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by Victoria Kerns
Illustrations by Kyle Koberna 
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The celestials that you are about to read about are not residents of heaven, but are humans with stories to tell that could be considered out-of-this world. These celestials were the first Chinese to migrate to Ogden. The term “celestials” was applied to the Chinese, who came from the Chinese Celestial Empire to America in the 1800s. When, why and how did they come? |
History
Lifestyle
Railroad
Corinne
Ogden
Summary
Victoria Kerns is writer, historian and student at
WSU and of life. She is a mother and grandmother
and travels to England regularly. She
can be reached at vic@streetmagazine.net.
The history of the Chinese in America begins,
according to historic records, in 450 A.D. when
Chinese Buddhist priests traveled down the West
Coast. Records further show that between 1541
and 1746, Chinese ship builders had settled in
what is now Southern California. Trading systems
were flourishing between China and western
nations between 1760 and 1840. By 1848 there
were several thousand Chinese in America (a few
by some standards) when gold was discovered in
California.
Along with trading commodities, people
traded stories. The stories that made their way to
China about the gold rush triggered the imaginations
of the Chinese in China. Immigration was
being encouraged by America to meet the need for
cheap farm labor and for the construction of the
Central Pacific Railroad.
China, in the 19th century, was densely
populated and experiencing floods, typhoons,
droughts, famine and poverty. Its government was
unstable. Taxes were heavy and consumed a large
percentage of people’s earnings. Hardship was the
reality of China’s residents, while family stabilized
the society. The opportunity to go to California
appealed to many Chinese who were even being
physically threatened by bandits in the hillsides
near their homes. The thinking was that if a person
could save up $300 to $400 by working in America,
they could return to live a luxurious life in China.
A credit-ticket system was established and used by
most immigrants who were unable to pay their own
way to America. The immigrants had the choice of
paying $40 for a ticket or they could enter into this
contract agreement to repay $160 for passage.
Thousands of people boarded the ships headed to
California, the “Golden Mountain.” The trip from
Hong Kong to San Francisco took about two
months. Passengers had as little as 18 inches of
space to themselves on the ships and the mortality
rate was as high as 25 percent.
According to the California census of
1860, there were nearly 35,000 Chinese immigrant
workers within California. The Chinese made good
workers for wealthy entrepreneurs. They worked
for low wages, stayed clean, proved dependable,
and didn’t drink or fight on the job like other workers.
They endured conditions white workers would
not tolerate and were willing to work diligently at
back-breaking tasks. Life was not as glorious in
the West as anticipated; life was hard.
The Chinese were discriminated against and
had limited rights. They could not become citizens,
vote, own property, or even testify in court. They
lived only in certain areas and worked only at certain
jobs.
The Chinese resisted acculturation and maintained
their cultural traditions. It was their culture
and language that drew them together in their new
country. Chinatowns sprung up as a reaction to the
loneliness they felt from being away from families
and as a defensive reaction to the hostility against
them. The Chinese preferred life in their own communities
where they could retain their traditions and
reproduce familiar institutions. They made few
attempts toward integration. These early
Chinatowns were overcrowded. Their defining features
were disease and poverty, marked by sexual
imbalance.
Only the wealthy Chinese were able to bring
their wives with them when they initially came to
America. Some Chinese were able to set up businesses
after working for periods as laborers on
farms. Consequently, only a few of these merchants
were able to send for their wives. The
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was established in
response to the threat white laborers felt about
loosing their jobs to the Chinese immigrants. The
act barred immigration of any new laborers, wives
of laborers already here, and others from entering
the country. This act sealed off the small influx of
women that existed. The Act of 1882 was renewed
in 1892 and 1902 and kept in effect until 1943.
Like many immigrants, the Chinese were generally
in a lower socio-economic class. Those who immigrated
by the credit-ticket system were burdened
with that debt. To accentuate that burden, before
leaving China, young men would marry a local
woman. She would stay with his parents, living
with them as a virtual servant. His obligation to
send money home was then intensified. Sending
moneys to his family was delayed, however, until
the first obligation had been met.
Initially the Chinese were fairly helpless in
America. They were brutalized in the frontier.
They got the hardest, most menial, and most undesirable
jobs at the lowest pay. They faced incredible
personal and social obstacles.
It was the construction of the Central Pacific
railroad from Sacramento to Promontory that
brought the first Chinese to Utah. At one point
there were more than 12 thousand Chinese
employed by the railroad. The Chinese workers
were legendary. They worked with
precision and took enormous risks.
