The Central Pacific hired the Chinese in groups of fifty to one-hundred,
paying them $26 to $35 per month. White employees were paid $35 per month, plus
room and board. The workday was from sunrise to sunset, six days a week. Between
12,000 and 14,000 Chinese worked for the Central Pacific on the transcontinental
railroad, and more than 1,200 died during its construction. The Chinese worked
at leveling roadbeds, digging tunnels, and blasting mountains. They were praised
for their work ethic and workmanship by newspaper reporters and their Central
Pacific bosses, including some who had originally objected to their employment. Yet,
when the transcontinental railroad was finally completed at Promontory Point,
Utah, the Chinese were excluded from celebrations there and in Sacramento. But
the good reputation they had earned led to the Union Pacific and the Northern
Pacific hiring Chinese workers beginning in 1870.
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