Research Catalog

Ghosts of Gold Mountain : the epic story of the Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad

Title
Ghosts of Gold Mountain : the epic story of the Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad / Gordon H. Chang.
Author
Chang, Gordon H.
Publication
Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2019]

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TextUse in library JFE 19-4467Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
312 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm
Summary
  • "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"--
  • "The long-lost tale of the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, helping to forge modern America only to disappear into the shadows of history. In 1864, as the Civil War still raged, throngs of Chinese migrants began to converge on the enormous western worksite of the Transcontinental Railroad. Over the next five years, they blasted tunnels through the granite cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and laid tracks across the burning Nevada and Utah deserts. As many as twelve hundred lost their lives along the route. Those who survived 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. Of the twenty thousand Chinese laborers who toiled on the western portion of the Transcontinental, not one is named in histories of the railroad. Many were literate, yet not a scrap of their writing remains. In this groundbreaking book, award-winning historian Gordon H. Chang recovers the stories of these "silent spikes" and returns them to their rightful place in our national saga. Drawing on recent archaeological findings, as well as payroll records, ship manifests, photographs, and other sources from American and Chinese archives, Chang retraces the laborers' odyssey in breathtaking detail. He introduces individual workers, describes their hopes and fears, and shows how they lived, ate, fought, loved, worked, and worshiped. Their sweat and blood not only fueled the ascent of an interlinked, industrial United States, but also laid the groundwork for a thriving Chinese America. A magisterial feat of scholarship and storytelling, Ghosts of Gold Mountain honors these immigrants' sacrifice and ingenuity, and celebrates their role in this defining American achievement."--Jacket.
  • In 1864, as the Civil War still raged, throngs of Chinese migrants began to converge on the enormous western worksite of the Transcontinental Railroad. Over the next five years, they blasted tunnels through the granite cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and laid tracks across the burning Nevada and Utah deserts. As many as twelve hundred lost their lives along the route. Those who survived would suffer a different kind of death: a historical one. Chang retraces the laborers' odyssey, showing how they lived, ate, fought, loved, worked, and worshiped. -- adapted from jacket
Subjects
Genre/Form
History.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
Guangdong -- Gold Mountain -- Central Pacific -- Foothills -- The High Sierra -- The Summit -- The strike -- Truckee -- The Golden Spike -- Beyond Promontory.
Call Number
JFE 19-4467
ISBN
  • 9781328618573
  • 1328618579
LCCN
  • 2018042558
  • 40029230739
OCLC
1045463863
Author
Chang, Gordon H., author.
Title
Ghosts of Gold Mountain : the epic story of the Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad / Gordon H. Chang.
Publisher
Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2019]
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Chronological Term
1800-1899
Other Form:
Online version: Chang, Gordon H. Ghosts of Gold Mountain. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2019] 9781328618610 (DLC) 2018051358
Other Standard Identifier
40029230739
Research Call Number
JFE 19-4467
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