The Chinese Influence on Lake Tahoe

Francis Espiritu

ENGL 48B

Maxine Hong Kingston Tahoe Journal

Author Quote: "The men were first carefully lowered down the sheer faces of the cliffs in woven wicker baskets, something like human Spidermen suspended at the ends of long ropes. Dangling wildly out over empty space, they would light long fuses to set off the explosive charges they had carried down the cliff face with them, thereby blasting out a thin shelf across the vertical walls of granite for the iron rails to cling to. As soon as the fuses were lit, the basketmen would signal those waiting to haul them back up the cliff to safety. At least that was the plan. (Lankford 228-229)

Internet Quote: "Chinese labor was suggested, as they had already helped build the California Central Railroad, the railroad from Sacramento to Marysville and the San Jose Railway. Originally thought to be too small to complete such a momentous task, Charles Crocker of Central Pacific pointed out, "the Chinese made the Great Wall, didn't they?" (http://cprr.org/Museum/Chinese.html; Chinese-American contribution to transcontinental railroad)

Summary: The passage shows the type of hardships the Chinese laborers endured as they built the transcontinental railroad, especially in the Sierras. They would put their lives on the line daily by doing such tasks as dangling over a cliff and loading dynamite into the side of the mountain, and only hoping that they would be pulled up in time before the explosion. It goes to show how much a Caucasian at the time valued the life of someone who was not white, and if anything, less than human.

Personal Opinion: With the views of a Chinese person's life at the time, I honestly believe that these hardships have influenced Chinese society today. As Charles Crocker pointed out saying that the Chinese had made The Great Wall, that itself did not come without a massive loss of life. With the loss of so many Chinese lives, I personally think that this could be one of the reasons of why China today has such a big population. Overtime, with the loss of so many Chinese men, the idea of being able to carry on one's name is something of great importance. Yet with such determination, I think it is feats like this that makes China a world power today. If anything, you could say that it is irony in the sense that with the debt that the United States has accumulated with China, that in the near future, that it could be possible that the people of our country could become the "railroad" workers in which debt to China would be repaid.