Life Along the Grade: Archaeology of the Chinese Railroad Builders and Maintenance Crews in Utah
Author(s): Kenneth Cannon; Chris Merritt
Year: 2016
Summary
Between 1867 and 1904, hundreds of Chinese workers lived and labored along the railroad grade in deeply rural northwestern Utah. Small section houses served as the only reprieve from the toil of daily labore in the treeless and sun scorched landscapes of Box Elder County. Archaeological inventory spurred by a National Park Service Initiative is identifying sites previously unknown to scholars. These sites are shedding light on the life and experience of the 11-15 Chinese section crews in this remote part of Utah during the last forty years of the 19th century. Exclusion Act prejudice and labor succession altered the work crews along the grade by the early 20th century, but the archaeological legacy of these pioneers continue to exist.
Cite this Record
Life Along the Grade: Archaeology of the Chinese Railroad Builders and Maintenance Crews in Utah. Kenneth Cannon, Chris Merritt. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434342)
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Keywords
General
Experience
•
Landscape
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Overseas Chinese
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
19th Century
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 632