1883年1月12日美国南太平洋铁路竣工合拢时照片中的几位华工

黄安年文  黄安年的博客/2022年2月15日发布（第29380篇）

这里发布的黄倩女士自美国发来的一张历史照片，照片是1883年1月12日美国南太平洋铁路竣工合拢时的情景（on January 12, 1883, “Day of the Silver Spike” marked completion of Southern Transcontinental Railroad, between Southern Pacific Railroad and Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway, at Pecos River Low Bridge, in Texas），照片中有即为华工的身影。

我们知道，1869—1893年，美国先后建成了5条横贯大陆的铁路干线。它们是：1869年建成的联邦中央太平洋铁路，5月10日在犹他州的普洛蒙托莱角接轨。中央太平洋铁路由旧金山向东，自萨克拉门托东延；联合太平洋铁路自芝加哥向西，自艾奥瓦的康斯西尔布拉夫西延；1881年建成的圣菲、堪萨斯太平洋铁路和大西洋太平洋铁路；1883年建成的北方太平洋铁路；自西雅图到明尼苏达的德卢斯；1883年建成的南方太平洋铁路，由圣地亚哥到路易斯安那的施里夫波特；还有1893年建成的大北铁路，自奥勒冈的波特兰到北达科他的格兰德福克斯。最早的5条通向太平洋铁路中有四条是用联邦授地补助建筑的，美国横贯大陆铁路对开发西部大平原和落基山区、沟通全国经济有着重大的影响。

我们也知道。这五条铁路都有种中国铁路华工的身影。

我们还清楚，中国国铁路华工的足迹也是中国移民轨迹的先驱之一。

研究中国华工在美国移民史上的轨迹时研究北美开发史和美中交流史的一项重要课题。

再次感谢黄倩女士。

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尊敬的黄教授 -

今天从研究南太平洋铁路华人手里拿到这个照片，供您发表：

1883年1月12号德州西部，南太平洋铁路竣工。照片里有华工。

1876年9月5号 位于加州LANG 南太平洋铁路总裁克劳可打入金钉和龙San Joaquin Valley （圣觉肯山谷）段落的铁路：这是第一条链接洛杉矶和旧金山的铁路 3000华工投身建设没留下照片。

1881年3月8号 一颗音钉被打入轨道 Deming, New Mexico， 250名华工投身建设没留下身影。

SOUTHERN TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD – Chinese Railroad Workers
On May 10, 1869, Central Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad at “Day of the Golden Spike” for First Transcontinental Railroad, at Promontory Summit, Utah, Central Pacific Railroad President Leland Stanford, drove a golden spike. In the iconic photo, none 12,000 Chinese Railroad Workers were present at the ceremony.
On September 5, 1876, at Lang, California, Charles Crocker, President of the Southern Pacific Railroad drove a gold spike to complete his company's San Joaquin Valley Line, the first rail connection between Los Angeles and San Francisco. There were no photographs of 3,000 Chinese railroad workers.
On March 8, 1881, a silver spike was driven at Deming, New Mexico, linked the Second Transcontinental Railroad, between Southern Pacific Railroad with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. There were no photographs of the 250 Chinese railroad workers.
BUT, on January 12, 1883, “Day of the Silver Spike” marked completion of Southern Transcontinental Railroad, between Southern Pacific Railroad and Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway, at Pecos River Low Bridge, in Texas. The ceremony photo included several Chinese railroad workers.
Under advice of Southern Pacific Railroad History Center, Union Pacific Museum emailed this priceless ceremony photo of them: “The Driving of the Last Spike of the Great Southern Pacific Railroad, January 12, 1883.
Today, January 27, 2022, marks the one-year anniversary of death of Corky Lee, our undisputed unofficial Asian American photographer laureate.
“Lee was puzzled by an official photo of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, which was completed in 1869 largely with Chinese workers but showed none of them. At the 145th anniversary celebration of the event, Lee gathered a flash mob of about 250 Chinese Americans for what he called a 'Photographic Act of Justice', with many posing in period costume for his photo." 

春节来临，祝福您全家虎年吉祥，万事如意

黄倩