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Reed Gold Mine Teacher’s Guide September 2000 2 Acknowledgments SINCEREST APPRECIATION TO: Dr. Richard F. Knapp, North Carolina Historic Sites -Division of Archives and History John B. Dysart, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site -Site Manager Susan E. Smith, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site -Chief of Historic Interpretations Don McNeely of T. Braeden’s, Inc. -President of Gold History Corporation Elizabeth Boyd, T. Braeden’s, Inc. President AND TO: The Reed Gold Mine Bicentennial of Gold Education Committee: Robert Remsburg III, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site - Former Assistant Site Manager Dr. Barbara Theide, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site -Former Bicentennial Coordinator Amy Archer, Kannapolis City Schools, - Instructional Technology Specialist Dr. Ken Burrows, University of North Carolina at Charlotte - Professor of Continuing Education Jody Cohen, Kannapolis City Schools, Social Studies - 4th Grade Teacher 3 Michael Corrigan, Kannapolis City Schools - K-5 Resource Room Teacher Patricia J. Dickson, Mecklenberg Area Catholic Schools, Math - 4th Grade Teacher Cathy Jewett, Cabarrus County Schools - Middle School Curriculum Coordinator Susan Kimball, Rowan-Salisbury Schools, Social Studies - 4th Grade Teacher Boone Linker, Cabarrus County Schools, Science - 4th Grade Teacher Karen Mann, Mecklenberg Area Catholic Schools, Math - Learning Support Program Director Linda H. Medlin, Cabarrus County Schools, Communications - 4/5 AG Teacher Ann Parker, Cabarrus County Schools, Communications - 4th Grade Teacher E. Campbell Price, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction - Instructional Technology Consultant Paula Ritchie, Cabarrus County Schools - Assistant Principal for Instruction Robert Shinn, Kannapolis City Schools - Director of Student and Special Services Brenda Steadman, Charlotte - Mecklenburg Schools - Elementary Social Studies Coordinator Martha West, Rowan County Schools - Director of Elementary Education 4 Table of Contents N. C. Gold Rush: Information for Teachers Gold Fast Facts Gold History for Teachers Gold History for Students Mathematics Expanded Notation Using Graphs and Charts Stem and Leaf Graphs Graphing Basic Computation Math Games Board Games Social Studies Life of John Reed Vocabulary Time Line Mapping Project Ideas 5 Science Exploring Erosion Mass, Volumes, and Density Simple Machines Plant Succession Language Arts Writing Prompts Oral Tradition Stories Oral Tradition Vocabulary Newspaper Article Poetry Activities 6 North Carolina Gold Rush: Information for Teachers Nugget 1: Gold Fast Facts This is an overview of information about the North Carolina Gold Rush. Facts about NC Gold Rush Facts about Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site 7 Facts About the North Carolina Gold Rush The site of the first documented discovery of gold and the first American gold rush is located at Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. In 1804, the U. S. Mint in Philadelphia processed $11,000 worth of gold from Cabarrus County. Between 1804 and 1825 North Carolina produced $134,000 of gold from placer mining alone. Between 1800 and 1948 the Central Piedmont boasted 294 mines (South Carolina had 50) By 1849 Charlotte mines had produced 2.6 million dollars worth of gold. Between 1804 and 1828 North Carolina remained the only producer of domestic gold in the country. North Carolina remained the highest producer of the precious metal until 1848, when gold was discovered in California. The estimated value of gold recovered during the high tide years of the 1850’s reached over a million dollars a year. Estimated total gold production ranges from 50 to 65 million dollars worth of gold. That same gold would be worth about $742,856,800 today. Americans first dubbed NORTH CAROLINA “The Golden State”. 8 Facts About Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site John Reed was illegitimate. His father and mother did public penance (recorded in the church at Raboldshausen, Germany) a few months before he was born. Did Reed deliberately give a false birth date? His gravestone gives his birth date as January 1757, but church records indicate he was born on April 14, 1759. Perhaps he didn't want anyone in his adopted land to find out about his embarrassing past. John Reed fought with British and Hessian troops in the American Revolution, but deserted from Savannah, Georgia. The trek to North Carolina was a dangerous one, given the fact that bounty hunters were paid for bringing back the scalps of deserters. Reed made his way through the roads in three colonies, settled, married and later had nine children with his wife Sarah in Cabarrus County. John Reed's twelve-year-old son Conrad made the first documented discovery of gold in the United States. After the boy lugged the 17-pound "rock" home to his parents, the Reeds used it as a doorstop for three years. Once during that time, John Reed brought the nugget to a silversmith in Concord, but the silversmith couldn't identify it. Not until 1802, when Reed left for his annual marketing trip to Fayetteville, did the secret come out. At that point, Reed's curiosity got the better of him once again, and he hauled the nugget all the way to the "big city." A jeweler there asked Reed to leave the nugget with him, and while Reed was gone, the jeweler melted the bar of gold down to a bar about seven or eight inches in length. When Reed returned, the jeweler asked him to name his price. Reed suggested $3.50, a week's worth of wages back then, and the jeweler paid -- gladly. The nugget was worth at least 100 times that much in those days (that's about $75,000 in today's world). Reed discovered later that he'd been cheated. Oral tradition tells us that Reed went back to the jeweler to demand more money, and that he did receive an addition $1,000. 9 Back in 1802 three dollars and fifty cents seemed like an awful lot of money. Reed, the story goes, bought his wife Sarah calico for a new dress and coffee beans. The story continues: when Sarah got the beans, she tossed them in a pot of water with a bit of meat and was astonished to find that the beans could not be cooked soft. The mess was tossed on the hill beside the house (maybe that accounts for the expression "it's not worth a hill of beans"). Maybe money made the world go around in the early 19th century, too. Still, John Reed never gave up his belief that farming was a better source of wealth than mining. He refused to allow his sons and sons-in-law to mine in any fields he cultivated -- even when he found gold nuggets there sticking to end of his plow. The area around his house included, according to one 19th-century observer, quartz outcroppings that may have contained gold. But Reed kept his fields intact and the area was never mined. He bought major parcels of land through the early 19th century, but even when the provisions of sale included rights to mine in that area, Reed never bothered with purchasing pans, rockers, or any other mining tools. In his mind, golden fields of corn or wheat must have glittered in their own way. In 1804 a slave named Peter found the biggest gold nugget ever discovered at Reed Gold Mine. The find occurred in the first true mining season on Reed's land. The nugget weighed 28 pounds, and was worth, in today's terms, $131,264. Peter belonged to Rev. James Love, a Baptist minister, partner to John Reed, and friend to the Reed family. Two of John Reed's children married Love's children. In later years George Barnhardt, John Reed's son-in-law, told a story about the day when the 28-pound nugget was found. Barnhardt said that Love offered Peter the opportunity to pry a knob off the gold nugget with his fork as a reward for his good work. Love reportedly said that if Peter succeeded in prying the knob off the nugget he could keep it. According to Barnhardt, Peter responded, "No, master. I don't want to do that. I might break my fork." Obviously Peter, as well as Rev. Love, was well aware there was no possibility his fork would be strong enough to dislodge any gold from the nugget. Also, the replacing of a broken fork would not be a minor expense. 10 The Reed mine was amazingly successful as soon as men began looking for gold. In a mere six weeks, during 1803-04, the Reed saw a net return of $14,000 to $20,000 from surface mining. In the mid-1890s two brothers, William and Robert Gadd worked at the Reed Gold Mine. One accused the other of having murdered a woman and thrown the body down a shaft. Arrests were made and an intense search initiated. Authorities found nothing, however, that could prove the story to be true. Still, rumors persist to this day that a tooth, a lock of hair, and a watch were found in the mine. In the first thirty years or so after Reed discovered he had gold on his land he and his three partners controlled mining operations. Each partner was to supply the manpower initially through two slaves apiece, and John Reed supplied the land. Profits were divided equally among the four men. Martin Phifer, a prominent local businessman in Cabarrus County, routinely assayed gold nuggets found at the mine. One week, Phifer claimed, he had received three nuggets, each weighing about twenty pounds, for assaying. When he examined the pieces closely, he discovered that they fit together perfectly. But there was a large gap where a fourth piece, also about twenty pounds worth, would have fit. Clearly, the pieces had somehow been broken apart. Just as clearly, one piece was missing. No one ever discovered where the missing nugget went. No legal battles ensued and the partnership continued its existence without accusations or recriminations. The same could not be said of a dispute among the next generation of partners. After the original partners died, John Reed allowed his sons and sons-in-law to operate the mine, while giving him one-ninth of the