Archeologists Dig Up Pieces to Railroad Puzzle

Last month, the Director of the American Studies Program at Stanford, Dr. Shelley Fishkin, spoke at the U.S.-China Peoples' Friendship Association regarding her research : The Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project (See part one.) The idea for a railroad put forth by President Lincoln was necessitated by the agonizing time it took to get from west to east, the inefficiency of travel and communication. To construct the most difficult part (the stretch through the Sierra Nevada) one of the owner's, Leland Stanford, suggested using Chinese labor. See Part Two. This was an odd suggestion at the time, as Stanford had promised to get rid of the Chinese. (See Part Three.) Approximately 12-15,000 Chinese worked on the western portion of the transcontinental railroad--an estimated 80-90% of the work force.  Yet, there is little documentation of their participation. (See Part Four.) To correct this wrong, Stanford formed the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project, and working with 150 scholars globally, is leaving no stone unturned. 1. They have looked at payroll records. (See part Five.) 2. They are exploring letters, books, and newspaper articles (see part six.)
3. The Railroad Project is also following the findings of archeologists who have worked along the railroad route. "...they have unearthed thousands of pieces of rice bowls, gaming pieces, cooking vessels and opium pipes," said Dr. Fishkin.
4. They are asking the descendants of the railroad workers to come forward and share what they know.  As a result, slowly, what once was this blurry idea of “Chinese laborers” is becoming clearer.

“For example,” said Dr. Fishkin. “Wilson Chow said his great grandfather Jun Yuk Chow left his home in Kaiping County, attracted by the idea of the Gold Rush, and took a ferry to Hong Kong where he booked 3^rd class passage on a 3-mast sailboat across the Pacific. The journey took 48 days. He worked as a miner in Gold Hill, Nevada, when he was recruited to work on the Central Pacific.

“Another worker—Lim Lip Hong—similarly came looking for gold. He left Guangdong on a junk with his uncle and twelve relatives in 1865. Their journey took six months, as they got stuck in a dead zone in the middle of the ocean. Several of the group tried to commit suicide. They finally made it across. Some years later, they too were recruited to work on the railroad.”

The supply of Chinese workers already in the country was not enough to meet the demand of the railroad, so Central Pacific began recruiting directly from China. Hung Lai Wow left his village in Toisan as a teenager, along with one of his brothers, to join the work crew. Chin Lin Sou was also recruited directly from Guangdong.

(To be continued. Next: Half the Accomplishment, Zero Appreciation.)