My family and I have just recently traveled to the Americas. I hope to

find a job so I can support my family and make a living here. I was in high

hopes to work on the railroad. There was a big debate on whether Chinese

and Irish should work on the railroad . Many people doubted that we could

lift 80lb ties and 540lb rail sections with most of us being less than five foot

and 120lbs. Charles Crocker persuaded them to let the Chinese and Irish

immigrants work by reminding them “They built the great wall of China and

could build the railroad.”  I got a job because the government only had 600

labor workers when they needed 5000. I was one of the first Chinese to be

hired in the year 1865. I was accompanied by many other Chinese and Irish

immigrants who were willing to work in dangerous conditions to make

some money. We made approximately 28$ per month to lay tracks on very

treacherous terrain. We are deducted from our monthly income by the

American and Chinese merchants who supply us food. A White worker

made 35$ a month and, they didn’t have to pay for room and supplies like

us.

            We progressed very slowly for the first 20 miles of railroad track laid

down. We were given the task to lay tracks over high elevated mountains. I

helped lower some other Chinese workers from the top of the cliffs in

baskets. when they were on the side of the cliff, they planted dynamite in

order to attempt to level the cliff. I wanted to quit my job when I saw many

people lose their lives because they couldn’t  get away fast enough, but I

knew I had to keep going.

            The winters in the sierras were very cold, with a record of over forty

feet of snow. Avalanches swept away men while they were putting tracks

down. Those of us who didn’t get swept away by the avalanches dug

tunnels from our huts to get to the work tunnels.  Because we were hired

the Cornish miners gave up working.  we took their place in the mines, with

a pick, a shovel and black powder. We averaged 8 inches a day, 24hours a

day, from each side of the tunnel. I didn’t come out of the tunnel for

months.

             At Cape Corn in the Sierra Mountains, I did not want to help suspend

other workers down the 2,000 ft Sierras mountains. I was afraid to see

other workers lose their lives to try to level the mountains. They said if I

didn’t work I wouldn’t get paid, and I got whipped for refusing to work. So I

unwillingly helped suspend other workers down the mountain in baskets

for them to attempt to level it. Amazingly no one died, but some people

lost fingers. Some Chinese workers and I went on strike and earned

ourselves the right not to be whipped.

            In the Nevada Desert the summer heat was unbearable, at 120

degree heat it was hard to keep ourselves from dehydrating. Most of the

workers inhaled alkali dust and were constantly bleeding from their lungs.

Since we knew we did a better job than the white laborers we went on

strike. We won and got up to 35$ a month, but still had to pay for food and

supplies. The White workers thought we were strange because we wore

strange clothes, hats, ate strange foods,  drank boiled tea all day, and

washed and put on clean clothes every day. The White workers however

rarely bathed or put on clean clothes. They also got drunk fought and spent

all their money on gambling.

            In return for working so hard, they let me and seven other Chinese

laborers bring up and place the last section of the rail on May 10th, 1869.

he seven other men I worked with let me drive in the Golden Spike. That

made this the first Transcontinental Railroad. I was glad to be able to make

the journey without losing my life, and I was honored to drive in the Golden

Spike to connect the two railways.