SCOUTING YESTERDAY | SD archaeologists uncover gold rush Chinatown treasure trove

This week in South Dakota history: June 26–July 2

Fee Lee Wong’s Deadwood mercantile inventory list. Courtesy Rapid City Journal.

Hundreds of the earliest citizens of Deadwood were Chinese immigrants — but little was known about them. That all changed 25 years ago thanks to construction work in the gold rush boom town’s former Chinatown district.

Archaeologists unearthed a cache of artifacts preparing for a new parking lot, and officials thought eight weeks of work would be required to examine the site, according to the July 2, 2001, edition of the Argus Leader.

Those eight weeks turned into years of digs, restorations and research.

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