The Chinese Did More Than Hard Labor In The Gold Rush

During the gold rush days many Chinese came to America to perform hard labor and send their earnings back to China. Most often when they accumulated enough money they would go home. Some after staying for many years eventually settled in America, but rarely settled in America during the gold rush years. This article relates the lives of Fee Lee Wong and his children in America during the years of 1870 to 1921 and their contributions to America. Fee Lee Wong, my grandfather, passed away before I was born. Searching for information on his life was almost like searching for information on a stranger. There were many gold rushes in America. The key ones were California in 1849, Colorado in 1858, South Dakota in 1876 and Yukon in 1897. For Fee Lee Wong the setting was the South Dakota Gold Rush.

Many Chinese came to South America during the 16th Century. By the 1800’s many of them moved north to the West Coast of North America to fish and to farm. The 1849 California Gold Rush greatly accelerated the influx of Chinese miners to California. By 1860 there were 30 to 50 thousand Chinese in California. By 1868 the Central Pacific Railroad Company alone employed 10,000 Chinese. By 1870 the farm labor force in California and the whole fishing industry along the West Coast in the U.S. were dominated by Chinese. Indeed by then the U.S. became the "Gold Mountain", a lure that many Chinese could not resist.

By the mid 1800’s, due to the fighting of rebel factions after the Taiping Rebellion, flood and famine, many villages were devastated in southern China. The village of Bak-Sah in the county of Toi-San, Kwong Tung, had fallen into hard times in the 1860's. Fee Lee Wong and his brother were forced to leave their native village of Bak-Sah and resettle in the county of Yun-Ping. But life in Yun-Ping was also difficult. The two brothers finally resorted to renting their bodies via hard labor contracts to work in the "Gold Mountain". The trip to the U.S. was not a pleasure trip. It cost $200 to $300 a person, consisting of fees to the agent and ship passage of $30 to $50. It took 2 to 3 months to cross the Pacific. One of the ships had the unfortunate incident of the death of 20% of its passengers. Nevertheless the two brothers made it to the U.S. in 1870. By then Fee Lee Wong was 24 years old.

It appears that Fee Lee Wong might have performed as a cook as well as a laborer in California from 1870 to 1876. By 1875 gold strikes in the Black Hills of South Dakota created a new gold rush. This time even Californians headed for the Black Hills. Fee Lee Wong, serving as a cook, went with a group of Caucasians to the Black Hills. On the way the group was attacked either by Indians or bandits, but they were able to fight them off and arrived in the Black Hills some time in 1875 to 1876. Fee Lee Wong reached Deadwood in 1876, the year Wild Bill Hickok, a lawman and a scout for General Custer, was shot in the back in Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood.

The group staked some claims. Then the claims were distributed to the members of the group by drawing lots. At the beginning someone suggested that the Chinaman namely Fee Lee Wong, should not be allowed to take part in the drawing. However, others argued that since the group went through life and death together to get to the Black Hills everyone should be treated equally. The result was that Fee Lee Wong received two claims. As luck would have it, gold was found on a claim next to one of Fee Lee Wong's claims. It was said that sometime between 1876 and 1882 Fee Lee Wong sold his claim for $75,000. At that time gold was valued at roughly $20 per ounce. Presently gold sells for about $340 per ounce. By equating the worth of a dollar through its gold equivalency the $75;000 around 1880 would be equivalent to $1,275,000 in today s money. Most of the Chinese in America at that time would simply take the money and return to China to live there happily ever after. However, Fee Lee Wong did not do that. Instead, he settled in Deadwood and raised his family there.

Fee Lee Wong lived to become the most prominent Chinese in Deadwood during the city's prime years. Aside from the fact that he was rich, there were many other factors in his favor. He was believed to be the first Chinese to live in Deadwood and the first Chinese to raise a family there. His children went to schools there like everybody else. Thus he and his family members were well integrated into the society of Deadwood. Being a family man there provided a great deal of assurance to the non-Chinese in Deadwood that the Chinese would provide their share of the effort to tame the new frontier rather than to just take the money and go home. Census records indicated that he spoke fluent English. This fact has a lot to do with the prominent position he attained. At times, the anti-Chinese sentiments around Deadwood would become explosive and lead to unreasonable violence against some Chinese. Fee Lee Wong quite often served as a go—between for the Chinese people and the non-Chinese society to resolve conflicts. He made many good friends outside of the Chinese circle. Some of them were people in the high society of Deadwood which included judges, city officials and physicians. For sure there were continual discriminations of some sort against the Chinese. Apparently through Fee Lee Wong's efforts the Chinese were able to co-exist in reasonable peace with the non-Chinese in that region. The following sections will provide some details on the lives of Fee Lee Wong and his children in a frontier town.

More than seven historians have written about or mentioned Dr. Wing Tsue, which is the name by which the local non-Chinese called Fee Lee Wong. The name stemmed from the name of his store. Traditionally people name their stores after the owner's names in America. Of course, for the Chinese doing such was taboo. Fee Lee Wong named his store Wing Tsue. The Deadwood people assumed that Wing Tsue was his name. I believe that people began to call him "Doctor" when they learned that he was selling Chinese medicines. By 1908 the Business Directory of Deadwood listed Wing Tsue as "Physician and Chinese Goods". It is possible that he was diagnosing sicknesses and prescribing medicines by that time. Dr. Howe, who was a western physician and served many terms as mayor in Deadwood, had high praises for Dr. Wing Tsue in his book on Deadwood doctors. Some people in Deadwood even claimed that he delivered babies. That would be hard to believe because even the professional "Chinese Physicians" did not deliver babies in the old days.

