PURSE

ca. 1880

X1968.15.01

Thousands of Chinese laborers were among the workers laying the railroad tracks connecting Montana to the rest of the nation in the early 1880s. The railroad could not have been built without them, but for the workers it was a harsh existence beset by blasting accidents, falls, train wrecks, and other hazards. This finely embroidered pouch was carried from China by a man named Ah Hei who was, assumedly, one such railroad laborer. The pouch, or purse, has three pockets and has survived with its contents including - a flint case and comb - intact. Although most Chinese who came to work on the railroad did not intend to stay in America, many, like Ah Hei, never returned to their homeland.