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By Pamela Dell
Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, Lexile, and Reading
Recovery are provided in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling
Guide.
Scott Foresman Reading Street 5.1.5S tt F R di St t 5 1 5
GenreComprehension
Skill and StrategyText Features
Nonfi ction Cause and Effect
Graphic Sources
Text Structure
Captions
Diagrams
Map
Glossary
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Note: The total word count includes words in the running text
and headings only. Numerals and words in chapter titles, captions,
labels, diagrams, charts, sidebars, and extra features are not
included.
By Pamela Dell
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6
There was one major obstacle to this goal, however. To get
across the California border into Nevada, the railway would need to
scale the rugged Sierra Nevada. This mountain range lay like a
forbidding giant along Californias eastern border.
Few believed it was possible to build a railway up and over the
giants massive shoulders. The directors of the Central Pacific were
confident it could be done. All it would take were money,
engineering expertise, and enough men to do the heavy
laborthousands of them.
The rugged Sierra Nevada
77
A Need for LaborersCharles Crocker, one of the Central Pacifics
directors,
was in charge of the railroads construction. He hired James
Strobridge as his superintendent. Strobridges main job was to
oversee all those who were working on the railway. Where would
those workers come from?
Chinese immigrants had been flooding into California by way of
San Francisco since the 1850s. They came to escape political
problems, poverty, and overcrowding in their homeland. Many hoped
to get rich in the California gold rush that had begun in 1849.
They all needed jobs.
But life in the United States was vastly different. By the
1860s, prejudice against Chinese people was fierce. The new
arrivals faced discrimination in every part of their lives,
especially in the job market. Whites often refused to work
alongside Chinese workers. So Crocker began employing only white
workers, mostly those of Irish descent.
Chinese immigrants fled problems at home, but they faced a new
problemracial prejudicein California.
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8
The first rails had been laid in Sacramento in October 1863. By
June of 1864, the railway stretched to Newcastle, California, some
31 miles from there. Now the real work was about to beginthat of
building up and through the Sierra Nevada.
To stay on schedule, Crocker suggested hiring Chinese immigrants
because his white workers were not always dependable. Many left to
prospect for gold. Others continually threatened to strike and
created other problems for the Central Pacific bosses. At best, no
more than about 800 willing workers could be found. Typically,
after paydays, this number would dip even lower as scores of men
took their money and fled the hard work of railroad building.
At first, Strobridge objected to Crockers idea. Racial prejudice
wasnt the only problem. The Chinese men were generally small. On
average, their height was just 4 feet 10 inches and their weight
about 120 pounds. They were smaller than an average woman of
today!
Strobridge believed such small men would not be strong enough
for the heavy, intense work of railroad-building. Crocker
disagreed. In 1864, he managed to convince Strobridge to hire a
small number of Chinese immigrants.
eet
Construction boss Charles Crocker (above) persuaded
Superintendent James Strobridge (below, left) to hire Chinese
laborers on the Central Pacific.
9
Chapter 2 The Chinese Sign OnMost of the Chinese workers were
from the Canton
region in South China. At first they were assigned to lighter
jobs. Immediately these new workers showed their reliability,
strength, and intelligence. As time went on, more Chinese workers
were hired, and they were given more responsibility and heavier
work. No matter what job they were assigned, the immigrants were
willingand they worked hard. They were also punctual and
trustworthy.
Crocker observed that his Chinese employees were skillful in
using both drills and hammers. They also made faster progress each
week than experienced white miners he had hired. Soon, Crocker was
scouring all of California and beyond for as many Chinese laborers
as he could get.
The Chinese railway workers proved they were strong, brave, and
reliable.
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10
Wherever we put them, Crocker reported later, we found them
good. If we were in a hurryit was better to put Chinese on at
once.
Things were not easy for the immigrants, however. The white
railway workers resented their presence and did not want to work
alongside them. When Crocker threatened to fire them and hire
Chinese men in their places, things calmed down. In time, Chinese
and white men generally worked side by side with little
trouble.
In time, Chinese and white men worked together building the
railroad. As shown in this illustration, the Chinese typically wore
peaked straw hats. The white men wore western-style hats.
11
Lifestyle DifferencesAway from work, these two groups led
separate
livesand not equal in all respects. The white workers were paid
thirty-five dollars a month or more, plus free meals. The Chinese
men at first received only twenty-five dollars a month for the same
work. They also had to pay extra for their food.
The white workers slept in covered railroad cars. The Chinese
workers spent their nights in canvas tents alongside the tracks
until the crews moved into the high Sierra. Then better shelter was
needed, so they slept in drafty wood bunkhouses.
