Ghosts Of Gold Mountain

The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad

Gordon H. Chang

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9780358331810
• eBook ISBN: 9781328618610
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Chinese History
• Index: Technology & Engineering

"Gripping . . . Chang has accomplished the seemingly impossible . . . He has written a remarkably rich, human, and compelling story of the railroad Chinese." —Peter Cozzens,  The Wall Street Journal
WINNER OF THE ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE 
WINNER OF THE CHINESE AMERICAN LIBRARIANS ASSOCIATION BEST BOOK AWARD
A groundbreaking, breathtaking history of the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, helping to forge modern America only to disappear into the shadows of history until now.
From across the sea, they came by the thousands, escaping war and poverty in southern China to seek their fortunes in America. Converging on the enormous western worksite of the Transcontinental Railroad, the migrants spent years dynamiting tunnels through the snow-packed cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and laying tracks across the burning Utah desert. Their sweat and blood fueled the ascent of an interlinked, industrial United States. But those of them who survived this perilous effort would suffer a different kind of death: a historical one, as they were pushed first to the margins of American life and then to the fringes of public memory. 
In this groundbreaking account, award-winning scholar Gordon H. Chang draws on unprecedented research to recover the Chinese railroad workers' stories and celebrate their role in remaking America. An invaluable correction of a great historical injustice,  Ghosts of Gold Mountain returns these "silent spikes" to their rightful place in our national saga.
"The lived experience of the Railroad Chinese has long been elusive . . . Chang's book is a moving effort to recover their stories and honor their indispensable contribution to the building of modern America." — The New York Times

Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

“Across the Continent” (illustration), 134, 167, 272 n134

African Americans

Chinese replacement of, 213, 217

Civil War veterans, 3

freed from slavery, 64, 67, 153, 154, 213, 219

hired by CPRR, 142, 143, 154, 162

at Promontory, 207

in Truckee, 169

Ah Chew, 257 n50

Ah Coon, 84

Ah Faw, 170, 175

Ah Fong, 84, 170, 175

Ah Fu, 257 n50

Ah Gee, 142

Ah How, 170

Ah Jim, 235–36

Ah John, 181

Ah Ling, 67–68

Ah Louis, 114–15

Ah Ming, 142

Ah Shau, 179

Ah Sing, 174

Ah Sum, 170

Ah Tom, 174

Ah Toy, 72, 180

Ah Wing, 84

Ah Wo, 234–35

Ah Yow, 84

Alaska (steamship), 29

Altair and Vega, 99–100

American River, 26, 69, 71, 78, 87, 90–91, 165–66

Anglo-Chinese War (1839–1842), 19

anti-Chinese sentiment and violence. See also racism and discrimination

Chinese Exclusion Acts, 231–32, 255 n41

Cleveland, Daniel, and, 53

eastern cities as escape from, 215–16

Irish and, 196–97

Lai Yong and, 51–52

murder, 71, 221–22

in Placer and Nevada Counties, 69–71

politicians and, 60–63, 145

prostitution and, 177

Sinophobia, 46, 211, 232

Six Companies and, 46

songs, 59–60

in years following railway completion, 11–13, 230–34, 239, 241, 243

Arthur, Chester Alan, 232

Asing, Norman, 61

Auburn, California

Chinese presence in, 70, 112

Hung Wah in, 4, 68–69, 113–14, 172–74, 239–40

McDaniel’s murder in, 173–74

train route through, 11, 81, 97, 121, 165

avalanches. See snowslides and avalanches

B

baige piao (game), 172

“Bank and Cut at Sailor’s Spur” (photograph...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Map
• Introduction
• Guangdong
• Gold Mountain
• Central Pacific
• Foothills
• The High Sierra
• The Summit
• The Strike
• Truckee
• The Golden Spike
• Beyond Promontory
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Photo Credits
• Index
• About the Author
• Connect with HMH