Day 142: Summit Camp, Tahoe National Forest, California
📌APIA Every Day (142) - Summit Camp, located near the east entrance to Summit Tunnel #6 and operational from 1865 to 1869 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, was the site for Chinese laborers working on the First Transcontinental Railroad. These workers made up about 90 percent of the Central Pacific Railroad workforce and faced severe working conditions, including dangerous terrain and extreme weather, while being paid less than their white counterparts. Because Chinese laborers were not treated equally, they went on strike in June 1867 to demand better pay and working conditions. Although the strike ended without immediate gains, they did receive a pay raise months later.
Artifacts found at the camp, such as coins, porcelain rice bowls, and opium pipe bowls, illustrate the workers' cultural heritage and daily challenges. The site also included substantial building structures designed to endure heavy snowfall which no longer exist, offering insights into the laborers' living conditions. Today, the site faces threats from vandalism, construction, and tourism, which damage its cultural and natural resources.
Chinese labor was instrumental in connecting the East and West Coasts of the U.S.; however, it came at the cost of many laborers enduring harsh conditions and minimal compensation. It is important to remember the Chinese experience during the transcontinental railroad’s construction, as well as the broader impact on the violent displacement and colonization of thousands of Indigenous tribes who previously inhabited the West Coast. Because of the diverse histories affected by the railroad construction, Summit Camp was proposed as a National Historic Landmark earlier this year.
LEARN MORE:
1882 Foundation: Transcontinental Railroad & Summit Tunnel
National Park Service: Summit Camp NHL Executive Summary
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