Historical Archaeologies of Overseas Chinese Laborers on the First Transcontinental Railroad John Molenda Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2019 © 2019 John Molenda All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Historical Archaeologies of Overseas Chinese Laborers on the First Transcontinental Railroad John Molenda This dissertation relies on anthropological, historical, and archaeological research in order to describe the historical archaeologies associated with Chinese immigrants to the United States who worked on the first transcontinental railroad in the mid-nineteenth century. The region of focus in the High Sierras region to the west of Truckee, California, in and around the Tahoe National Forest. Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1 – Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1 What this Dissertation Contains ............................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2 – Theoretical Background .......................................................................................................... 16 The Moment: Archaeology and the World Today .................................................................................. 16 History of the Present ............................................................................................................................. 18 The Critique of Capitalism ....................................................................................................................... 22 History for Life ......................................................................................................................................... 25 Archaeology as Anthropology ................................................................................................................. 26 A Note on the Disciplinary Moment ....................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 3 – The Road to Summit Camp ...................................................................................................... 29 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 29 Fieldwork in the High Sierras .................................................................................................................. 29 Material Culture of Nineteenth Century Chinese-American Work Camps ............................................. 37 Collections Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 43 Artifact Types - Ceramics ........................................................................................................................ 67 Artifact Types - Glass, Metal, and Miscellaneous Artifact Types ............................................................ 76 Interpreting Summit Camp ..................................................................................................................... 84 General Conclusions and Future Directions ............................................................................................ 85 Chapter 4 – Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 87 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 87 Pioneers of Overseas Chinese Archaeology ............................................................................................ 87 Acculturation and its Discontents ........................................................................................................... 98 Beyond Acculturation ........................................................................................................................... 112 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 115 Chapter 5 - China and the Four Counties in the mid-Nineteenth Century ............................................... 117 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 117 Global Significance ................................................................................................................................ 120 i The Longue Durée ................................................................................................................................. 122 Kinship, Patri-corporation, Remittances, and Self-Fashioning ............................................................. 125 Transnationalism and Migrant Networks ............................................................................................. 135 Means of Maintaining Order ................................................................................................................ 137 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 141 Chapter 6 – Spatiality and Landscape ....................................................................................................... 144 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 144 Feng Shui in the Anthropological Literature ......................................................................................... 146 Feng Shui, Landscape, and Spatiality in Chinese America .................................................................... 149 Cartesian Space and Phenomenology................................................................................................... 152 Landscapes in Painting and Ceramic Decorations ................................................................................ 158 Formal Landscapes – Gardens .............................................................................................................. 161 Formal Landscapes – Cemeteries ......................................................................................................... 174 Informal Landscapes – Work Camps ..................................................................................................... 176 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 178 Chapter 7 - Moral Discourse and Personhood .......................................................................................... 182 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 182 Resistance in Archaeological Interpretation ......................................................................................... 182 Absent Evidence .................................................................................................................................... 185 Moral Discourse and Personhood ......................................................................................................... 187 Charles Crocker and Becoming a Possessive Individual ........................................................................ 189 Relational Personhood and Becoming Human ..................................................................................... 194 Consequences ....................................................................................................................................... 195 Chapter 8 - China Kitchen ......................................................................................................................... 198 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 198 Fieldwork Strategies in the High Sierras ............................................................................................... 201 Testing at China Kitchen ....................................................................................................................... 205 Chapter 9 – Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 214 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 225 Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................