A Chinese tent camp alongside the railway tracks
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12
The Chinese workers hired their own cooks to prepare meals. They
ate much differently from the white workers, who lived mainly on
boiled beef and potatoes. Chinese meals included foods such as
poultry, Chinese bacon, dried oysters and abalone, rice, salted
cabbage, rice crackers, and cuttlefish with bamboo sprouts. White
workers often came down with illnesses such as dysentery from
drinking contaminated water. The Chinese laborers had more
healthful diets and drank tea, which required boiling the water, so
they seldom got sick.
Days off were spent differently too. Sunday was the day of rest,
but many of the white workers lurched around aimlessly and spent
their money unwisely. It was common for them to be rowdy. While the
Chinese also played gambling games and got into quarrels, they
tended to keep to themselves, away from prying western eyes. On
Sundays, the immigrants caught up on chores such as washing and
mending clothing. This was important to them. Their white
counterparts did notcare much about keeping clean, but the Chinese
workers generally bathed and put on fresh clothes every day.
Chinese workers had their own cooks, who supplied fresh
vegetables and other foods.
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Chapter 3 Building the Central Pacific Railroad
Legend tells that at one point James Strobridge was against
letting the Chinese work on the railroads necessary masonry, or
stonework. He changed his mind when Charles Crocker made a
now-famous reply. Crocker reminded Strobridge that it was Chinese
labor that had built one of the greatest masonry structures in the
world: The Great Wall of China. So it was here again that these
workers proved themselves with their excellent work.
The manual labor all along the Central Pacific route was
grueling. This was especially true once the teams started up the
foothills into the Sierra. But by that time, thousands of Chinese
were at work building the railroad.
The Great Wall of China (left) and retaining walls in the Sierra
(right) built by the mostly Chinese Central Pacific railroad
crews
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14
Men trained to do the surveying of the land led the way. Then
came the graders. The job of the graders was to carve out level
roadbeds on which the track would be laid. They used picks,
hammers, and shovels. Crews bringing up the rear then secured the
lengths of metal track and the huge, heavy wooden railroad ties
with giant spikes. At that time there was no mechanized or
motorized equipment. The drilling and digging was done entirely by
hand!
By May 1866, the railway workers had reached Cape Horn, a rocky
bluff about 58 miles east of Sacramento. The spot is legendary for
its breathtaking views of the mountains and the American River,
which lies about 1,300 feet below.
The Central Pacific Railroad line at Cape Horn
15
At this point, well into the mountains, work on the railroad
began to grow much more difficult. Tunnels were necessary in order
to reach the eastern side of the Sierra. Building tunnels required
blasting. However, blasting through the Sierras solid granite was
next to impossible.
A Long-Lived MythSo how were the solid granite surfaces
penetrated?
The monument at Cape Horn makes an interesting claim. It states
that the Chinese laborers were lowered over the face of Cape Horn
Promontory in wicker bosuns chairs, or baskets. This was supposedly
so they could hack out ledges in the mountainside and bore holes in
the cliff in which to place explosives.
Modern-day research has shown this is most likely a myth. Men
never dangled in baskets in midair at Cape Horn. Nevertheless, the
work in the tall mountains was a huge challenge.
The myth that Chinese railway workers were lowered down the Cape
Horn cliffsides in baskets has been kept alive for decades by both
writers and artists.
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Mountain DangersEven without hanging in baskets, the Chinese
laborers had extremely hazardous work to do in the high
mountains. The task of blasting was first done with explosive black
powder. But the powder did not pack a lot of power. Progress was
being made at a rate of only inches per day. By early 1867, Crocker
and Strobridge made the decision to try highly dangerous but more
effective nitroglycerine charges to blast through the solid
rock.
The deafening roar of these explosions was the least of the
troubles that blasting involved. Setting the charges was risky, and
unplanned explosions could occur without warning. Both took lives.
Also, winter came early and stayed long in the rugged mountains.
Snowfall was heavy and deep. Explosions under such conditions often
set off avalanches. Men, and even whole camps, were sometimes
buried alive in the ferocious wave of snow that rushed down a
mountainside.
Working with explosives frequently cost the lives of the Central
Pacifics railway workers.
17
The Chinese Workers StrikeBy early summer 1867, 10- and 12-foot
snowdrifts still
covered some of the high mountain passes. Work on the railway
itself was at a standstill while the men put their energies into
shoveling snow. Hoping to attract more laborers, Crocker raised the
Chinese workers wages to 35 dollars a month.
However, these men had had enough of the inequalities they
suffered. On June 25, 1867, 2,000 immigrants working on an eastern
slope put down their tools and returned to their camp. They told
the bosses they would not go back to work unless they received 40
dollars a month.
The Chinese laborers had other demands, as well. Instead of
working dawn to dusk, they called for a maximum 10-hour day. They
also wanted shorter shifts in the dark, cold, dangerous tunnels
they were building through the mountains. When Crocker refused all
of this, the men raised their demand for pay to 45 dollars a month.
The Chinese railroad
workers walked off the job, hoping to get the same pay and hours
as white workers.