To understand what Fee Lee Wong did in Deadwood it is necessary to know something about Deadwood. Prior to the gold rush, Black Hills was basically a place where a few Indians hang around. After a few gold strikes people from all over poured in, including Calamity Jane, a scout for General Crook. She stayed on and off in Deadwood and lived in the Chinatown section for a length of time. Deadwood was a town dominated by rough and tough miners and frontiers men. At its prime there were possibly 13,000 people living around Deadwood including about 220 to 1,300 Chinese. This wide spread estimate of number of Chinese was due to the reluctance of Chinese to be identified, a reaction to the anti-Chinese sentiments. Thus, the low number of 220 reported in the 1880 census record is most likely way understated. At time of census many Chinese might be working in the mines that were not easily accessible; and those responding to the census takers might not have reported everybody living in the households. The large number of 1,300 came from an estimate by an old-timer in a historical discussion meeting held in 1967. If the high number is correct this makes the Deadwood region the place with the largest concentration (10%) of Chinese in America at that time, far exceeding San Francisco. Thus the Chinese population is a very important part of Deadwood. Fee Lee Wong might have realized that there was a bright future in Deadwood even for a Chinese, or he might simply like it there as he really did not have bonafide roots in China, being resettled in another county before he came to America. In any event he decided to make Deadwood his home.

Fee Lee Wong started his general store before 1878, as indicated in an entry in the postal money order record book, and before he went to China to bring a wife back to Deadwood. His wife, S. N. Ho, arrived in Deadwood with Fee Lee Wong in 1883. One interesting fact is that he had only one wife while most of the Chinese would have several wives especially for rich people. Usually the wives of the Chinese men in America at that time would stay back in China. So Fee Lee Wong's monogamy idea has nothing to do with the law in America. His store catered to Caucasians as well as Chinese, selling Chinese goods and Chinese food stuff including herbal medicine. One of the medicine was opium. The local news papers had reported Fee Lee Wong being arrested for operating an opium den and mailing of lottery literature. In the opium case he was charged with causing public nuisance and fined $25. There was no law against selling opium. In fact in 1878 the County there passed a law to tax each opium den $300 a year. Gambling apparently was not a local offense but a violation of U.S. Mail regulation. One must realize that gambling and smoking opium were ways of life for many Chinese at that time.

There was a big fire in 1885 that burned 10 buildings in the Deadwood Chinatown. The fire was reported to be started in Fee Lee Wong's store. The city extended the water main into Chinatown and put a fire plug in front of the Wing Tsue store in 1886. Later on Fee Lee Wong financed his own Fire Hose Team for fighting fires. He was a member of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers.  Only people who came to the Black Hills before 1880 and their descendants can join this Society. For a Chinese to join such organizations in those years was a very rare event. He also bought many mining claims and real estate properties in and around Deadwood including the three lots where his store was located.    In the 1890's he built the only two brick buildings in Chinatown on two of the lots. Now they are historical building being preserved in Deadwood and the fire hydrant is still in front of them.

Fee Lee Wong had nine children. The children, who were born in Deadwood, went to regular schools in Deadwood. The girls eventually went back to China and got married. The oldest son was an adopted son. He stayed in California and had never stayed in Deadwood.   Fee Lee Wong gave each of the other boys $4,000, either upon graduation from high school or when they were ready to be on their own, for them to use to seek their future. The second son, H. Q. Wong, went on to study at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1907.  Unfortunately he contracted meningitis and had to drop out of the technical college.  He then worked for the postal service and the immigration service in the U.S.. The third son, S. Q. Wong, who was class President in his Freshman year at Deadwood High School, received a B.S. degree in architecture from University of Michigan in 1921. Besides having a very successful career in architecture and many other endeavors mainly in China, S. Q. Wong was commissioned as a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corp during the second world war when he was in his fifties. It is believed that he was the first Chinese to achieve that rank in the Marine Corp. He also received a Bronze Star for his bravery. The fourth son, T. Q. Wong, became a professional magician owning his own troupe. His troupe performed all over the world including shows at the Chicago World's Fair. Fee Lee Wong passed away in 1921 and did not get to see the fruits of the seeds he planted in his children, but certainly he would have been proud of them.

By the year 1910 the easily accessible gold deposits were essentially all claimed by the miners in the Black Hills. The rise and fall of the population of Deadwood followed the number of new gold strikes. So does the population of Deadwood's Chinatown. Officially it was reported that there were 215 Chinese living in the Black Hills in 1900 and were down to 73 by 1910. During this time Fee Lee Wong's family members also gradually left and he himself left in 1919 to return to China. The last gold rush generation Chinese, who was once an employee of Fee Lee Wong, left Deadwood in 1932. All but one of Fee Lee Wong's grandchildren were born in China, but almost half of them were or are in the U.S.. His grandchildren and great grandchildren contributed and are still contributing to the U.S. in a broad spectrum of professions.

CONCLUSIONS

Fee Lee Wong's life in Deadwood followed the rise and fall of the Chinatown in Deadwood. More than witnessing the birth and maturity of Chinatown, he helped to shape its future. He also made contributions to the rest of Deadwood. He proved that the American dream for immigrants could be fulfilled. Even a Chinese could succeed in an American frontier town. He greatly contributed in the area of race relations at a time when many Americans distrusted the Chinese and attempted to drive the Chinese out physically and legally. He did much to give the people in Deadwood a good impression of the Chinese. Fee Lee Wong contributed more than hard labor to America. He joined the pioneering spirit of planting roots in the New World; and his descendants continue to contribute to America in many ways today.