profits. One day, George Reed (John's son) could not get to the mine because his wife and son were ill. He sent his 16-year-old son in his place. That day, a 13-pound nugget was discovered. George's partners refused to give him a share of the nugget. They insisted that his son was not capable of performing an adult's share of work. George, therefore, did not deserve any share 11 of the nugget. Seventy-five-year old John Reed attempted to pay George off using his personal resources. But George was not appeased. He took his brothers and brothers-in-law to court, and the mine shut down for 10 years because of the legal wrangle, which George eventually won (he recovered a sum of money that just about covered 10 years of legal expenses). Slaves who worked at gold mines generally labored during the off-seasons. They had to do some of the most dangerous work. Gold mine operators who were after quick profits sometimes made slaves dig directly into hillsides without giving them the opportunity or time to make sure the roof was secure. The earth, according to one historian, "often gave way and crushed the workers.” Some slaves, however, were able to use the mines to better purposes. A few were allowed to use some of the gold they found to buy their freedom. Slave miners also earned money for doing "extra work" and made up to 30 dollars a month that way. Some slaves used Sundays and holidays to prospect on their own. Overseers did not trust slaves, apparently, and watched them carefully. Perhaps that lack of trust was the result of one basic reality: when slaves could, they often ran away from their white masters. One advertisement described runaway slave named Reuben and his wife Jinney, who were thought to be hiding in or around Smart's Mine in Mecklenburg County. John K. Harrison of Mecklenburg asserted that his slave, missing in 1837, was "lurking about Reed's Gold Mine." Mecklenburg County led the way in developing underground mining techniques. While miners at the Reed still relied on pans and rockers, miners to the west were digging shafts and tunnels so that they could follow gold through the ground. By the late 1820's Charlotte was experiencing a real gold "rush," producing, according to estimates, some $2,000 of gold per week. The North Carolina gold rush prompted the New York Observer to send a correspondent to the gold fields. Famous architect William Thornton (physician, inventor, and designer of the U.S. Capitol) visited the Reed in the early 19th century. Thornton decided to purchase 12 land that bordered Reed's holdings and form a joint stock company to mine gold. The North Carolina Gold Mine Company included a number of prominent Washingtonians, but for some reason, the enterprise never got off (or in) the ground. Perhaps only one-third of gold mined in North Carolina ever made it to the U.S. mint. Matthias Barringer discovered that gold ran in quartz veins in 1825. He was panning for gold in a stream on his land in Stanly (then Montgomery) County when the gold seemed, simply, to run out. Then he noticed quartz rock in the side of the creek bed. Digging furiously, he discovered that gold was intermingled with quartz -- and that following quartz veins could become, in the right circumstances, quite profitable. North Carolina earned an early reputation as an economically retarded state, for which it was called the Rip Van Winkle State. That reputation persisted, even a good while after gold was discovered, and one New York writer characterized North Carolina as "the last state in the world, from which we would expect any good thing to come.” Still, by 1828, the Tar Heel State earned another nickname: the Golden State. Some crafty natives sold their land to unsuspecting entrepreneurs by "salting" their holdings and making it appear that there was gold in their own hills. One source gave explicit advice for succeeding in such chicanery: "Melt up a silver dollar or a small gold piece . . . Divide them into small particles by throwing it into a basin of water while hot . . . Then scatter them about your spring, or in a branch where the road crosses it . . . Let some of your neighbors discover them by accident. . ." There were divided feelings about the influence of foreigners in the gold mining industry. In the early 1830s, Hezekiah Niles estimated there was a 10 percent return on foreign capital. But some natives offered proposals to exclude foreign capital from mines, and others even refused to work for European superintendents. 13 Mining, it seemed, did not always bring out the best in men and women of the times. One observer wrote, "I can hardly conceive of a more immoral community . . . Drunkenness, gambling, fighting, lewdness, and every other vice exist here to an awful extent." Still, some mining superintendents did try to keep control of the climate by forbidding liquor at the mine. And some Cornishmen arranged for the preaching of the Gospel to miners. Some observers tried to tally up the overall benefits of mining: new business activity, increased employment for mechanics and artisans, influx of visitors and residents, 200-300 percent jump in property values, high rental returns, and more circulation of money. Each $100 worth of gold produced was said to represent an additional $75 worth of foodstuff sold to miners. Some miners' toasts: "May the gold miners meet with shallow pitting and rich grit for their reward. Health of body, peace of mind, and four pennyweights to the hand! (July 30, 1832) In 1831 a German jeweler and clockmaker named Christopher Becthler arrived in North Carolina. Local mining leaders convinced him to mint coins and help establish a sound regional currency. Bechtler minted the very first gold dollar in the U.S. in 1832 and, over the years, made a reputation for honesty. 14 North Carolina Gold Rush: Information for Teachers Nugget 2: Gold History for Teachers This is an overview of historical information about North Carolina Gold written as background for teachers. John Reed’s Gold Mine The North Carolina Gold Rush Uses of Gold 15 John Reed’s Gold Mine The first documented discovery of gold in America occurred in 1799, some 50 years before the California gold rush began. The owner of North Carolina’s first mine was a German immigrant who, strange as it may seem, preferred farming to working his rich mine. John Reed’s original name was Johannes Riedt, Ried, or Rieth. He was born on April 14, 1759, in the province of Hessen Cassel in west-central Germany. As a teenager, Rieth joined or was drafted into the Hessian militia from nearby Appenfeld. In 1776, Frederick II of Hessen Cassel mobilized Rieth’s unit and shipped it to America to help his brother-in-law, George III of Britain, in his war with the American colonies. Rieth was probably a replacement recruit who reached America in 1778. Rieth deserted on June 21, 1782, from a post “outside of Savannah.” Rieth and several other Hessians made their way to rural Dutch Buffalo Creek in eastern Mecklenburg—now Cabarrus County. Decades earlier, some of the Germans who had traveled down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania settled there. Most lived in crude log houses on modest farms. In 1782, Rieth married Sarah Kiser. They had nine children—four sons and five daughters. With the help of his brother brother-in-law Frederick Kiser, Rieth acquired 330 acres by 1800. Sometime thereafter he changed his name to John Reed. Little is known of Reed’s personal life and qualities. He signed papers with an X, so historians have assumed that he was illiterate. Unlike most German immigrants, he was not a member of a Lutheran church. Perhaps Reed and his family attended church with his neighbor, Rev. James Love, a Baptist preacher. Love became Reed’s partner in mining. Reed’s obituary later called him a Christian and a friend of the poor. To local historians he was “honest but unlearned,” “a rather primitive character, but a good liver in his way and a respected citizen.” In 1799 he was forty years old. That year the accidental discovery of gold on his property changed his future. One Sunday his son, 12 year-old Conrad went bow-and-arrow fishing with his siblings in Little Meadow Creek on the family farm. He retrieved “a yellow substance shining in the 16 water.” The heavy, wedge-shaped rock was the size of a small flatiron and weighed about 17 pounds. Conrad showed the rock to his father, who set it aside as a doorstop. So far as we know, Reed tried only one time in three years to find out what the rock was made of. He asked a jeweler in Concord to identify the rock, but the latter was unable to do so. In 1802 a jeweler in Fayetteville, whom Reed visited on a marketing trip, fluxed the metal into a bar of gold. When the craftsman offered to buy it, Reed asked for $3.50, a week’s wages. The merchant was quite willing to fleece his unwary customer. John Reed had sold his nugget for less than a thousand times its value: Conrad’s find was worth $3,600. Reed discovered his error and supposedly recovered about $1,000 from the jeweler. In 1803, Reed took three friends—Frederick Kiser, Reverend Love, and landowner Martin Phifer Jr.