Before the number of Chinese immigrants coming into the United States began multiplying rapidly in the mid-nineteenth century, the Chinese “could not have fully anticipated what they would do to the new land and America to them,” as Ronald Takaki articulates.(1) The Chinese contributed tremendously to the development of the American West, as their skills, work ethic, and perseverance provided opportunities for western expansion as well as economic and cultural growth. Takaki writes that the Chinese immigrants “had entered America and changed the land, their achievements trumpeting their presence.”(2) By transforming the process of the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, overcoming social difficulties, and bringing a whole new culture to America, Chinese immigrants dramatically influenced the opening of the American West.