Transcontinental Railroad in Sierra Nevada

This piece of art is dedicated to all the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad from 1862-1869. The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range on the eastern edge of California was one of the toughest segments of the railroad to build. The workers had to carve 15 tunnels with nothing more than gunpowder and pickaxes. The work was very hazardous and the brutal winters added to the danger. The snow caused land-slides that buried some of the camps and when the spring thaw arrived some workers were discovered in the tunnels frozen alive with tools in hand.

Unfortunately, not everyone appreciated the hard work of the Chinese laborers, culminating with the Chinese exclusion act of 1882.