—into partnership. In late summer, after crops were planted and the stream had nearly dried up, each of the three supplied equipment and two slaves to dig for gold in Reed’s creek. The partners planned an equal division of returns. That first season, Peter, an African American owned by Love, unearthed a 28-pound nugget worth more than $6,600. Gold enabled intelligent but uneducated Reed to become one of the wealthiest men in his part of the state. Reed invested in land and slaves but otherwise lived modestly. He forbade destructive mining on land he cultivated, and ultimately bought over 2,000 acres, nearly half of which he had retained at his death. He purchased three African Americans—Dinah, Charity, and Sam—in 1804. Reed later owned as many as 17 slaves. The outside world had learned of the mine by 1803. Apparently Peter’s nugget was shipped to the United States mint in Philadelphia. In one year, miners at the Reed found five nuggets weighing up to nine pounds each, as well as gold in dust and fine particles. The four partners reportedly garnered over $14,000 in six weeks. In 1804, $11,000 in Cabarrus gold reached the mint. A few periodicals mentioned the mine, and word reached Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. Other farmers found gold, but Reed’s creek remained the nation’s principal gold mine. Soon workers there had gathered the larger nuggets and began panning for smaller, more numerous, particles. An apparatus called a “rocker” superseded the pan for washing gravel in the area. Both devices used 17 the high specific gravity of gold (19 times as heavy as water) to isolate the metal. A typical rocker was a box, a half-barrel, or half of a hollow log. After adding auriferous gravel and water to the device, the miner rocked it to wash away lighter material. By 1824, haphazard digging at the Reed had yielded $100,000 in gold, and seasonal mining was common in several counties. Yet farming predominated, and little technological progress occurred. In the decade after 1825 gold mining in North Carolina saw significant changes and a genuine boom. There was a rush for placer gold in Burke County, but much increased output came from veins. The first was discovered by Matthias Barringer of Stanly County in 1825. Both slaves and whites did seasonal mining. Underground vein mining provided a method of seeking gold at its source inside the earth. Men discovered the great vein mines of Mecklenburg Countythe Capps, Rudisill, and McCombs. New corporations using skilled European miners and the latest technology soon controlled those mines. Prospectors developed dozens of smaller mines. The state’s output of gold rose sharply about 1825; much of it being made into jewelry, used in local trade, or exported to Europe. Within a decade the private Bechtler mint and a federal branch mint in Charlotte were established. Yet Reed’s creek mine remained a simple operation. Reed farmed and collected royalties while relatives, slaves, and partners mined. Before 1826 gold found in pieces exceeding one pound reached a total of 84 pounds. Shortly, people estimated the total yield at $200,000. Little Meadow was probably the state’s most dug-over creek. While larger mines had steam power and professional underground miners, Reed continued a close family operation, choosing not to disrupt his lifestyle with outside workers, values, technology, and perhaps capital. In 1831 underground work began at the Reed. Isaac Craton, Reed’s grandson, dug the first pit on Upper Hill and found a vein yielding five dollars per bushel of ore. The amateurs made considerable underground progress while continuing creek (placer) mining. Miners, many of whom were relatives of Reed, deepened pits into shafts. The family probably utilized both African American and local white labor. There were four or five shafts up to 90 feet deep on Upper Hill and probably others on Lower Hill, which at one point supposedly produced four pounds of gold daily. 18 The miners erected horse-powered whims to raise ore from shafts and an arrastra, or drag-stone mill, near the creek to crush ore. Perhaps the workers still used rockers. Tales circulated about conflicts and wealth at the Reed. Grandson Timothy Reed forced Craton from his shaft and recovered up to $20,000 in gold there. Son-in-law Robert Motley supposedly recovered 14 pounds of gold one day before breakfast. A Captain Biggers said he worked his weight in gold. Miners dug gold “like potatoes”. The family reportedly paid employees with pieces of gold pounded in a common hand mortar. In early 1834 Conrad Reed died. The family continued mining, but in November an argument over a 13-pound nugget led to a bitter lawsuit. One of John’s sons, George Reed, was denied his share of the nugget because he had not worked at the mine the day the nugget was found, and had sent his young son as a replacement. The other partners were of two minds over whether the boy was a suitable replacement. George spurned John Reed’s personal offer of reimbursement and secured an injunction that closed the mine for a decade until the state supreme court finally settled the case. Legal expenses consumed all but $20 of the son’s $535 recovery. John Reed died soon after the case was settled, in 1845. His executors sold the mine, and the estate probably grossed about $25,000 ($550,000 today). A son-in-law and a grandson then ran the mine with limited success, using obsolete equipment and a few horses. Perhaps they dug several new shafts. Once they tunneled 140 feet through solid rock to intersect a vein that on the first day reportedly paid for the tunnel. In 1850 the partners produced ore worth $7,500 with 20 hands at a labor cost of $400 monthly. Yet by 1852 the owners remained heavily in debt. In July 1853 the Reed Gold and Copper Mining Company paid $25,000 for an additional 745 acres. The New York corporation hired professional miners and installed the latest equipment, becoming one of several companies that were active in Tar Heel mining after the California gold rush. During the mid-1850s Dr. Louis Posselt, a chemist and miner, directed the Reed, which could boast the most expertise and up-to-date equipment of its history. Posselt spent considerable money developing the mine underground and erecting new surface machinery and buildings. He built a small village with an engine house and 19 millhouse, a large whim house and whim to raise ore, an office, a powder house, stables, a blacksmith shop, and 11 cabins. By mid-1854, the underground beneath Upper Hill contained 15 shafts and over 500 feet of tunnels. Posselt instructed his employees in centuries-old European techniques. Miners tunneled along ore at different levels and chiseled out rooms to remove the ore. Loose ore was moved underground in low wheelbarrows. Iron kibbles were used at Reed to hoist ore and miners up the 110-foot-deep engine shaft to the surface. A hoisting whim, initially powered by a single horse, accomplished this difficult work. The engine shaft also contained a steam pump to raise water for the mill and drain the mine. A fifty-horsepower steam engine operated the pump and ore-crushing machinery that included a stamp mill. The wood-and-iron stamp mill resembled those of medieval Germany. Three large Chilean mills crushed ore to a finer size. A Chilean mill had a pair of large stone wheels for crushing ore. An arrastra, or drag-stone mill, substituted stones for the wheels of the Chilean mills. Shaking tables used a reciprocating motion to separate gold from lighter materials. The mill workers used these steam-powered machines, with water and mercury, to catch bits of metal before purifying it in retorts to recover gold. Despite that machinery, the Reed company, like many others, failed during 1854. Tightening of the New York money market as well as flagrant speculation ruined many Carolina mines. Perhaps Posselt did not examine ore reserves adequately before erecting costly machinery. Shortly the state geologist of South Carolina reported the gold at Reed was almost entirely gone. In 1855 the Cabarrus sheriff auctioned the property for one-fourth of its price in 1853. Tar Heel gold production had slipped, however, and the new owners did little mining. Various people panned in the creek, finding a few nuggets. By 1860 the mine was closed and remained so during the Civil War, along with nearly all Carolina gold mines. For several years after 1890 little happened at the mine. Then the century-old mine attracted Ohio’s Kelly family, which purchased the mine for $15,000. A consultant told the Kellys they would need $50,000 to put the mine in good working order. 20 In 1895 the owners had a crew doing placer (surface) and underground work at the mine. Local men leased placer rights. One of them, Jacob Shinn, found the last great nugget there (about 23 pounds) in April 1896. Shinn’s find rekindled the owners’ enthusiasm. The Kellys ordered a heavy new, cast-iron stamp mill from the Mecklenburg Iron Works of Charlotte, a principal manufacturer of southern mining equipment. Again the Reed was somewhat typical of leading mines. In 1899 and 1900 young Armin Kelly and some old-timers got the mill running and tested some ore before suspending operations. In 1912 the Kellys deepened the engine shaft to 140 or 150 feet, the last underground work until state ownership. Gold production in Carolina sputtered along until 1915 but then dropped sharply and never recovered, despite renewed activity during the Great Depression. Even gold at $850 an ounce in 1981 could not revive the industry, because commercially recoverable gold simply was gone. There were few significant occurrences at Reed. Various people tested and explored the old mine. Panners worked the creek for decades, particularly in the 1930s. In 1999 the state historic site celebrated the bicentennial of the first documented discovery of gold in the United States. 