Irish Labor on the Transcontinental Railroad By Rose Beatty
Of the five million immigrants that came to the United States from 1815 to 1860, about 40 percent were Irish (O’Donnell). This huge influx of Irish into America can be greatly attributed to the amount of opportunity that was available in the U.S. during the 19th century.
Eager to make transportation more efficient and connect major cities, the United States started to survey land in the West for potential railway routes during the 1850s. After years of lobbying for funding for the railroad, two companies, The Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, were provided with grants and land from the Federal Government. This act, The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, gave companies the federal help they needed to make their proposals realistic and allowed for the formation of the Railroad (Ambrose). Unbeknownst to them, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific companies “were about to become the biggest businesses in America” (Ambrose). In July 1865, the Union Pacific began construction on what John Galloway calls, “the greatest engineering feat of the nineteenth century”: The Transcontinental Railroad. This project, “-was to build a line across the plains, the mountains, and the deserts of America to California on the Pacific ocean,” Galloway states, “The distances were great, the country unsettled, the prairies filled with warlike Indians, and the mountain ranges the highest in the United states.” Completion of a project of such complexity would require massive amounts of labor; however, as Stephen E. Ambrose states, “Getting laborers was devilishly difficult.” Together, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific needed 140,000 employees (Galloway). All the “rich empire providing homes and livelihood for millions of people,” Galloway states, “came into existence since two groups of men in 1863, one on the east bank of Sacramento and the other on the west bank of the Missouri, performed simple ceremonies and started the work on the railroad that was to open for settlement the vast expanses of the American West.”
During the launch of this massive project, life in Ireland was becoming increasingly difficult. Irish agriculture was becoming market-oriented and Ireland’s population was increasing. This meant a decline in opportunity for farmers and leaseholders. When the potato famine struck by the 1840s, Irish “emigration as an alternative to the grim conditions at home in a conquered land was well understood. It became an accepted, if painful, necessity” (O’Donnell). It is, “Little wonder, therefore,” says O’Donnell, “that Ireland became a major source of recruits for the work force of America…” It was these poor economic conditions in Ireland and strong economic conditions in the United States that stimulated immigration. Irish who left their homes in hope of gaining better lives in America, in many ways, paved the way for friends and family members to follow. In the United States, the Transcontinental Railroad construction opened many opportunities to lay track, produce iron and lumber for the rails, and work in new markets opened by the rails. Work on the Transcontinental, however, was demanding and needed “men of restless energy, driven by ambition to attempt and accomplish great things” (Galloway). This labor was “fit to break a man’s back,” says Ambrose, acknowledging that, “Many of the men were Irish immigrants who had just arrived in America.” Irish immigrants had to accept this situation in America and become willing to work in these harsh conditions for around $3 a day, plus board (Ambrose). Even their journey to this exhausting life posed hardships. Their one to three month travel time to America was dangerous and consisted of unsanitary conditions and shortages of food and water. Nevertheless, their life of starvation and poverty at home was not a tolerable alternative (O’Donnell). Irish workers on the Transcontinental Railroad, although more respected than Chinese workers, were not at all favored. This immense amount of Irish immigration, of poverty-stricken and filthy Irish, was not fully embraced by Americans. On the railway, the Irish were seen as hard workers, but also known for going on strike and drinking too much. Many people opposed to immigrants working on the railroad suggested that foreigners promoted strikes, reduced wages, took job opportunities from Americans, and lowered working condition standards (Tichenor). Although there were efforts to bring Confederate prisoners of war, newly freed African Americans, and immigrants from Mexico to the construction sites, these attempts proved unsuccessful, as thousands of immigrants were available and eager to make money. Working on the rails, the Irish always had eyes on them. Their working habits, comparable to those of the military’s, were strict and focused (Ambrose). Their desire for money and ability to overcome obstacles are characteristics these laborers had which enabled them to endure the adversity they faced on the railway. The men used shovels, picks, wheelbarrows, teams, and scrapers to tear away the land where the rails were to be placed. Their work was dangerous and often times life threatening (Ambrose)
A common role for the Irish immigrants to have in railroad construction was track lying. Later in the 1860s, work became harder for this crew of men. Indian threats increased and harsh winters were soon to come. Although many of the Union Pacific workers were veterans of the civil war, Indians targeted workers’ camps along the railway and trains. The Indians did not pose a big threat to the workers lives, but they were able to steal stock from the construction. During the winters, these crews of men struggled to keep firewood, find material they had brought for construction, and lay tracks over snow and ice. Living in tents in negative temperatures, Irish tracklayers, many times, were unable to work through the winter storms, slowing their progress on the rails. During the spring, laborers resumed a rapid-paced progression in order to make up for their frequent inability to work in the winter. If the Union Pacific failed to meet lengths of track mileage required by the federal government, they would no longer receive bond support and land grants. Many times, the tracklayers were required to lay down two to three miles of new rail per day. Their shifts were long and often started before the sun rose and ended after it set; however, these challenging hours were necessary if the Union Pacific wanted to keep receiving federal assistance (Haycox).
In contrast to the crews of Irish workers, the Chinese immigrants were placed into gangs of twelve to twenty men, each with a cook. The Chinese had healthy eating habits, unlike all other white workers, and paid for their own food. As the white workers ate beef and potatoes, the Chinese consumed varieties of fish, meats, vegetables, and fruit. Most significantly, the Chinese drank tea exclusively. This water was boiled and then brought to them by younger workers at the construction sites. The Irish, who drank from streams and lakes, suffered from dysentery, something the Chinese escaped by drinking uncontaminated water. In addition to their superior diet, the Chinese maintained cleanlier lifestyles by giving themselves daily baths, lived in a tidier environment, and refrained from drinking whiskey. With these healthy tendencies, the Chinese were able to avoid acquiring many of the diseases the Irish encountered.
After surviving the dangers that the railroad construction had created for the workers, the Irish finally celebrated the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869 at The Golden Spike Ceremony in Utah. This day represented the last spike driven, uniting the Union Pacific and Central Pacific and creating the Transcontinental Railroad (Haycox). Although most workers were filled with joy, this day marked the ending of many people’s employment. Many Irish were able to find jobs on other railroads or in mines, but others were discriminated against and struggled to re-enter the American work force (Ambrose).