The Central Pacific recorded forty-four storms in the winter of 1866 to 1867, and Chinese crews lived and worked in tunnels beneath the drifts at Donner Summit. When avalanches took whole camps, the company kept payroll ledgers but none of the dead. The episode covers the June 1867 strike of roughly three thousand workers, broken when Crocker cut off their food, and Promontory Summit, where Chinese workers vanished from the famous photograph.
Who's who
- Charles Crocker+2 more episodesCentral Pacific construction chief who broke the 1867 strike
- James Harvey Strobridge+1 more episodeSuperintendent who honored Chinese workers at Promontory
- Louis M. ClementCentral Pacific engineer on the Summit tunnels
- Andrew J. RussellUnion Pacific photographer of 'East and West Shaking Hands'
- Leland StanfordCentral Pacific president who swung the ceremonial maul
- Ging CuiOne of the Chinese workers who carried up the last rail
- Wong FookOne of the Chinese workers who carried up the last rail
- Lee ShaoOne of the Chinese workers who carried up the last rail
Where it happens
- Donner Summit, Sierra Nevada, CaliforniaWhere crews tunneled under 40 feet of snow
- Promontory Summit, Utah+3 more episodesSite of the golden spike, May 10, 1869
- Ogden, UtahHonored the three last-rail workers in 1919
Timeline
- Winter 1866-1867Forty-four storms bury the Sierra; avalanches sweep away camps
- June 1867About 3,000 Chinese workers strike for higher wages and shorter shifts
- July 1867Crocker halts food deliveries and the strikers return
- April 1869Ten-Mile Day: crews lay 10 miles of track in one day
- May 10, 1869Chinese crew of eight places the final rails at Promontory
Still debated
No death ledger for Chinese workers exists. Estimates range from about 50 to 150 on the railroad side, to hundreds and possibly up to 1,200 in the Stanford project, to outlier figures above 2,000.