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Remarkably, throughout this workers strike, order was
maintained. Crocker stated, If there had been that number of whites
in a strike, there would have been murderand disorderbut with the
Chinese it was just like Sunday. No violence was perpetrated along
the whole line.
Crocker appreciated the lack of violence, but he was tough. He
would not even consider the workers demands. Instead, he cut off
all food, including meat, and other supplies. He left them alone in
their camp for a week. Then he returned. There would be no pay
increases or lessening of hours, he announced. If the men returned
to work, they would be fined only for their week away. If they
continued striking, however, they would lose their entire pay for
the month of June. Hungry and defeated, most of the Chinese workers
returned to work at once. Threatened by white men with guns, the
remaining strikers came back soon after. The Central Pacific
Railroad would be completed.
Charles Crocker left the Chinese strikers without food or other
services for a whole week.
19
Over the SummitJust as in the previous winter, unusually
massive
amounts of snow fell in the Sierra during the winter of
18671868. At the summit, drifts piled up 18 feetnearly the height
of a two-story building. This slowed the work even further. Heavy
snowfall in the Sierra was an ongoing problem, so snow sheds also
had to be built. These were structures built to shield the trains
on tracks that ran unprotected outside the tunnels.
Chinese workers greet a Central Pacific train as it heads
through a snow shed.
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20
Trestle bridges through the Sierra, such as this one, were often
long and elaborately constructed.
Donner Summit Tunnel
21
By this time, with about 13,500 men hired for the railway, there
was enough manpower to continue work year-round. Working under the
most difficult conditions, the laborers determinedly dug mile after
mile of steep, winding grades. They built towering trestles, or
bridges. And they blasted a total of 6,213 feet of tunnels through
the solid granite peaks. During the winters, they lived and worked
like moles, moving around almost entirely underground by lantern
light.
The Donner Summit tunnel, also known as Tunnel Number Six, was
the highest in elevation at 7,000 feet above sea level. It was also
the most difficult of all tunnels to construct. Two years after it
was begun, it was finally completed on August 28, 1867. By then,
all the Sierra tunnels were passable.
After two extreme winters, the very first Central Pacific train
steamed into Truckee, California, on the eastern slope of the
Sierra, in April 1868. This was much sooner than anyone had
expected.
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Conclusion A Remarkable Achievement
A month later, in May 1868, the Central Pacific crews crossed
the state line and were hustling their way across the barren Nevada
flatlands. The CaliforniaNevada border had originally been chosen
as the place where the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific
Railroads would meet. This was because everyone had expected the
Union Pacific rail lines to reach Nevada first. They had not
counted on the energy of the Chinese workers to be industrious
enough to labor across the high Sierra ahead of schedule.
These men had accomplished the impossible. They had literally
moved mountainsand in record time. Once the work reached Wadsworth,
Nevada, 189 miles from Sacramento, the hardest part was over.
It took another year before the Central Pacific and the Union
Pacific met. On the way, the two companies competed numerous times
to see which could lay the most track at the quickest speed. The
Central Pacific crew, made up of at least 8090 percent Chinese
laborers, won decisively. On April 28, 1869, they laid 10 miles and
56 feet of track in 12 hours, a record that has never been
broken.
Less than two weeks later, the two train lines merged into one
at Promontory Summit, Utah. The workers on the Central Pacific had
laid a total of 742 miles of track from Sacramento.
On that celebratory day in Promontory, May 10, 1849, the whole
country was listening in by telegraph. When
23
A cartoonists vision of the Central Pacific and the Union
Pacific Railroads meeting up to form a transcontinental railway
system
a specially made gold spike bearing the words The Last Spike was
driven into the last railroad tie, the news shot out across the
wire. From San Francisco to Washington, D.C., wild celebrations
erupted.
The Golden Spike ceremony was a symbolic affair commemorating an
incredible accomplishment. The Chinese workers had done more than
any other group to bring about the greatest engineering feat of the
1800s. With train passage through the Sierra Nevada now possible,
the United States first transcontinental railroad was ready to
roll.
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Glossarybarren adj. level land where few trees are found and
only sparse vegetation grows
deafening adj. extremely loud
lurched v. swayed, jerked, or staggered around
previous adj. occurring earlier in time
prying adj. overly curious
surveying v. accurately measuring Earths surface using
mathematics and special tools
Reader Response 1. According to the text, what circumstances led
to
Chinese immigrants building the Transcontinental Railroad? What
effect did that have on the railroad?
2. How do the headings for each section prepare you for what is
coming next in the selection? Using a chart like the one below,
give two examples.
Headings How It Prepared You
3. Find the word prying in the text. Based on the words around
it, what do you think it means? Explain what it means to a
classmate.
4. Why do you think the Chinese workers decided to strike? Do
you agree or disagree with their decision? And how do you feel
about the outcome of their strike? Explain why you think it was
fair or unfair.
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