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An intact rock oven built by Italian railroad workers stands north of Trinidad.
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As rail spread across the country, the Great Northern Railroad built a line from Chicago to Seattle. Work on tracks in Grant County happened in the early 1890s, with the line reaching Wenatchee in 1892.
Much debate has taken place over who built these rock ovens, that can be found along various railroad lines around the US. In some places where rock ovens are found, urban legend attributes them to the Chinese. Other possible people to have built them include Greeks, Scandinavians and
“Although many ethnic groups made and used rock ovens, those that are found on early 20th century railroad-related sites are more likely to have been built by Italians simply because that ethnic group constituted the majority of railroad laborers in the United States at that time,” wrote Priscilla Wegars in the article “Who’s Been Workin’ on the Railroad?: An Examination of the Construction, Distribution and Ethnic Origins of Domed Rock Ovens on Railroad-Related Sites,” published in Historical Archaeology, Vol. 25, No. 1, 1991. “Italians were first employed on the railroads in the 1870s; within 10 years, and certainly by the 1890s, they monopolized the laboring jobs on most lines in the United States and Canada, particularly in the northeast. This may have been because they were willing to accept lower wages; the Italians in particular were known to work for up to one-third less than the Irish.”
The Italians were known to have a love for bread. In the various places where they camped, the Italians built rock ovens so they could satisfy their need for bread.
Peter Janni was 17-years-old Italian boy who worked at Trinidad when the railroad was being built. His story was related in the Seattle Times on October 22, 1967, in the article “Rock Ovens That Fed Railway Builders,” written by Leonard Ekman.
“In 1891, when track workers labored on the rock-bound grade near Trinidad, no power equipment was used for drilling or for moving rock,” Eknam wrote. “Hand-held drills, struck by burly, maul-swinging laborers, made the holes for blasting powder. After each round of blasting, the loosened rock was hauled from the cut in wheelbarrows, where it was dumped over the side of the coulee near the project. Pay for this arduous work was $2.00 a day, for a ten hour shift.”
Janni had come to the US with his father, who was working on the copper hill in Butte, Mont. Janni joined the railroad, eventually working at Trinidad. Shortly after arriving at Trinidad, his father returned to Italy, leaving Janni alone in the US.
“Peter’s job consisted of carrying steel drills from the drill crews to the shop where they were sharpened, and back to the drillers when the steel had been reconditioned and tempered,” Ekman wrote. “At times, when no steel needed sharpening, he took a turn on a wheelbarrow, hauling rock from the diggings to the dump on the rim of the coulee. Although he was not required to haul rock, he was afraid he might be fired if caught not working. Since his father returned to Italy shortly after Peter's arrival at the Trinidad camp, the thought of being unemployed and alone in a strange land was indeed frightening.”
Janni was one of approximately 250 Italians that were part of a larger work crew building the tracks at Trinidad. Conditions in the camps were rough. The railroad provided food and shelter to their men, for a charge. One of the practices of the day was to charge company workers such that after expenses, they barely had any money left over. To reduce costs, some Italians would live in makeshift structures, whether it be tents or made out of whatever was available.
“Janni recalls that the men slept on sagebrush boughs covered with blankets, and that at times when the men awoke in the morning they would find that several rattlesnakes had moved in,” Ekman wrote.
Water was scarce, as it had to be hauled three miles up the hill from the river. Baths and clean clothes could only be acquired if the trek across the rattlesnake-infested desert was made.
Since the Italians wanted to save money by not eating the railroad’s food, they had to cook their own meals.
“Janni explained that the Italian men divided into groups of up to ten each,” wrote Ekman. “Each group constructed an oven for bread. Besides the economy factor, their love for bread doubtless was one of the reasons for living in an independent camp. Each group hired a cook whose salary of $2.00 a day was apportioned among its members.”
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| This now collapsed rock oven once had a beehive shape. |
“First, a fire is built inside,” wrote Wegars. “After it burns down, the coals are raked out. The oven floor is swept clean and then sprinkled with cornmeal or flour. Next the loaves are placed inside after closing the flue hole in the rear of the oven’s roof; the door is sealed with a piece of metal or a damp cloth. The entire process took about two and one-half to three hours to prepare the coals, but only about 15 minutes of baking time at 450°F.”
At Trinidad, the bread would have been cooked with wood from sagebrush and placed in the oven with paddles made of driftwood.
Ekman wrote, “In a nostalgic mood Janni said: ‘The bread was so hard that if a man had been struck in the head by one of the loaves it would have killed him.’ Then he added, ‘But it was real bread.’"
Today, only one of the ovens at Trinidad is fully in tacked. A second one is still partially intact. Other ovens may be present, but they are difficult to find under the sagebrush and weeds growing in the area.
Another rock oven used to stand a few miles away, just north of Trinidad. However this one was torn down by the railroad several years ago. Other rock ovens have been reported on the west side of the river, across from Beverly; around Coulee City and in the Stratford area. It is unknown whether the Coulee City and Stratford oven accounts are true or accurate. Pictures have been taken of the Beverly oven, but it’s current condition is unknown. The Tumwater Canyon and Cheney have also had rock ovens found.
In addition to the rock ovens at Trinidad, there are quite a few round, rock walls that were probably also built by the Italians, possibly for the purpose of shelter.
“The independent Italians lived in makeshift tents, shacks made of whatever material could be found and crudely made stone huts,” wrote Ekman.
These structures don’t appear to have roofs that have caved in. Some are wide enough that three men could have cram into them to sleep. Others would only have been wide enough for one man. The true purpose of these walls is unknown.
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| A stone wall stands in the area of the rock ovens. This structure could have possibly been a shelter for railroad workers. |
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| The remains of what may have been a mechanic’s shed near the rock ovens at Trinidad. |
