Canadian History: Railing for Rice

In 1883, Canada's first transcontinental railroad was a local dream that demanded foreign labor. Alaska, acquired from Russia by the U.S. in 1867, had been steadily expanding southward along the Pacific coast, catching the port of Vancouver in a north-south pincer movement between its own territory and the state of Washington. If Vancouver were not soon joined by rail to Alberta, it was sure to fall into American hands. But railroad construction without modern industrial equipment was a labor intensive, death defying ordeal which attracted few volunteers. A work force of Chinese men were recruited from abroad for this heroic task. Unwelcome among nineteenth century whites, the workers were poorly treated and isolated from their relatives. As they struggled west, many fell to their deaths from vertiginous heights or were killed in horrible accidents. In the perilous Rockies, their casualties grew. Then, just when it looked like they were doomed to die, they were joined by a wandering Shaolin priest. The priest took over the project, drop-kicking the white foreman, whose key was then used to free the workers from their shackles. In the blustering elements, he sat cross legged and instructed the men on how to overcome extreme conditions with transcendental meditation. The ones who did not end up frozen cross-legged in the snow were able to reach the Pacific coast on schedule in 1885, halting the Alaskan thrust at a line just north of Richmond. A wanted man, the priest mysteriously disappeared. Vancouver's Chinatown is today a living monument to these brave pioneers. Some of their original housing is still stands.
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© 2007, 2015. Scripts by David Skerkowski. All rights reserved.