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This wooden grave of an early Chinese railroad worker sits alongside Highway 95 east of Hawthorne, Nevada. It is in plain sight to any passerby yet is nearly 100% overlooked as the inscription lies opposite of traffic view. As you look opposite the highway one can see a parallel dirt road marking where the original Southern Pacific railroad bed, to which many Chinese laborers around the year 1880 had worked on constructing, connecting California on a spur to Tonopah. This individual may have succombed to an accident on the job however I cannot find anything online regarding this specific grave, but it wouldn't be unlikely if they had been buried here for well over 135 years, long before the construction of Highway 95. It was often common for Chinese immigrants of the 1800s who had died & were buried on American soil to have their remains exhumed & brought back to China. In nearby Hawthorne there is a plot of land also alongside Highway 95 that contains many additional Chinese graves, all of which their names & locations appear lost on the landscape.
As I pulled to the side of the highway after a failed attempt to locate the grave the previous night in the dark, I honestly was not expecting a different language to be on the other side of this post. It brings to light a story of history that is long forgotten on the Nevada landscape. As you notice, the etchings don't appear to represent true Chinese characters, hence I speculate that the original writing on the epitaph had faded some & someone else not knowing much Chinese had tried to duplicate what could be read onto this wooden post. I think possibly the date "April 11" can be deciphered however if anybody does know please leave a comment.
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