Arche­ol­o­gists found broken pieces of woks in a railroad crew camp in West Texas, evidence of workers who passed through in the 1800s. Chinese immigrants built the Southern Pacific railway from the West Coast to Texas. Irish immigrants laid track westward from Galveston. In 1883, Chinese crews met Irish crews near the site that is now Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site. Chinese immigrants brought woks with them to the U.S. in the 1840s — the round-bottomed pans are the go-to cooking pans to boil, sauté, stir-fry, deep-fry and steam food across southern Asia. Quickly cooked food meant less fuel for the fire — better for travel across the deserts of the West.