The construction of the railroad
required men to blast out tunnels and
to be lowered in baskets over cliffs to
get the job done. These men worked
in shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a
week as they sought to pass through
the Sierra Nevada Mountains where
they endured a record 40 feet of
snow. Many people lost fingers and
hands. Camps and men were swept
away by avalanches and buried in
drifts. At one point, tunnels were dug
from the huts the men lived in to the
tunnels they were making through the
mountains just so they could get to
work.
Once through the Sierras, the
laborers worked from sunrise to sunset
six days a week. They worked in
heat up to 120 degrees and breathed
in alkali dust (a base, as soda or
potash, that neutralizes acids and
form salts), which caused bleeding
from the lungs.
Initially the Chinese railroad workers
received $20 a month in pay. The
white workers were not only earning
$35 a month, but they were receiving
their food and supplies as well. The
Chinese workers went on strike.
Although they were able to get their
wages increased to $30 to $35 a
month, they were not able to get the
railroad to contribute their food or
supplies through the deal.
The Chinese workers would bathe
in used powder kegs and drink warm
tea before bed. On Sundays they
washed, mended, gambled and
smoked. Their work ethic revealed
them to be faithful and industrious.
The workers were considered systematic,
competent and effective
because of their tirelessness and persistence.
As the railroad progressed, sites
for stations were located and built.
Crews were left behind to build these
stations located 10 to 12 miles apart.
Stations might have included a section
house with accommodations for
sleeping and eating. Some stations
had a freight platform, a turntable or a
spur (which allowed locomotives to
turn around), and maybe a siding
(which allowed trains to pass or
assisted with loading & unloading of
freight or livestock). The stations
required water, which meant building
water tanks, wells, holding tanks or
even aqueducts.
The stations contained facilities
and materials necessary to accommodate
the crews that were responsible
for the maintenance on their sections
of the track. These were also
the home of locomotive engineers
who often ran helper engines that
assisted trains in getting over steep
grades. Workers carried out maintenance
and improvements on the
tracks to keep up with deterioration
and erosion. These workers were
called section gangs. As rail traffic
increased these gangs were needed
to install heavier rails for bigger locomotives.
The Terrace station was located
702 miles from San Francisco and
was used by the railroad from 1869-
1910. It served as the maintenance
and repair headquarter for the Central
Pacific Railroad. Its facilities included
a roundhouse, machine shop, coal
sheds, water tanks and a switch yard.
Terrace’s station, located in
Northwestern Utah, grew into a community
of sorts. Within the community
businesses sprung up, as well as a
school and postal and telegraph services.
As an obliging western frontier
town, it had a saloon and a justice of
the peace. It also had a restaurant,
two hotels, bath houses, and a library.
An aqueduct supplied Terrace with
water.
Terrace’s businesses were located
north of the tracks, and its residents -
- that is the non-Chinese residents --
to the south. The Chinese residents
lived east of the tracks. It was
observed that the Chinese slept on
pallets of straw and kept alters of
worship in their homes. Small lamps
that burned peanut oil were used for
light. Small stoves were used for both
cooking and heating.
About 125 people lived in Terrace
in 1870. The 1880 Census reported
54 Chinese lived in Terrace, one
being a woman. In 1900, 274 people
were recorded living in Terrace. Most
of Terrace’s residents were railroad
employees, but others were independent
small businessmen. Among
Chinese businesses was a store, a
laundry and a tailor. The woman was
a 28-year-old prostitute.
The rerouting of trains accounted
for the beginning of the end of life in
Terrace and a fire that went through
the area contributed to its end.
Further away at Blue Creek Station
some of the Chinese station gang
workers were known to have lived in
a remolded box-car. Part of it was
used for sleeping, part for cooking.
The men slept in a series of bunk
beds stacked three high at one end of
the car and at the other end of the
car they cooked and ate. Pots, pans
and skillets hung around the walls.
Cubby holes were used to store tea
cups and blue and white china bowls.
They cooked on a wood stove, ate
with chop sticks and sat at a wooden
table on benches.
Their food supply included brown
bayou beans, abalone, mushrooms,
pork, poultry, vermicelli, cabbage,
Chinese bacon and peanut oil.