21 The North Carolina Gold Rush North Carolina's gold rush began after German immigrant John Reed discovered in 1802 that the rock he'd used for a doorstop for three years was actually gold. Word got around, and soon farmers in the area began hunting in their creek beds for gold nuggets. Charlotte, a little town of some 700 citizens, grew into a booming mine town, filled with folks who hoped they could strike it rich during America’s first gold rush. The gold industry brought real change to the Piedmont. In 1837 Congress authorized building branches of the U.S. Mint in Charlotte, Dahlonega, Georgia and New Orleans. The Charlotte mint operated from 1838 through 1861. The total worth of the gold coins struck at the mint amounted to $5 million. Many of the mining engineers who worked in the Piedmont’s mining industry came from overseas. Some arrived from Latin America, where gold and silver had been mined for centuries. Others came from well-known mining areas in Europe. Cornish miners, German mining engineers, Italian workers, English investors -- they all came to the state to try their fortune. One observer claimed that over 13 languages were spoken on Charlotte's streets in the 1830s! Some Americans had mixed feelings about the foreigners flocking to the Piedmont. On the one hand, the immigrants possessed needed skills for the new industry. Many brought funds for investing in mining ventures and mining equipment. On the other hand, North Carolinians worried those foreign investors and miners might exploit the state’s good fortune for their own benefit. Some observers also noted that mining had all sorts of positive effects on the local economy. For one thing, gold made it possible to pay in hard currency instead of relying on paper money. This eliminated old-fashioned and inexact trading methods. For another, property values in the Piedmont jumped between 200 and 300 hundred percent after gold was discovered. Each $100 worth of gold produced was said to represent an additional $75 worth of foodstuff sold to the miners. 22 Back in Cabarrus County, John Reed made sure his farm would not become a big mining operation like the Rudisill and St. Catherine's mines in Charlotte. The first shaft dug underground at the Reed Gold Mine was opened in 1831, several years after miners in Charlotte had been pulling gold out of quartz veins in the earth. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, when miners at the Rudisill were using ore-crushing equipment that processed nearly 3,000 pounds of ore a day, miners at the Reed still relied on primitive methods of surface mining. Heavy machinery wasn't brought to the Reed until the 1850s -- well after John Reed's death in 1845. John Reed had plenty of chances to expand his mining operations. But he was strict: neither his partners nor his sons or sons-in-law were allowed to mine in any areas he cultivated. Apparently, the old farmer wanted to stay a farmer first, and be a miner second. Mining became the second largest occupation in the state - - after farming. Many farmers complained about the way mining tore up agricultural land, making it impossible for farmers to cultivate fields filled with pits and shafts. Reed apparently decided that his mine produced enough gold without hauling in heavy machinery. However small his mining operation may have seemed to outsiders, it appears that it was, for him at least, big enough. North Carolina produced at least 1.1 million ounces of gold with a value of approximately $25 million. The gold rush made Charlotte a financial center for the region in the 19th century, and for the country at the close of the twentieth. Charlotte’s two biggest banks; Bank of America and First Union, have their roots in gold rush history. 23 California gold may have eclipsed the gold rush in the Tarheel State. Still, North Carolina can always claim the bragging rights to the very first documented discovery of gold in the United States. 24 USES OF GOLD Gold has certain characteristics that throughout history have made it ideal for many uses. Some of these characteristics, or properties, are store of value, ductility and malleability, resistance to corrosion, electrical and thermal conductivity, and infrared reflectivity. Gold has a high store of value: It is the only substance that is accepted all over the world as a form of currency. Gold was used as money in China as early as 1091 B. C. Gold is ductile and malleable: It is the softest and easiest to shape of all metals. Because gold is ductile, (meaning it can be drawn or pulled out), one ounce can be pulled into a wire five miles long. Because gold is malleable, (meaning it can be hammered thin), one ounce can be hammered into a sheet one hundred feet square. This means gold is very useful for making jewelry, artwork, and even electronic components. Gold can even be made so thin that it is possible to see right through it. Gold is resistant to corrosion: It does not react with oxygen to form rust, so gold can be used in electronics and mechanical parts. Gold is an electrical and thermal conductor: Because it conducts electricity and heat better than other metals, gold is used in wiring and shielding for electronic equipment. Gold wires and circuitry can be used to carry electricity from one point to another, or gold shielding can be used to carry heat away from sensitive electronic parts. 25 Gold has reflective abilities: It can reflect heat, so gold is used in the shielding on spacecraft and satellites. The gold in the shields reflects the sun’s harmful infrared rays away from delicate machinery, preventing the machinery from over-heating. It is also used in the helmets of astronauts to reflect infrared rays from astronauts’ eyes. Because of the properties listed above, gold has a large number of common uses, including: Electronics and Mechanical Equipment: Gold is used in the electronic circuitry found in computers, telephones, televisions, VCRs, and spacecraft. It is also used in parts found in aircraft and automobile engines. Lasers and Optics: Gold can be found in the internal workings of some telescopes, copy machines, satellites, and security systems. Medicine and Health: Doctors and scientists are now experimenting in using gold in eye surgery, lasers for cancer treatment, thermometers, and genetic and biochemical research. Dentists have also used gold for many years in crowns, bridges, inlays, and dentures. 26 North Carolina Gold Rush: Information for Teachers Nugget 3: Gold History for Students This is an overview of North Carolina Gold written in short selections that are easier for students to read. America’s First Gold John Reed: Owner of America’s First Gold Mine The Discovery: How America’s First Gold was Found in 1799 The Price of Progress Foreigners in the Mines African Americans and the North Carolina Gold Rush The Bechtler Mint The Charlotte Mint The Kelly Family and Reed Gold Mine The Last Large Nugget Found at the Reed Matthias Barringer Goes Underground Squeezing Gold From a Rock Pete Nash: North Carolina’s Last Gold Prospector 27 America’s First Gold A child on a fishing trip went hunting for dinner and found gold instead. Conrad Reed, 12 year-old son of German immigrant John Reed, took a 17-pound rock home to his parents instead of fish. Many Cabarrus County residents know the amazing follow-up to the find: the Reed family didn’t know what their son had brought home, so they used the rock as a doorstop for three years. John Reed, Conrad’s father, first took the rock to William Atkinson, a Concord jeweler, but he couldn’t shed any light on the matter and the doorstop went back home and sat on the floor for awhile longer. Conrad’s father, John Reed, decided to take the rock with him on his annual shopping trip to Fayetteville. A jeweler there melted the rock down into a bar of almost pure gold, about nine inches long. He asked John Reed to name his price. John Reed named what he considered a big price: $3.50. That was serious money for a farmer in those days -- a week's worth of wages, in fact. But it turned out that Reed had sold the rock for less than one percent of its actual value. The rock was worth over $3,600 (in today's terms, around $58,000). How could John Reed have been so innocent of gold’s value? Reed himself was an unlearned man, who had lived a hard and hungry life as a child in Hessen Cassel, Germany. He was born April 14, 1759, as Johannes Ried and came to America as a young man. Reed, like many of his countrymen, was drafted into German forces lent to the British king, George III. These men were sent to America to fight against American revolutionaries. Reed deserted from his troops on June 21, 1792, near Savannah, Georgia. He made his way over the Georgia border, through South Carolina and some of North Carolina -- 28 all the way to the northeastern tip of what was then called Mecklenburg County. (John Reed’s home became part of newly established Cabarrus County in 1796.) How John Reed made it, no one knows. To run away from his troops was a dangerous decision: deserters were considered criminals. They were hunted and, if caught, punished severely. A whipping was the best a deserter could expect, a hanging the worst. But somehow John Reed must have traded in his German uniform or stayed out of sight of those loyal to the British crown during his long trek across the southeastern colonies. Somehow he must have discovered that other Germans were living in the area north and east of Charlotte. John Reed probably worked as a laborer on or around a farm owned by the Kisers, a German family that had come to North Carolina down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania. Soon after John arrived in the area, he married Sarah Kiser. John and Sarah had nine children. They lived a long life together. Their youngest child was born in 1803, shortly after Reed discovered he had gold on his land. Perhaps John Reed had always thought of his adopted country as a golden one. He must have been sure of it after he became the owner of America’s very first gold mine. America’s first gold rush had begun. 