Chinese Railroad Workers

One fact that is generally overlooked in American history is the ethnic and racial diversity of the people in the west. The Native American term "buffalo soldier" used to refer to the U. S. cavalry was not due to their shooting buffalo but because the black soldiers reminded them of buffalo. A large percentage of cowboys were black and of course the area was part of Mexico before it was ceded to the United States at the end of the Mexican war. Finally, most of the labor that built the railroad moving eastward from California was Chinese coolie labor. Imported from China at a time when labor was desperately needed, the Chinese proved to be strong and willing backs when things needed to be moved. Tunnels had to be blasted through mountains, shelves had to be carved in the sides of mountains and sheds had to be built to protect the tracks from snow. This book is a simple, yet thorough description of the role the Chinese laborers had in making a railroad that went from one side of the country to the other. Generally discriminated against when they weren't working, most of the Chinese laborers stayed in the United States after the railroad was built and formed ethnic enclaves or "Chinatowns." The only part of the book that I disliked was the last few pages where the topic went to ghost stories about phantom Chinese seen by travelers on the train. The Chinese were an integral part of the settling of the United States and that is the point that should be emphasized.