Outdoor ovens were built in the dirt
banks along the sidetrack. They had
stake pot spits along side their bunk
cars where they cooked when weather
permitted. Smoking opium and
gambling was reported as their only
pleasures. These activities took
place after dinner and on weekends.
Artifacts that were later found reveal
Chinese occupation at different station
locations along the Central
Pacific/Transcontinental railroad into
the 20th century. The remains of
Chinese shanties and dugouts,
Chinese pottery, coins and other
items have been identified.
The railroad construction concluded
at Promontory, Utah, May 10, 1869.
Corinne was a viable community
located along the Transcontinental
Railroad until the building of the Utah
Northern railroad brought about its
end as a junction city. Many of its
residents had worked on the construction
gangs building the railroad.
Following the completion of the railroad,
many Chinese decided to work
in the gold mines of Idaho and
Montana. It was recorded that 21
percent of the total passengers on the
stagecoaches from Corinne to Helena
were Chinese. Those who didn’t travel
by coach to the mines traveled by
foot. As they shuffled out of town in
their sandals, they carried poles bearing
satchels of rice and blankets
attached to each end.
Corinne’s population was constantly
in flux as the Chinese continued to
come from California through Corinne
on their way to work the mines. Some
Chinese bought claims and other
Chinese came to work for them. The
Chinese kept coming to the mining
camps until their numbers made up
half of all miners. They could make
up to $4 a day working in the mines.
The census of 1870 listed 89 Chinese
residents in Corinne. It was estimated
that 200 to 300 Chinese actually lived
in town at that time.
The Chinese of Corinne maintained
their Old World cultures. They
were forced into residential segregation
and their relationships were
strictly “business” with the non-
Chinese community, as was the case
of those arriving in California. The
first of Corinne’s two Chinatowns was
wiped out by a fire in 1871. One
woman died in that fire and arson
was suspected as the cause. Citizens
petitioned the city council to restrict
Chinese from erecting unsafe structures
on the same street. The city
council further decreed that no
Chinese brothels or gambling houses
would be allowed in the new quarter.
This didn’t eliminate them, but they
became more discrete (though no
less active). The new Chinatown was
located at Steamboat Landing on the
Bear River. Chinese “promoters” had
settled in Corinne to care for the
needs of their countrymen. Besides
these promoters, Chinese merchants
of Corinne also shipped supplies
(food and equipment) to the mine
workers. Contact was maintained with
China by the railroad to the coast
where ships sailed frequently to and
from Hong Kong. The Chinese
received much of their food and personal
articles from China as had the
railroad workers. The kinds of supplies
they would receive included oysters,
dried cuttlefish, bamboo spouts,
seaweed, rice, crackers, Chinese
sugar, tea, Chinese writing paper,
India ink, shoes and ready-made
clothing. Corinne’s Chinese-owned
businesses included shippers, a cigar
factory, laundries, and a tobacco
company. The Chinese engaged in
varied occupations, mostly serviceoriented.
Employment included
housecleaning and baby-sitting,
which brought in young Chinese, who
also did cooking and dishwashing in
the hotels and saloons, worked as
section hands on the railroad, and
labored in the local stone quarry.
The Chinese were considered
exotic by Corinne standards and were
reported to have maintained high
standards of personal cleanliness and
did not drink as much hard liquor as
the whites. The Chinese of Corinne
wore large peaked hats, black gowns
and a braid hanging down their
backs. The celebration of the
Chinese New Year lasted days and
included fireworks, food and fun.
Corinne’s citizens were reported as
being “surprised” to find little difference
between Chinese and American
perceptions of enjoyment. A cemetery
was located northwest of town
and the Chinese offered food to their
dead. They later shipped their dead
back to China for permanent interment.
Although they were considered
exotic by the locals, their traditions
seemed strange.
The Chinese community at Bear
River continued until the extension of
the Utah Northern Railroad in 1878
began to zap the life out of Corinne
and her Chinatown.
The Transcontinental Railroad
was diverted away from Salt Lake
City when it was built, stopping
instead at Corinne to the north.
Brigham Young did not want the main
Utah junction to be the “Gentile” city
of Corinne. Instead he brought about
the construction of the Utah Central
railroad, which would eventually
make Ogden Utah’s “Junction City.”
The Utah Central’s construction
began in 1869 and connected Ogden
to Salt Lake City to the south. To the
north, the Utah Northern railroad was
built linking Ogden to Brigham City
and Logan, by-passing Corinne.