29 John Reed: Owner of America’s First Gold Mine John Reed was born April 14, 1759 as Johannes Ried in Hessen Cassel, Germany. He came to America as a mercenary. Many men from his homeland were drafted into German forces lent to the British king, George III. These men were trained as soldiers and sent to America to fight against the American revolutionaries. John Reed apparently had no heart for the fight, and he deserted from his troops on June 21, 1792, near Savannah, Georgia. He made his way through part of Georgia, all of South Carolina, and some of North Carolina – all the way to the northeastern tip of what was then called Mecklenburg County. John Reed’s new home became part of the newly established Cabarrus County in 1796. How John Reed made it, no one knows. To run away from one’s troops was dangerous: deserters were considered criminals. They were hunted and if caught, subject to harsh treatment. They were whipped – in some cases, even hanged. Somehow John Reed must have traded in his German uniform or stayed out of sight of those loyal to the British crown during his long trek across southeastern colonies. Somehow he must have known that Germans were living in the area north of Charlotte. John Reed probably worked as a laborer on or around a farm owned by the Kizers, a German family that had come to North Carolina down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania. Soon after John arrived in the area, he married Sarah Kizer. John and Sarah had nine children. Their youngest child was born in 1803, the year after the Reeds discovered they had gold on their land. Perhaps John Reed thought of his adopted country as a golden one when he was just a farmer. Perhaps he was sure of it after he became the owner of America’s very first gold mine. 30 The Discovery: How America’s First Gold was Found in 1799 According to the story, John Reed’s 12-year old son, Conrad, went bow-and-arrow-fishing one day down at the creek on his father’s farm. Supposedly the young boy noticed something shiny and yellow in the waters of Little Meadow Creek. Curiosity got the better of Conrad. He waded into the water and hauled out a 17-pound chunk of gold. Conrad and his family had never seen raw gold, and neither they nor a Concord jeweler by the name of William Atkinson understood the value of what Conrad had pulled from the creek bed. Conrad’s father, John Reed, decided to take the rock with him on his annual shopping trip to Fayetteville. A jeweler there melted the rock down into a bar about nine inches long of almost pure gold. He asked John Reed to name his price for the gold. John Reed asked what he considered a big price: $3.50. That was a big price for a farmer in those days – a week’s worth of wages in fact! It turned out that Reed had sold the rock for less than one percent of its actual value. The rock was worth over $3,600 (around $58,000 in today’s terms). The story goes that John Reed figured out that he’d been swindled and went back to the Fayetteville jeweler. According to stories handed down over the years, he got an additional $1,000 for his golden doorstop. 31 The Price of Progress: Is it too High? John Reed never allowed his farm to become a big mining operation like the Rudisill and St. Catherine’s mines in Charlotte. The first shaft dug underground at the Reed Gold Mine was opened in 1831, several years after miners in Charlotte had been following gold through quartz veins into the earth. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, when miners at the Rudisill used ore-crushing equipment that processed nearly 3,000 pounds of ore a day, many miners at the Reed still relied on primitive methods of surface mining. Heavy machinery wasn’t brought to the Reed until the 1850s, after John Reed’s death in 1845. John Reed had plenty of chances to expand his mining operations, though. But he was strict: neither his partners nor his sons and sons-in-law were allowed to mine in any areas where he cultivated crops. Apparently the old farmer wanted to stay a farmer first, and a miner second. In 1826, when Reed was 67 years old, he had an interesting, foreign visitor. Matthew Thomas, a mining engineer and speculator from Cornwall, England, offered Reed a ninety-nine year lease for gold mining activity – with a fair percentage of profits to go to the old German. Reed turned Thomas down. Mining became the second largest occupation in the state – after farming. Many farmers complained about the way mining tore up agricultural land, making it impossible for farmers to cultivate fields filled with pits and shafts. Reed apparently decided that his mine produced enough gold without hauling in heavy machinery. However small his mining operation may have seemed to outsiders, it appears that it was, for him at least, big enough. 32 Foreigners in the Mines North Carolina’s gold rush began after German immigrant John Reed discovered in 1802 that the rock he’d used for a doorstop for three years was actually gold. Word got around, and soon farmers in the area had begun hunting in their creek beds for gold nuggets. Charlotte, a little town of some 700, grew into a booming mine town, filled with folks who thought they had a chance of striking it rich during America’s very first gold rush. Many of the mining engineers who worked in the area came from overseas. Some came from Latin America, where gold and silver had been mined for centuries. Others came from well-known mining areas in Europe. Many Cornishmen, who had a wealth of experience in England’s tin mines, came to North Carolina to work in the gold fields. German mining engineers, Italian workers, English investors – they all came to the state to try their fortune. Some Americans had mixed feelings about the foreigners flocking to the Piedmont. On the one hand, the immigrants possessed needed skills for the new industry. Many brought funds for investing in mining; investors and miners might exploit the gold rush for their own benefit only. State residents suspected that North Carolina’s most beautiful and impressive nuggets would end up in European museums. They believed that foreigners would take their profits back to their own countries. Some observers noted that mining had all sorts of positive effects on the local economy. For one thing, gold made it possible to pay in hard currency (gold coin) instead of relying on old-fashioned and inexact trading methods. For another, property values in the Piedmont jumped between 200 and 300 percent after gold was discovered. Each $100 worth of gold produced was said to represent an additional $75 worth of foodstuff sold to the miners. Still, North Carolinians often found it hard to adjust to an influx of people speaking different languages and coming from different cultures. Hearing over 13 languages spoken on Charlotte’s streets in the 1830s must have been confusing for a person who spoke only one, no matter which language that happened to be! 33 African Americans and the North Carolina Gold Rush Slaves worked in North Carolina’s mines during America’s first gold rush. Peter, a slave owned by one of John Reed’s first partners, Rev. James Love, found the largest nugget ever documented at the Reed. Peter discovered the nugget in 1803, during the first real mining season on Reed’s land. The nugget weighed 28 pounds and was worth, in today’s terms, $131,264. Slaves who worked at gold mines generally labored during the off-seasons. They often had to do some of the most dangerous work. Gold mine operators who were after quick profits sometimes made slaves dig directly into hillsides without giving them the opportunity or time to make sure the roof was secure. The earth, according to one historian, “often gave way and crushed the workers.” But some slaves were able to use the mines to better purposes. A few were allowed to use some of the gold they found to buy their freedom. Slave miners also earned money for doing “extra work,” and they made up to $30 per month that way. Some used Sundays and holidays to prospect—and profit—on their own. Historians have discovered that slaves also used North Carolina’s mines as escape locations. One contemporary advertisement described a slave named Reuben and his wife Jinney, who were thought to be hiding in or around Smart’s Mine in Mecklenburg County. John K. Harrison of Mecklenburg claimed that his slave, missing in 1837, was “lurking about Reed’s Gold Mine.” North Carolina’s gold mines could mean almost anything to slaves laboring there: a chance to improve their circumstances, a chance to escape servitude, even, in some cases, a chance to buy their freedom. 34 The Bechtler Mint In the early 1800s, gold and silver money was hard to come by in North Carolina and other southern states. North Carolina was the country’s biggest gold producer until 1848, but the only official place to make coins was the federal mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. No local mint meant very few coins available locally, as well as a long and dangerous trip north for miners to sell their gold. A German immigrant named Christopher Bechtler soon helped provide a solution. Christopher Bechtler was born in the Grand Duchy of Baden in Germany around 1782. He came to America with his son Augustus and nephew Christopher in 1829, eventually settling in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Bechtler started out as a jeweler and watchmaker, but he began minting coins in 1831. The Bechtler mint made coins in three values--$5 (called a “half-eagle”), $2.50 (“quarter-eagle”), and the first American gold dollars. Christopher Bechtler also designed and made all of his coining equipment himself. He developed a reputation for honesty, and his coins were highly prized because of their accurate weight and gold content. Throughout the 1830s, North Carolina was trying hard to convince the federal government to build a branch of the federal mint in the South. The Charlotte branch mint opened in 1837, providing some competition for the Bechtler mint. However, the Bechtlers continued to be successful, and by 1840 they had coined over two million dollars in gold. Christopher Bechtler died in 1842, passing the business to his son, Augustus. When Augustus died in 1844, his cousin Christopher took over the mint and continued to make coins until 1852. Even after the Bechtler mint closed, Bechtler coins continued to circulate and were accepted as currency for many years. The Bechtler mint in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, was one of only a few private mints ever operated in the United States. 