After their work on the Houston and Texas Central rail line ended, many Chinese stayed in Robertson County as sharecroppers.

(Staff note: Illustration of Robertson county - scenic)

In 1873 another group of Chinese railroad workers came into Texas. They moved west with the Texas and Pacific Railway. They created what was known as the first "Chinatown" in Reeves County. This was a work camp near a town called Toyah (toi-uh). Many of these Chinese later settled in West Texas.

(Map with the Texas and Pacific Railway, El Paso, Reeves County and Toyah)

A third group of nearly 3,000 Chinese came to El Paso from Southern California in 1881. From there they moved west, building the Southern Pacific Railroad line. They had to deal with not only the hot sun and blasting powder, but also with people who were prejudiced against them. One such person was Judge Roy Bean. He was known as the "Law West of the Pecos." After an Irishman killed a Chinese worker, Judge Bean declared there was "no law against killing a Chinaman." In 1881 eleven Chinese were killed near the town of Eagle Pass by a group of men identified as Apaches.