Above Truckee, visitors can walk the Donner train tunnels created over 155 years ago by Chinese laborers. With the rubble, they fitted together to create a 150-foot-tall retaining wall. Petroglyphs are at the base of the tunnels and wall.
Transcontinental Railroad
In the race to complete the Transcontinental Railroad, the Central Pacific Railroad built a line from Sacramento, California, east 690 miles. They had 300 miles less to complete than the Union Pacific but had to cross the formidable Sierra.
The grade had to be 2.5% or less, circumvent lakes, and cross the granite range. It was decided tunnels would cut through the mountains. Thousands of men worked 24 hours a day to complete the tunnels.
The crews cut an average of a foot of the new tunnel daily, using hand drilling, black powder, and nitroglycerin. The Silver Rush in the Comstock drew most men so the railroads needed help finding workers. Miners’ unions prohibited the Chinese from working underground, so they worked as laborers, woodcutters, laundrymen, and servants. The railroad recruited California Chinese gold miners and later recruited them directly from China. It was dangerous work, and an estimated 500 to 1,000 Chinese lost their lives.
Competent railroad engineers said it couldn’t be done but the Chinese weren’t railroad workers and didn’t know it couldn’t be done.
Smithsonia Magazine
The Transcontinental Railroad built Summit Tunnel, or Tunnel Number 6, between 1867 and 1868. It is 1,659 feet long. The first train to enter the tunnel was on June 18, 1868. The highest-elevation tunnels in the world were a key component of completing the Transcontinental Railroad. Once complete, the railroad allowed passengers to cross the country in 6 days instead of the previous 118 days.
China Wall
As railroad workers blasted and dug the Donner Pass Summit Tunnels, they moved rubble to ravines along the tunnels.
Workers fitted together rocks to create a 150-foot-tall retaining wall. The wall was constructed with dry fill and no mortar. Chinese workers constructed two walls. The monument from Truckee Donner Historical Society is a “lasting monument to the Asian “Master Builders” who left an indelible mark on the history of California and the West.
Petroglyphs
Native Americans also left their mark on Lake Tahoe. More than 200 petroglyphs cover the granite rock above Truckee. The petroglyphs were pecked into the surface of granite slabs using a hammerstone. They were made 1,500 to 4,000 years ago by the Martis Culture, possibly ancestors to the Washoe.
Most Truckee petroglyphs are geometric, but a few human and animal forms and animal prints are present. Archeologists believe the shapes have a great meaning to the Martis Culture.
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References
References
- Atlas Obscura: Donner Pass Summit Tunnels
- Donner Summit Historical Society: The Summit Petroglyphs
- Smithsonian Magazine: The quest to protect California’s Transcontinental Railroad tunnels
- Truckee-Donner Historical Society: Truckee Railward Millsite History
- Truckee-Donner Historical Society: The Remarkable China Wall
- Union Pacific: Truckee, California
Lynn Johnson says
Debi and I hiked these in 2022, very cool to see in person, worth the trip for anyone one the fence. Thank you again Tami for sharing your adventures!
Tami says
Glad you enjoyed the article. I might try and run up to photograph them in the winter.
John Wrobel says
Tami,
Thank you, I had no idea these existed. Will have to make a point to visit one day
Tami says
It makes a fun day. You can park at the petroglyphs below and hike up as I did. Later I heard you can park above and walk right out to them. That way is through a ski resort and I think you have to pay to park.
George says
I recall passing these many times Crossing from Sparks to Sacramento along I-80, as well as the original two-lane Highway, driving a truck cross country. In winter time, they are positively creepy inside with the ice and the water dripping.
Thank you for the history lesson. When you consider they were made more than 150 years ago, it is a staggering achievement even on a global scale of things.
Tami says
I heard they are interesting in the winter, I’m hoping to head up before the snow melts.
Even today they would be a big accomplishment. It is crazy they were built by hand.
Bob H says
Thank you once again for a remarkable history lesson!
Tami says
Glad you enjoyed it!
DAVID WHITE says
Another great bit of history! It’s an amazing feat of engineering by today’s standards and through some of the hardest granite in the world. Thank you for not showing the “street art” defacing many of the tunnels, and for keeping our history alive
Tami says
I can’t imagine what it would take to accomplish the tunnels today.
Richard Mcgrew says
I didn’t know about the China wall or the Donner Pass petroglphs. Interesting history. Thank you.
Tami says
Glad you learned something new. They are fun and easy to get to in the summer.