35 The Charlotte Mint In the early days of gold mining in America, the only place gold could be made into coins was at the federal mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since the southern states were producing all the gold being coined, however, miners had to make a long trip north to sell their gold to the mint. No southern mint also meant no real standard form of money in the South. North Carolina began trying to convince the U.S. government to build a branch mint in Charlotte. In 1835, Congress passed a bill to establish branch mints in New Orleans, Louisiana, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dahlonega, Georgia. The Charlotte mint was the first of these southern branches to be constructed. Samuel McCombs, a businessman and mine owner in Charlotte, was appointed commissioner of the new mint. The building was designed by Philadelphia architect William Strickland, and built by Reuben Perry and Thomas Phiger’s construction company out of Raleigh. The Charlotte mint, located on West Trade Street, opened on December 4, 1837, with John H. Wheeler of Murfreesboro as president. The very first deposit received at the Charlotte branch mint was a gold bar worth $1,974.08, which belonged to Ervin & Elms a dry goods firm. The mint purchased gold from miners or mining companies, refined it (took out the impurities), and mixed the gold with other metals to make alloys. The alloyed gold was shaped into ingots, or small bars, and the ingots were rolled out and stamped into blank coins called planchets. The planchets were tested to be sure they were the correct weight, and then they were stamped with a pattern in a coining press and given a ridged edge. Coins minted in Charlotte had a “C” on the reverse of the coin, by the eagle’s foot and came in three denominations (amounts)—half-eagles ($5.00), quarter-eagles ($2.50), and dollars. For a fee, miners could also bring gold to the mint to be assayed—tested to find out the purity of the gold. In 1861 North Carolina entered the Confederacy and the new government took control of the Charlotte mint. The mint produced about a 1,000 $5.00 coins for the Confederacy (the last coins it 36 ever made), but the mint was closed in 1862 and used only as office space for the Confederate naval yard. The building was also used as a hospital during the Civil War. When the war ended in 1865, Federal troops arrived in Charlotte and took over the mint as their own headquarters. The Confederate War Department seal was later found in a vault at the mint. The Charlotte mint reopened in 1868, but only as an assay office. It never again produced coins, but the mint did buy local gold and made ingots to be sent to the mint in Philadelphia. The assay office was finally closed permanently in 1913. By that time, the Charlotte mint had produced $5,059,180 in gold coins and the assay office had done business valued at $10,163,660. The mint had even been used as temporary work space by Thomas Edison in 1901, when he came to North Carolina to experiment with extracting gold from rock using electromagnetics. The Charlotte mint sat empty until 1930, when it was scheduled to be destroyed. The efforts of Mary Myers Dwelle saved the building, and it was restored and moved to its present location on Randolph Road. The building now houses the Mint Museum of Art. Suggested Vocabulary Words to Accompany Article (words are denoted in bold in the article) refine alloy ingot denomination assay electromagnetic 37 The Kelly Family and Reed Gold Mine Oliver S. Kelly was born on December 23, 1824 in Green Township, Ohio. At the age of 28, Kelly left his Midwestern home and headed west, hoping like so many others to strike it rich in California’s gold fields. He learned plenty about mining, and became a prosperous businessman, but returned to Springfield, Ohio to start the O.S. Kelly Company and enter the political arena. He became a member of the Springfield City Council for six years and mayor for two. Oliver’s oldest son, O. Warren Kelly, was born in Springfield in 1851. When he was 18, Warren left for Europe to study German. He later entered into a partnership with his father in a Colorado silver smelting plant. In late 1894, Oliver and Warren Kelly, along with Dr. Justin Lisle, visited Reed Gold Mine, on a shopping expedition. All three were looking for a gold mine to buy, and buy they did. On January 10, 1895, they purchased Reed Gold Mine. On December 6, 1898, Warren ordered a ten-stamp mill to be constructed at the foot of Middle Hill near a deep part of Little Meadow Creek. The mill was probably delivered around January of 1899 and was in use by spring. First attempts to exploit the area were failures. In 1899, Warren bought Dr. Lisle’s share of the Reed and sent his eldest son, Armin, to be the next superintendent. Armin arrived in March of 1899, and began directing several underground mining ventures. He had discovered a small stringer vein above the 90-foot level of a shaft in an old stope. The ore in the area reportedly boasted an assay value of more than $20,000 per ton. But during the next 38 year, very little gold was produced at the Reed. Armin went back home to Springfield by 1900. Armin went back to the Reed for visits now and then, and found his father sinking Engine Shaft to a depth of about 150 feet. Warren wasn’t having any luck either, though, and Reed Gold mine officially closed down that year. Almost 23 years later, the Kelly family hired Frank Cox to reopen the mine and work several veins on the surface of Upper Hill. To no avail. Little was found and operations ceased once again. In 1935 the Kellys allowed anyone to pan freely along the creek, as long as any large nuggets were reported to the family and profits shared. In 1971, after owning the mine for three-quarters of a century, the Kelly family donated their historic mining acreage and sold the remaining portion of their property to the state of North Carolina. Reed Gold Mine became a state historic site in 1976, and continues to be the only underground gold mine open to the public in North Carolina. 39 The Last Large Nugget Found at the Reed During 1896, the Kelly family leased the rights to mine along Little Meadow Creek to four local residents— Jacob L. Shinn, Jesse Cox, his son A. Mack Cox, and Dr. James Robert Jerome. All four had other occupations and mined in their spare time, like many farmers had even at the height of the gold rush. One Thursday morning, on April 9, 1896, the four commenced digging in Dry Hollow just above Little Meadow Creek. Late in the morning, Jacob Shinn, who was digging at around three and a half feet below the surface, struck a large, heavy something. He took that something down to the creek to wash the dirt off, and discovered that he was not holding just a large rock in his hands, but a nugget of gold weighing nearly 23 pounds in Troy weight. The nugget was 11 inches in length and 13 1/2 inches in circumference. It contained approximately five pounds of quartz. Apparently, Jesse Cox shouted out with joy while Dr. Lisle was so astonished that he couldn’t breathe properly. He managed to regain his composure, however, and hitched up his surrey. The four miners headed to Georgeville to weigh the rock and spread the news: the “big one” had been found at the Reed... On the way, Jesse Cox shouted out his glad tidings and soon everyone who heard him was talking about the discovery. When the men passed by the Georgeville Academy, the principal overheard excited shouting. He declared, so the story goes, that the men who so rudely interrupted serious academic study either had been hitting the bottle or had struck gold. Hundreds of people hoping to see the nugget traveled to Georgeville, which was then a tiny village that sported little more than a store, a post office, a flour and corn mill, sawmill, and cotton gin. Within days Dr. Lisle received telegrams from as far away as Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York, asking if the nugget was for sale. But the nugget was taken to Concord first and later to the Charlotte assay offices to be displayed. Several casts were made of the nugget—one for the Smithsonian Museum. Finally, the nugget was ground up for its gold. The “Shinn nugget” was the last large nugget ever found at the Reed. At least, as far as we know! 40 Matthias Barringer Goes Underground In 1825, Matthias Barringer was working the creek on his farm, panning for gold. Along the lower part of the creek, he found many small gold nuggets, but as he followed the creek upstream there were no more gold nuggets. He realized that at some point the gold must have washed out of the rocks on the bank of the creek. As he walked along the stream, he spotted some quartz rock and broke it open with a pick. To his surprise, he found lots of gold in the quartz. With the help of partners and probably slaves, Matthias dug out this quartz and followed it deeper and deeper into the earth. Eventually, this hole would become a deep shaft with tunnels at different levels underground. Miners dug through the solid granite rock searching for more quartz. Not all the quartz had gold, but a lot of it did. Matthias Barringer became wealthy and many other gold mines started to look underground for gold in quartz. 