88K views · 3.7K reactions | On May 10, 1869, the Central Pacific and...

The Central Pacific Railroad, chartered in 1861 by California's "Big Four" merchants (Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker), built the western portion of America's first transcontinental railroad. Construction began in Sacramento on January 8, 1863, and progressed eastward through the formidable Sierra Nevada mountains. The company recruited thousands of Chinese laborers from Canton Province who ultimately comprised 80 percent of the workforce by 1868—approximate

On June 28, 1861, the Central Pacific Railroad was incorporated by Theodore Judah and four Sacramento businessmen known as “The Associates.” Also known as the “Big Four,” The Associates were Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington, and Charles Crocker. Theodore Judah, who previously worked for the Sacramento Valley Railroad and publisher of "A Practical Plan for Building the Pacific Railroad," was the Chief Engineer of the company. Judah was sent to Washington DC to lobby for a trans