SALT LAKE CITY — Aside from the golden spike, the photo "East and West Shaking Hands" might be what most people remember when they think about the transcontinental railroad's completion at Promontory Summit 155 years ago on Friday.

Also referred to as the "Champagne Photo," Andrew J. Russell's iconic photo shows Central Pacific and Union Pacific trains parked behind a group of men celebrating the "wedding of the rails" on May 10, 1869.

Christopher Merritt loves this photo, but he also has a bone to pick with it. It leaves out the countless workers who built the 1,900-mile line, such as thousands of Irish and Chinese immigrants and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members who built some of the final railroad grades.

"(The workers) were pushed to the margins so (financiers) could take credit," he said.

This photo could be symbolic of the railroad's history, too.

Various documents have helped historians fill in some gaps over time, as they give clues about many of the workers — that is, except for the Chinese workers, the largest group of railroad workers. Archeologists like Merritt, Utah's state preservation officer, have taken on the task in recent years to find as much as possible about the thousands of Chinese railroad workers whose names were lost with time.

Their work over the past few years has reshaped the railroad's story, which is now being told more completely through various forms of art scattered across the state. The latest is a new monument honoring the forgotten Chinese railroad workers at the state Capitol, which will be unveiled on Saturday.

"What they're trying to portray is that (we belong). It sort of rights that wrong," said Sen. Karen Kwan, D-Taylorsville, who also serves as the president of the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association.

Finding a missing puzzle piece

Historians will likely never know the exact numbers, but it's estimated that at least 12,000 Chinese immigrants helped Central Pacific build its portion of the track from California to Utah. Only about 900 foremen were ever formally documented.

With few documents or sites to gather clues from, an unlikely Utah ghost town has become a history gold mine to fill in the gaps.

State and federal archeologists recently uncovered over 10,000 artifacts from Terrace, an old railroad town in Box Elder County. Merritt shared the latest findings with dozens of descendants of Chinese railroad workers on Thursday.

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He explained that the placement of everything helped the team map out where the buildings were, finding there was likely a "Chinatown" for the many Chinese railroad workers who lived and worked there.

Various foods, coins and marbles helped researchers piece together how these workers lived and played during the community's heyday. Archeologists also uncovered floorboards of old houses that helped them piece together the small homes they probably had.

"We can start putting together a human picture of the past," Merritt said.

New ways of telling the story

However, it can be difficult to tell these stories — or the stories found in documents — in a way that conveys the transcontinental railroad's significance. That's why the railroad's story is now being told in new ways with everything that has been learned.

The shift started before 2019, but the state's massive 150th-anniversary celebration five years ago featured a musical called "As One." It highlighted and honored the lives of the workers, said Robyn Kremer, president of the Golden Spike Foundation, which organized the event.

It was meant to be the opposite of the famous 1869 photo, adding nods to the Black, Chinese, Civil War veterans, Irish and Latter-day Saint workers to the "wedding of the rails" scene. The events that day also acknowledged the impact the railroad had on Native American communities and native species like bison.

The foundation has turned to public art to tell the same story more permanently since 2019.

A massive replica of the golden spike last year is the largest of the projects. The sculpture — with the different stories depicted on it — has been on tour across the West over the past few weeks, but it will have a permanent home with a new state monument in Brigham City. The park could open next year after it was designated through a bill this year.

Paisley Rekdal, an English professor at the University of Utah, wrote "West: A Poem of the Transcontinental Railroad" for the 150th anniversary as Utah's poet laureate. Her works were published as "West: Translation" in 2023, and there's a multimedia component available online.

The project started as one poem, but she ultimately decided to create many short pieces about all the many aspects of the railroad's creation and legacy as she studied the unique angles.

Then there's the new monument at the Utah Capitol. It's only about 4 feet in size, but Kwan said it's a big reminder that Chinese immigrants "belong here" and have played a role in Utah's history.

It — and the other art pieces — may also help people understand and appreciate all the people who came together to create the monumental railroad line. Rekdal said they can also create "communal remembrance" that keeps stories alive.

"More complex histories give us a greater sense of who were are as a people and a greater sense of connection to each other," she said. "I think it's a beautiful thing."

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