· Railroad companies raced to lay tracks to the mines in order to supply the miners.
· In 1863, two companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, began building the first transcontinental railroad.
· Labor was scarce due to the hard, dangerous work and low pay.
· Therefore, immigrant labor was used.
Union Pacific - hired many Irish immigrants
Central Pacific - approximately 90% of their workforce were Chinese immigrants
· The workers endured scorching deserts, blinding snowstorms, and blasted through mountains.
· On May 10, 1869, a golden spike was hammered into a rail joining the two tracks in Promontory Point, UT.
