From: "Chris Graves" caliron@cwnet.com
The State of California is soon to celebrate Admission Day. This year the Capital Celebration will be held at the Stanford Mansion, recently renovated, in a gala three day event.
State Parks has invited me to join in the pile, they are asking that I bring 60 linear feet of branded rail, original spikes, original telegraph pole and yard arm, mile post, etc. and most, if not all of my Chinese artifacts.
As a 'handout' is suggested, the attached is submitted to you for your critique. Several hundred of these will be given to school children and others that attend this soiree.
Your comments, corrections/suggestions are appreciated.
—Chris Graves, NewCastle, AltaCal'a
CHINESE RAILROAD WORKERS, BY THE NUMBERS
Are you good at puzzles? There are a few mysteries to be resolved, perhaps you can help!
The California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento has Central Pacific Railroad payroll records that reflect the following number of Chinese employees:
January, 1864....................23
February, 1864...................21
April, 1864............................5
March, 1865.....................730
April, 1865.....................1,358
May, 1865.....................1,218
January, 1866...............1,120
February, 1866..............1,176
March, 1866..................2,525
April, 1866.....................6,190
May, 1866.....................4,655
June, 1866....................5,184
July, 1866......................3,933
August, 1866.................2,012
September, 1866...........4,359
October, 1866................3,067
November, 1866............2,460
December, 1866............1,326
December, 1867...............401
The payrolls that are missing are presumed to be in private collectors' hands, as they surface from time to time on eBay and other auction sites. Do you know of anyone that may have a missing payroll journal?
On February 27, 1877, Charles Crocker said under oath, in Congressional testimony: Question "You say that you employed ten thousand Chinese?"
Answer: "About that number, I never knew exactly how many."
In that same hearing, James H. Strobridge, Construction Foreman for Mr. Crocker said "I do not think we had any Chinese (employed) in 1864, if so, then very few."
These two statements, as well as other Congressional testimony, leads most historians to believe that the bulk of Chinese workers were hired [beginning] in March, 1865, between Auburn and Clipper Gap. Do you have any documents that would prove or disprove this thesis?
Yet one other mystery remains to be resolved. In January, 1870, the Elko Independent reported that "there are 6 cars strung along the grade between here and Toano, picking up bodies of deceased Chinese railroad workers." And in July, 1870, the Sacramento Reporter noted "A train passed here today, containing 20,000 pounds of bones of Chinese railroad workers … some 1,200 bodies … bound for the flowery kingdom."
The question is, what possibly could have killed 1,200 workers between Elko and Toano, Nevada, a distance of less than 150 miles? We know that there were "pest cars" to house Chinese workers infected with smallpox in 1868-69, as Mrs. J. H. Strobridge contracted the disease caring for the sick workers. Nowhere has the exact number of workers that died during the course of construction from ANY CAUSE been found.
Newspaper reports of the day (1863-1869) note fewer than 130 deaths of railroad workers. These deaths are primarily from avalanche, cold, and fights, but few from accident while on the grade working. HOW MANY REALLY DIED? WHERE, AND FROM WHAT CAUSES? Do you know the answer?
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