The Union Pacific bought the Utah
Northern and continued construction
northward until 1884, when it connected
with the Northern Pacific at
Garrison, Mont. This gave Ogden
east-west/north-south trade lines.
Brigham Young secured land and
made efforts to ensure Ogden would
become the junction of the Union
Pacific, Central Pacific, Utah Central
and Utah Northern railroads.
Corinne was to become abandoned
like other stations. Before its
demise Corinne enjoyed a taste of
cosmopolitan flavor largely due to the
Chinese influence. Ogden inherited
Corinne’s businesses as it came to
the end of its era. Corinne not only
passed along good businesses, but it
also passed along its less reputable
citizens: its gamblers, robbers and
others of ill repute.
Ogden was recognized as “The
Junction City” in 1878. Many people
passed through Ogden and many
stayed. The railroad brought Mormon
immigrants to the area. Soldiers,
miners, prospectors, mountaineers,
trappers, Native Americans and
Chinese gave Ogden its cosmopolitan
feel at the time.
As Ogden grew, its cultural values
changed. The population jumped
from 1,463 to 12,889 in only 30 years’
time. The railroad contributed to
Ogden’s transformation from a
Mormon community to a city of mixed
population with a variety of religious,
social and political challenges.
A Chinatown emerged on 25th
Street. There, rows of wooden structures
were erected. Ogden was
home to four Chinese restaurants and
several Chinese laundries. At least
one Chinese market was opened that
carried imported groceries and other
items in demand by the Chinese
community. Some of Ogden’s
Chinese residents were gardeners
who sold their produce. With their
farming skills they were able to produce
up to three harvests each growing
season. Chinese herbalists (or
physicians) served patients of all
nationalities in the area. There were
those who worked as cooks and servants
as well. The Chinese had a
reputation of thriftiness and skill.
The Chinese in Ogden were considered
immoral because they gambled
and smoked opium. Though
they did gamble, their stakes were
fairly small. Within 10 years after the
Chinese had arrived in Ogden, laws
were established regarding the use of
opium. Violators were fined and
imprisoned. Two Chinese fraternal
orders emerged in Ogden. The most
unwelcome were the hatchet men
that hacked up Chinese that violated
their rules.Fires were not uncommon
in the Old West (Terrace experienced
one), and often times Chinatowns
would be devastated by fire (like the
one in Corinne). Because of costs,
often times these neighborhoods
could not be rebuilt. Ogden’s
Chinatown was demolished in the late
1880s to make way for new construction.
In general, Chinatowns in Utah
only survived one generation. As the
residents lost their homes and/or
businesses, they left seeking opportunities
elsewhere.
The earliest Chinese immigrants
suffered many difficulties getting to
and living in America. They were a
controversial people accused of
keeping jobs from “whites.” In
response, Chinese Exclusion Laws
came into effect. These laws prohibited
new immigrants (including the
wives of those Chinese already here)
from entering the country. Chinese
men didn’t marry non-Chinese
women, therefore, between the laws
and the personal practices of the
Chinese, the Chinese population was
at a standstill. It wasn’t until the end
of WWII that large numbers of
Chinese women entered the United
States. Many of these were elderly
women joining the husbands they had
been separated from for decades.
The earliest Chinese immigrants
never intended on staying in the
United States, and as they aged, they
returned to their homelands. These
decisions further affected the population
levels. The Chinese population
in Utah peaked in 1890 at 806. From
1850 to 1882, some 322,000 Chinese
entered the United States. The first
to arrive in Utah numbered 445. The
ratio of Chinese men to women was
41:1 in 1890. By the 20th century the
Chinese population in Utah dropped
from 572 in 1900 to 300 between
1910-1950. Most of the original
Chinese population migrated from
Southern China. In the 1950s
Taiwanese government made it possible
for young adults to pursue their
graduate studies abroad. From the
60s on, new Chinese were coming to
the United States from places like
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Chinese students were allowed to
study overseas in the 1980s. Many of
those who were Utah university students
decided to stay and make this
their home. The Chinese population
continues to grow steadily. There
are currently many Chinese organizations
operating throughout the state.
The industrious Chinese owned businesses
that contributed to the areas
they inhabited, creating jobs and markets
for goods and services. Certainly
there must be stories to tell about the
individual Celestials that came to
Ogden and contributed to our community,
as I suspect, in ways that
were out of this world.