41 Squeezing Gold from a Rock After Matthias Barringer realized that gold could be in quartz rock, a method had to be found to get the gold out of the rock. Pieces of rock that had large amounts of gold were easy, just keep smashing with a hammer until the quartz rock breaks up and pick out the gold. But what about those tiny specks of gold in the quartz? Was it possible to get more gold if you crushed more quartz? Gold miners in North Carolina already knew that gold is attracted to mercury (like iron is attracted to a magnet), so they needed a way to crush the quartz after it came out of the mine. The first invention was the arrastra, a platform of granite cobblestones that an ox or a horse could pull a large granite stone across. This “dragstone”, being larger and heavier than the quartz, would crush the quartz into a powder. Arrastras were slow and not very efficient. The miners then borrowed an ancient grinding stone idea, the Chilean Mill that originally was used to grind grain and crush olives in Biblical times. The Chilean Mills were made of granite were hard enough to crush the quartz. Mercury was added to the base stone and the upright wheel- 42 stones to grinding the ore. As the quartz rock was crushed, the mercury attracted the gold allowing much more gold to be recovered. The process was still too slow, so after the 1849 gold rush to California, miners invented the “modern” stamp mill. Large steam or water powered stamps, which were like giant hammers, would fall onto the ore, crushing it into powder. The cast iron stamps weighed over 700 pounds each. This noisy cast-iron machine worked much faster than the earlier stone crushing mills but actually left more gold behind in the powdered rock. 43 Pete Nash: North Carolina’s Last Gold Prospector? Most folks think gold mining is a thing of the past. But not Pete Nash. Pete Nash is the oldest gold miner in Cabarrus County—maybe in North Carolina. He’s been mining since he was ten years old, and working at the family-owned Snider Mine as a teenager. Nash can tell you stories about the days when gold mines were still open and operating, all right. He remembers seeing the last gold ingot poured at the famous Rudisill Mine in Charlotte back in the 1930s. Nash has visited all the mines in the area, including Gold Hill in Rowan County, the Coggins Mine in Montgomery County, and the Howie Mine in Waxhaw. At 83, Nash is still panning for gold as often as he can. If he feels well, he’ll be out every day the weather permits. “I do it for the excitement,” he says. “I know I’m going to find it. That yellow stuff attracts my attention.” Out at Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site, employees joke that Pete Nash can smell gold. Certainly he knows just where to find it. “I work in one spot for about ten minutes. If I don’t see some gold I move,” he explains. Nash and his family have provided Reed Gold Mine with a number of artifacts, including drills, windlasses, hydraulic winches, and even steam pumps. Pete’s brother Harold helped reconstruct Reed Gold Mine’s stamp mill, and the visitor center includes a 44 display that holds nuggets Pete found here in North Carolina. Pete still provides the souvenir gold nuggets that are for sale to the public at the site’s visitor center. Pete loves to show children how to pan out at Reed Gold Mine, and he’ll be found helping out the staff at every major event the site organizes. “You go out there and there are 100 kids panning,” he says. “You know how many will find gold? Lots of times they’ll dump it out, or won’t have any. I pick out two or three that I’m going to make sure they get gold. I put it in the pan. Lots of times I put a nice piece in there and you’d be surprised what excitement that generates. I have a good time with those kids.” At 83, Pete Nash is still looking for the big one. The largest nugget he ever found weighed a little over a pound. He found it in Stanly County. Ninety-five percent of the time he finds fine flakes of gold, he says, but he’s sure there’s plenty still out there. “I’m going to find it at Reed Gold Mine for the museum. I’m going to find it in Little Meadow Creek. I know it’s there. They didn’t get it all.” Lots of folks ask the old prospector where he pans. But he’s not revealing any secrets, he says. “There are several good spots,” he admits. “But I don’t tell nobody. I spit in my hand and pop it with my finger and say `that direction.’“ He chuckles. “That tells them a lot, doesn’t it?” 45 Mathematics Nugget 1: Expanded Notation and Written Numerals This activity has students practice expanded notation and written numerals by rewriting numerals in a paragraph. Expanded Notation and Written Numerals 46 Expanded Notation and Written Numerals Change the numerals into expanded notation: 359 = __________ + ___________ + ____________ 2,984 = _________ + __________ + ___________ + __________ 857,092 = ________ + _________ + __________ + _________ + ________ + ________ Spell out the numerals. Use one letter in each space. 12 = ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ 37 = ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ - ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ 249 = ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Directions: Change the numbers in the following story into expanded notation or spell out the numbers. Use one letter in each space when spelling out the numerals. According to the story, in 1799 (______ + _______ + ________ + ________) John Reed’s 12 (__________ + ___________) year-old son, Conrad, went bow-and-arrow fishing 1 (___ ___ ___) day down at the creek on his father’s farm. The young boy saw something shiny and yellow in the waters of Little Meadow Creek. He waded into the water and hauled out a 17 (_______________ + ____________) pound chunk of gold. The family used it as doorstop for 3 (___ ___ ___ ___ ___) years. John Reed sold it for $3.50 (____ ____ ____ ____ ____ dollars and ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ cents) but the gold rock was worth a lot more. It was worth $3,600 ($ __________ + _________). Today it would be worth about $58,000 (_________ + _________) . 47 Teacher's Key Expanded Notation and Written Numerals Change the numerals into expanded notation: 359 = 300+ 50+ 9 2,984 = 2000 + 900 + 80 + 4 857,092 = 800,000 + 50,000 + 7,000 + 90 +2 Spell out the numerals. 12 = TWELVE 37 = THIRTY-SEVEN 249 = TWO HUNDRED FORTY-NINE Directions: Change the numbers in the following story into expanded notation or spell out the numbers. According to the story, in 1799 (1000 + 700 + 90 + 9) John Reed’s 12 (10 + 2) year-old son, Conrad, went bow-and-arrow fishing one (ONE) day down at the creek on his father’s farm. The young boy saw something shiny and yellow in the waters of Little Meadow Creek. He waded into the water and hauled out a 17 (10 + 7) pound chunk of gold. The family used the rock as doorstop for 3 (THREE) years. John Reed sold it for $3.50 ($ three dollars and fifty cents) but the gold rock was worth a lot more. It was worth $3,600 ($ 3,000 + 600). Today it would be worth about $58,000 (50,000 + 8,000). 48 Mathematics Nugget 2: Using Graphs and Charts This lesson asks students to complete a chart, create a bar graph, and interpret information. Using Graphs and Charts Price of Gold 49 Using Graphs and Charts Reed Gold Mine Adit Information Adit/Crosscut Name Approximate Length Main Rocks Approximate Year Opened Linker Morgan Tunnel #3 Saw Mill The Reed Gold Mine has a series of adits, or horizontal tunnels. (Shafts are vertical tunnels.) The four main adits are Linker, Morgan, Tunnel #3, and Sawmill. The approximate lengths and approximate years opened are: Linker, 150 feet, 1833; Morgan, 85 feet, 1840; Tunnel #3, 75 feet, 1880; and Sawmill, 60 feet, 1895. Linker had 40% greenstone, 30% argilite, and 30 % quartz. Morgan had 70% greenstone, and 30 % quartz. Tunnel #3 had 50% greenstone, 30% argilite, and 20 % quartz. Sawmill had 20% greenstone, and 80% argilite. 1. Complete the chart above using the information in the paragraph above. 2. Milky quartz is the stone in which gold is found. Which of the adits has quartz? 3. Using the chart from problem 1, make a bar graph showing the lengths of the adits/crosscuts. Use a sheet of paper to make the graph. 50 Use the graph you made to answer these questions: 4. Which adit or crosscut is the longest? 5. Which adit or crosscut is the shortest? 6. Using the information on the rock types present, why was the shortest adit not expanded? 7. Why do you think Linker Adit is the longest? Excavation Times Kind of Rock Time to Excavate per inch Greenstone 45 minutes Quartz 30 minutes Argilite 10 minutes 8. Tunnel # 3 consists of about 23 feet of argilite, 15 feet of quartz, and about 36 feet of greenstone. Using the chart above, how long would it take to dig Tunnel # 3? (Hints: 1 foot equals 12 inches. Then find the length of time it would take to dig each kind of rock.) 9. If Tunnel # 3 had 2 more feet of greenstone, how much longer would it take to complete the shaft? 10. Using the information from the table above, create your own word problem and answers. 51 Teacher's Key Using Graphs and Charts Reed Gold Mine Adit Information Adit/Crosscut Name Approximate Length Main Rocks Approximate Year Opened Linker 150 feet Greenstone (40%), Argilite (30%), Quartz (30%) 1833 Morgan 85 feet Greenstone (70%), Quartz (30%) 1840 Tunnel #3 75 feet Greenstone (50%), Argilite (30%), Quartz (20%) 1880 Sawmill 60 feet Argilite (80%), Greenstone (20%) * 1895 * Sawmill Adit does not have any quartz. The Reed Good Mine has a series of adits or horizontal tunnels. (Shafts are vertical tunnels.) The four main adits are Linker, Morgan, Tunnel #3, and Sawmill. The approximate lengths and approximate years opened are Linker, 150 feet, 1833; Morgan, 85 feet, 1840; Tunnel #3, 75 feet, 1880; and Sawmill, 60 feet, 1895. Linker had 40% greenstone, 30% argilite, and 30 % quartz. Morgan had 70% greenstone, and 30 % quartz. Tunnel #3 had 50% greenstone, 30% argilite, and 20 % quartz. Sawmill had 20% greenstone, and 80% argilite. 1. Complete the chart using the above information. (Answers are in the chart.) 2. Milky quartz is the stone in which gold is found. Which of the adits has quartz? (Linker, Morgan, Tunnel #3) 52 Teacher's Key Using Graphs and Charts 3. Using the data from above, make a bar graph showing the lengths of the adits/crosscuts. Adit/Crosscut Length 150 85 75 60 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 Linker Morgan Tunnel #3 Saw Mill Adit Length 4. Which adit or crosscut is the longest? (Linker) 5. Which adit or crosscut is the shortest? (Sawmill) 6. Using the information on the rock types present, why was the shortest adit not expanded? (No quartz was found after 60 feet, therefore there was no chance of finding gold in that section.) 