Legends of Deadwood Wong Fee Lee Statue Dedication in Deadwood
Thursday, June 26, 3 p.m.
Mr. Wu’s, 560 Historic Main Street, Deadwood, SD
DEADWOOD, S.D. (06/13/2025) – Born in China, Wong Fee Lee (黃輝利) arrived in Deadwood Gulch in December 1876. Like many Chinese immigrants on the Western frontier, Wong came seeking his fortune. Unlike most, he ended up making Deadwood his home. He built a business, married, raised a large family, adopted North American ways, and shared his own culture with his non-Chinese neighbors. In the process, he earned the deep respect of his countrymen and the people of Deadwood.
“He was a man of many accomplishments, shrewd in business and a patriotic citizen of his adopted country,” the Deadwood Daily Pioneer-Times wrote upon receiving word of Wong’s death in 1921. “He was a man whose word was his bond, scrupulously honest, a contributor to every charity which appealed to him, free and generous, a heavy purchaser of liberty bonds and a contributor to every enterprise that would help Deadwood.”
Throughout his life, he went by many names: Wong Fee Lee, Wong Free Lee, Wong Fay Lee, Wing Tsue, Dr. Wing Tsue, Wing Touie, Wing Tone, and Wong Fe Ming. Sometime between October 1882 and May 1883, he married Haw Soog Gain. Their eight surviving children, born between 1884 and 1902, were born and raised in Deadwood and attended public school. Two of his sons went on to attend universities in the United States. Some of the older children attended school, not all of them, due to age.
Wong’s business interests included mining, merchandise, and a number of other ventures. He was best known, perhaps, for a pair of sturdy brick buildings on Lower Main Street collectively named the Wing Tsue Bazaar. Constructed in 1885 and 1896, these buildings stood as the center of Deadwood’s Chinatown community for decades.
At every opportunity, Wong reached out to the community beyond Chinatown. He donated money for the Independence Day festivities and sponsored a Chinese entry in the annual parade. He staged a Chinese hose cart team for the firefighter competitions popular at the time. In addition, he invited Deadwood townsfolk to join in events such as the Chinese New Year and the Hungry Ghost Festival. In addition, Fee Lee Wong purchased burial plots for individual Chinese at Mt. Moriah Cemetery.
One testament to his esteem was the support he received from friends when he was not allowed to return to the United States after a 1902 trip to China. Under the Chinese Exclusion Act, the U.S. government denied his entry to the United States. Prominent South Dakotans, including Circuit Court Clerk Sol Star and Congressman Eben Martin, intervened on his behalf, and Wong was allowed to return.
In 1919, Wong suffered a stroke during a meeting of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers, of which he was a member. He recovered enough to travel and returned to his Chinese homeland, where he died two years later.
Funding for this statue was in part through the generous contributions from the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, Wong Fee Lee Descendants (including support from the Society of Black Hills Pioneers), Tin Lizzie Gaming Resort, Mr. Wu’s Gaming Establishment, Buck Lovell in Memoriam, and the Main Street Initiative/Deadwood Chamber.
The Legends of Deadwood bronze public art project will raise awareness and honor Deadwood’s historic characters in sculpture. Deadwood’s story will be told through a series of life-size bronze sculptures throughout the city over the next five years. The first sculpture of folk hero Calamity Jane was installed in October 2023 at Outlaw Square. Calamity Jane was sculpted by Paul Moore, an internationally known artist who has sculpted more than 155 portrait and monumental commissions in the past 40 years. Calamity Jane was one of Moore’s final commissioned pieces of artwork.
The Legends of Deadwood is an organization formed jointly between Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, the City of Deadwood, Main Street Initiative, Deadwood History, Inc., and the Deadwood Chamber & Visitors Bureau.
Artist Jim Maher was born to a ranching family near Pierre, South Dakota. He obtained degrees in Animal Science and Equine Physiology from Colorado State University and pursued a career in the Quarter Horse breeding business for a time. A life-long avocation became his vocation in 1989 when he cast his first bronze sculpture. Early in his career, Jim was blessed with the opportunity to work with a very accomplished artist, Dale Claude Lamphere, where he learned a great deal, from design and composition, to techniques of bronze sculpture production. On obtaining his first commission for a large-scale work in 1994, Jim established his own studio, where he has created over 30 life-size or larger sculptures and a multitude of smaller works. The human figure has been the focus of his work with a special interest in the portrait.
Major works include sculptures for the Trail of Governors project in Pierre, South Dakota, the City of Presidents in Rapid City, South Dakota Sacred Heart Monastery, and Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton, South Dakota, SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Pierre, South Dakota, D.C. Booth National Historic Fish Hatchery, Spearfish, South Dakota, and Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri.
From the plaque:
Wong 黃輝利 Family Legacy
Chinese immigrant Wong Fee Lee was no stranger to the trials and tribulations of the American West. Family oral history recounts that as a young man, Wong emigrated from the Guangdong Province of Southern China to the West Coast of the United States in the 1860’s. Wong moved to Deadwood Gulch in 1876 during the Black Hills Gold Rush and purchased the lots before you, founding his Wing Tsue mercantile store. After a fire, two sturdy buildings were built: 566 Main Street (1885) for his store and 568 Main Street (1896) that housed lodgers and businesses. The Wong family residence and gardens were built on the hillside behind these buildings. Over the course of four decades, Wong became a prominent community member
In addition to sharing customs and celebrations of the Chinese culture, he donated to Independence Day festivities, including entering a Chinese team for the hose cart competition. In 1903, upon returning from a visit to China, Wong was denied entry to the United States under the Chinese Exclusion Act. South Dakotans, including Lawrence County Clerk of Courts Sol Star and Congressman Eben Martin intervened on Wong’s behalf and he was allowed to return to Deadwood. Wong suffered a stroke during a meeting of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers in 1919, of which he was a member. Wong recovered enough to travel and returned to China where he died two years later.
Unique for the Chinese population at the time, Wong and his wife Hal Shek bore and raised eight children in Deadwood. Two of Wong’s infants who did not survive are buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery. Wong’s son Som Quong, as seen in the photograph and statue before you, graduated from Deadwood High School in 1912. After the patriarch Wong left Deadwood, Som Quong, as well as his siblings, settled elsewhere, raising their own families. In his later years, Captain Wong Som Quong of the United States Marine Corps Reserve, received the Bronze Star Medal (1945) and posthumously, the Congressional Gold Medal (2020) for his service in World War II. Wong descendants from around the globe gathered for the first family reunion in Deadwood in 2004. Undeterred by the loss of the Wing Tsue buildings in 2005, descendants, now six generations later, continue to gather with honor in the American hometown of their ancestors.
Mr. Wu’s Wong Weekend (a 21+ Event) will be held on June 26th – 28th from 1 PM – 9PM, daily, at Mr. Wu’s (560 Main St., Deadwood, SD)
Join us for a festival honoring the Wong family and the rich Chinese heritage of Deadwood—three epic days of celebration, culture, music, and fun!
Don’t miss the Grand Unveiling of The Wong Statue at 3 PM on Thursday, June 26th, where dozens of Wong’s descendants will be in attendance, and experience the excitement of Kung Fu Lion Dances all weekend long.
Enjoy live music daily, featuring:
- Bluffett (A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett), Common Law, Hot City Soul, StereoTrip, Strait George (A Tribute to George Strait), The Dirt
- Complimentary BBQ served every day
- $10 Bottomless Draft Beer
This is a complimentary event open to the public—no tickets are needed!