The Forgotten Machines That Drilled 1,659 Feet Through Granite — and the Men They Didn't Count

Every white worker who died building the Transcontinental Railroad is named in the company records. The Chinese workers are counted in aggregate, when they are counted at all. Twelve thousand Chinese men drilled 1,659 feet through solid granite in the Sierra Nevada by candlelight, advancing eight inches per day. They lived in snow tunnels through forty-four storms. Avalanches buried entire crews. The spring thaw revealed the bodies. They were excluded from the golden spike ceremony. The famous photograph shows no Chinese faces. The drill marks they left in the granite are the only record that remains. #TranscontinentalRailroad #LaborHistory #ForgottenWorkers #IndustrialAmerica