ropes on steep 75-degree slopes while drilling holes and placing bombs.

The ledge looked so amazing that trains later stopped so tourists could see it. Stories from the 1860s-1870s tell about workers hanging by ropes while doing this deadly work.

The Summit Tunnel Became Their Biggest Challenge

Chinese crews started working on Summit Tunnel at Donner Pass in August 1866. They moved forward just 14 inches per day through the hard rock.

This huge project cut through 1,659 feet of solid granite at 7,000 feet above sea level, making it the highest railroad tunnel in the world then.

Workers used basic tools: 8-pound hammers, hand drills, and chisels to make holes for black powder bombs.

Three-man teams worked eight-hour shifts day and night, taking eight hours to drill each tiny four-inch-deep hole.

Engineers Found a Way to Speed Up the Work

The tunnel moved too slowly, so engineers came up with a smart fix.

They decided to dig a straight-down shaft in the middle of the tunnel to create four work areas instead of two.

On August 27, 1866, workers started digging an 8-by-12-foot vertical shaft from the top down toward the tunnel level.

Two teams dug inward from the east and west tunnel entrances while two more teams dug outward from the middle shaft.

A steam engine lifted rock from the bottom of the 124-foot-deep shaft, letting work happen on all sides despite the tough conditions.

Snow Buried Workers Alive During the Brutal Winter

The winter of 1866-1867 brought 44 separate storms that covered Donner Summit with 18 feet of snow.

Chinese workers dug snow tunnels and snow rooms connecting their wooden houses to work areas, living underground for months.

Avalanches often swept groups of workers to their deaths. At Camp 4 near Strong’s Canyon, one huge avalanche killed two entire work teams at Tunnels 11 and 12.

Many workers rarely saw the sun during winter, walking through snow tunnels between their beds and work sites.

A New Explosive Changed Everything

British chemist James Howden arrived in February 1867 and started mixing nitroglycerin on-site. This strong new explosive needed smaller drill holes but packed more power than black powder.

The broken rock from nitroglycerin blasts proved easier to clear away, saving lots of time and work. Progress jumped to two feet per day on all four tunnel faces instead of just inches.

Workers finished the Summit Tunnel in August 1867, just one year after starting the vertical shaft, with the tunnel ends off by only two inches.

Thousands of Workers Went on Strike for Equal Pay

On June 25, 1867, about 3,000 to 5,000 Chinese workers organized a strike along the eastern slope of the Sierras between Cisco and Strong’s Canyon.

They wanted equal $40 monthly pay, shorter 10-hour workdays instead of 12-hour shifts, and better working conditions.

This strike became the largest worker protest in America at that time, just two years after the Civil War ended.

Central Pacific boss Charles Crocker fought back by cutting off food trains and threatening to hold back June pay.

After eight days without food, workers returned to work, though pay quietly rose to $40 several months later.

Railroad Crews Set Records in the Final Push

After the Summit Tunnel opened on November 30, 1867, Central Pacific built 37 miles of wooden snow sheds through 1868-1869 to protect tracks from winter storms.

In the final year, crews laid about 560 miles of track between Reno, Nevada, and Promontory Summit, Utah.

On April 28, 1869, Chinese and Irish workers laid over 10 miles of track in a single day, winning a $10,000 bet made by Charles Crocker with Union Pacific.

Between 500 and 1,000 Chinese workers died during the six years of construction from explosions, avalanches, accidents, and harsh conditions.

Families of the dead often never learned what happened to their loved ones.

Their Historic Achievement Got Erased from the Famous Photo

On May 10, 1869, Chinese workers including Ging Cui, Wong Fook, and Lee Shao laid the final rail at Promontory Summit shortly after noon.

Central Pacific President Leland Stanford drove the ceremonial golden spike to complete the 1,912-mile transcontinental connection.

The famous photograph of the ceremony shows no Chinese workers, despite them making up 80-90 percent of Central Pacific’s workforce.

Stanford had campaigned against Chinese immigration as California governor, calling Chinese people “the dregs of Asia” in 1862.

The crucial contributions of Chinese workers went largely unrecognized for 150 years until recent historical research brought their story to light.

Visiting Chinese American Museum, California

The Chinese American Museum at 425 N. Los Angeles Street tells the story of Chinese railroad workers who built 690 miles of the Central Pacific Railroad through California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains from 1863-1869.

The museum is in the historic 1890 Garnier Building and is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 3pm with free admission (suggested $3 donation).

You can see a recreated 1890s Chinese herb shop and reach it easily via Metro from Union Station.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• This Bay Area island’s most dangerous contraband wasn’t weapons – it was poetry
• They were the only Native Americans ever executed for war crimes in America – the Modoc War aftermath
• Now-extinct Nicoleño tribe of Channel Islands: story of the last survivor