7. Why do you think Linker Adit is the longest? (Possible answers: The adit had to be long to reach the veins of quartz. It was the first adit mined, so they thought there could be more gold if they continued. The other adits and crosscuts were so deep they were too far below the water table for the water to be safely removed and Linker was intended to help with drainage.) 53 Teacher's Key Using Graphs and Charts Excavation Times Kind of Rock Time to Excavate per inch Greenstone 45 minutes Quartz 30 minutes Argilite 10 minutes 8. Tunnel # 3 consists of about 23 feet of argilite, 15 feet of quartz, and about 36 feet of greenstone. Using the chart above, how long would it take to dig Tunnel # 3? (Hints: 1 foot equals 12 inches. Then find the length of time it would take to dig each kind of rock.) Argilite: 23 x 12 = 276 inches; 276 x 10 = 2760 minutes; 2760 minutes = 46 hours Quartz: 15 x 12 = 180 inches; 180 x 30 = 5400 minutes; 5400 minutes = 90 hours Greenstone: 36 x 12 =432 inches; 432 x 45 =19,440 minutes; 19,440 minutes = 324 hours 9. If Tunnel # 3 had 2 more feet of greenstone, how much longer would it take to complete the shaft? 2 x 12 = 24 inches; 24 x 45 = 1080 minutes; 1080 minutes = 18 hours 10. Using the information from the table above, create your own word problem and answers. 54 Price of Gold Average Annual Price of Gold (US Dollars - Actual Terms) Year Average Price per Ounce Low High Difference Between Low and High Prices 1998 $ 294.09 $ 173.40 $ 313.15 1997 $ 331.29 $ 293.00 $ 367.80 1996 $ 387.87 $ 367.40 $ 416.25 1995 $ 384.05 $ 372.45 $ 395.55 1994 $ 384.15 $ 369.65 $ 397.50 1993 $ 359.82 $ 326.10 $ 406.70 1992 $ 343.95 $ 330.20 $ 359.60 1991 $ 362.26 $ 344.25 $ 403.70 1990 $ 383.59 $ 345.85 $ 421.40 1989 $ 380.79 $ 355.75 $ 417.15 1988 $ 436.00 $ 389.05 $ 485.30 1987 $ 446.07 $ 390.00 $ 502.75 1986 $ 367.94 $ 326.00 $ 442.75 1985 $ 317.27 $ 284.25 $ 340.90 1984 $ 360.36 $ 303.25 $ 406.85 1983 $ 424.12 $ 374.25 $ 511.50 1982 $ 375.90 $ 296.75 $ 488.50 1981 $ 459.75 $ 391.25 $ 599.25 1980 $ 612.74 $ 474.00 $ 850.00 1979 $ 306.67 $ 216.55 $ 524.00 1978 $ 193.24 $ 166.30 $ 243.65 1977 $ 147.72 $ 129.40 $ 168.15 1976 $ 124.82 $ 103.50 $ 140.35 1975 $ 161.03 $ 128.75 $ 186.25 Complete the chart. Then use the chart above to answer these questions: 1. In which year was there the biggest difference in the high and low prices? What was the difference? 2. In which year was there the smallest difference in the high and low prices? What was the difference? 3. In how many years was the average price between $300 and $399? 55 4. List the top 5 years for the highest average price. (In order from highest) 5. Using the answers from question 4, which years are consecutive? 6. If you had bought 1 ounce of gold in 1975, in what year would it have had its highest value? (Hint: Look at the high price column.) 7. Use the average price on the chart to determine how much each nugget would be worth for the years given and then the difference in the prices: a) 3 ounce nugget in 1985: in 1995: difference: b) 5 ounce nugget in 1975: in 1983: difference: c) 7 ounce nugget in 1977: in 1980: difference: * Challenges (Remember to change ounces into pounds. Precious metals such as gold are measured in troy units. 12 ounces troy are in one pound troy.) d) 1 pound 3 ounce nugget in 1996: and in 1981 difference: e) 4 pound 6 ounce nugget in 1987: and in 1986: difference: f) Conrad Reed's nugget was valued at about $3,600 for approximately 17 pounds of gold. How much did it count per ounce? 56 TEACHER'S KEY Price of Gold Average Annual Price of Gold (US Dollars - Actual Terms) Year Average Price per Ounce Low High Difference Between Low and High Prices 1998 $ 294.09 $ 173.40 $ 313.15 $141.90 1997 $ 331.29 $ 293.00 $ 367.80 $74.80 1996 $ 387.87 $ 367.40 $ 416.25 $48.85 1995 $ 384.05 $ 372.45 $ 395.55 $23.10 1994 $ 384.15 $ 369.65 $ 397.50 $27.85 1993 $ 359.82 $ 326.10 $ 406.70 $80.70 1992 $ 343.95 $ 330.20 $ 359.60 $29.40 1991 $ 362.26 $ 344.25 $ 403.70 $59.20 1990 $ 383.59 $ 345.85 $ 421.40 $75.55 1989 $ 380.79 $ 355.75 $ 417.15 $61.40 1988 $ 436.00 $ 389.05 $ 485.30 $96.25 1987 $ 446.07 $ 390.00 $ 502.75 $112.75 1986 $ 367.94 $ 326.00 $ 442.75 $116.75 1985 $ 317.27 $ 284.25 $ 340.90 $65.65 1984 $ 360.36 $ 303.25 $ 406.85 $103.35 1983 $ 424.12 $ 374.25 $ 511.50 $137.00 1982 $ 375.90 $ 296.75 $ 488.50 $191.75 1981 $ 459.75 $ 391.25 $ 599.25 $208.00 1980 $ 612.74 $ 474.00 $ 850.00 $376.00 1979 $ 306.67 $ 216.55 $ 524.00 $307.45 1978 $ 193.24 $ 166.30 $ 243.65 $77.35 1977 $ 147.72 $ 129.40 $ 168.15 $38.75 1976 $ 124.82 $ 103.50 $ 140.35 $36.85 1975 $ 161.03 $ 128.75 $ 186.25 $57.75 Complete the chart. Then use the chart above to answer these questions: 1. In which year was there the biggest difference in the high and low prices? What was the difference? 1980; $376.00 2. In which year was there the smallest difference in the high and low prices? What was the difference? 1995; $23.10 3. In how many years was the average price between $300 and $399? 14 57 4. List the top 5 years for the highest average price. (In order from highest) 1980 ($612.74), 1981 ($459.75), 1987 ($446.07), 1988 ($436.00), 1983 ($424.12) 5. Using the answers from question 4, which years are consecutive? 1980-1981, 1987-1988 6. If you had bought 1 ounce of gold in 1975, in what year would it have had its highest value? (Hint: Look at the high price column.) 1980 7. Use the average price on the chart to determine how much each nugget would be worth for the years given and then the difference in the prices: a) 3-ounce nugget in 1985: $951.81 in 1995: $1152.15 difference: $200.34 b) 5 ounce nugget in 1975: $805.15 in 1983: $2,120.60 difference: $1315.45 c) 7 ounce nugget in 1977: $1034.04 in 1980: $4289.18 difference: $3255.14 * Challenges (Remember to change ounces into pounds. Precious metals such as gold are measured in troy units. 12 ounces troy are in one pound troy.) d) 1 pound 3 ounce nugget in 1996: 12 oz. + 3 oz. = 15oz x $387.87 = $5,818.05 in 1981: 15 oz. x $459.75 = $6,896.25 difference: $1,078.20 e) 4 pound 6 ounce nugget in 1987: 12oz x 4 + 6oz = 54 oz. x $446.07 = $24,087.78 in 1986: 54oz. x $367.94 = $19,868.76 difference: $4,219,02 f) Conrad Reed’s nugget was valued at about $3,600 for approximately 17 pounds of gold. How much did it count per ounce? 17 pounds = 204 oz. $3,600/204 = $17.65 (rounded to the nearest cent) Some additional information: In 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt banned the export of gold, halted the conversion of dollar bills into gold, ordered U. S. citizens to hand in all the gold they possessed, and then established a daily price for gold. In 1934 the daily price was fixed at $35 per ounce. On March 15, 1968, the central bank gave up fixed pricing for gold (then still at $35 per ounce), and let it free float. On December 31, 1974, the US government ended the ban on individual ownership of gold. Since then the prices have risen and fallen dramatically. It will be important to explain to the students the difference in the standard measurements we use and the troy system. 12 troy ounces = 1 pound rather than the standard 16 oz. = 1 lb. 58 Mathematics Nugget 3: Stem and Leaf Graphs Students learn to create and use stem and leaf graphs to solve word problems. Stem and Leaf Graphs with Word Problems 59 Stem and Leaf Graphs with Word Problems There have been a number of large nuggets found at and around Reed Gold Mine. The largest have weighed 28, 23, 17, 13, 10, and 7 pounds troy. 1. Troy pounds have 12 ounces (rather than 16 ounces). Convert the nugget weights given above into troy ounces. 2. Create a stem and leaf plot to show the weight using troy ounces for the larger nuggets of gold found in the Reed Gold Mine area. _______________________________ Title STEM / Leaf 3. Create a stem and leaf plot to show the weight using troy pounds for the larger nuggets of gold found in the Reed Gold Mine area. _______________________________ Title STEM / Leaf 4. Which is greater, the number of nuggets that weigh more than 20 pounds troy or between 10 and 20 pounds troy? 5. How many nuggets weigh between 15 to 20 pounds troy? 6. How many nuggets weigh between 10 pounds troy and 15 pounds troy? 7. How many nuggets weigh between 1 to 19 pounds troy? 60 8. What if you wanted to show the data about gold nuggets in a bar graph? From the stem-and-leaf pot, how can you tell which bar would be the longest? 9. Using the information in the stem-and-leaf plot, create a bar graph that represents the information given. 10. If the 17-pound troy nugget that Conrad Reed found in 1799 were divided evenly between 3 people, how many pounds would each person get? (Hint: Look at the information in troy ounces.) 11. If that nugget were divided between 4 people, how many pounds would each person get? 12. Gold is measured in troy ounces and pounds. There are 12 ounces troy in one pound troy. If a miner found a 3-pound nugget, how many ounces would the nugget be? 13. How many ounces troy would be in a 5-pound nugget? 14. If the price for one ounce of gold were $214, how much would the 5 largest nuggets be worth? 61 15. If you went to Reed Gold Mine, you could pan for gold. If you found a nugget that weighs 3 ounces, how much would it be worth if the price per ounce were $232? 16. If a friend found a nugget weighing 2 ounces and the price per ounce was $350, how much would it be worth? 17. What is the difference in the value of the nuggets in questions 14 and 15? 18. Using the information in this lesson, create three problems. Be sure to include your answers. 62 TEACHER KEY Stem an d Leaf Gr aphs with Wo r d Pr o blem s There have been a number of large nuggets found at and around Reed Gold Mine. The largest have weighed: 28, 23, 17, 13, 10, 7 pounds troy. 1. Troy pounds have 12 ounces (rather than 16 ounces). Convert the nugget weights given above into troy ounces. 28 = 336 23 = 276 17 = 204 13 = 156 10 = 120 7 = 84 2. Create a stem and leaf plot to show the weight using troy ounces for the larger nuggets of gold found in the Reed Gold Mine area. _____(Accept Reasonable Answers)_____ Title STEM / Leaf 8/4 12/0 15/6 20/4 27/6 33/6 3. Create a stem and leaf plot to show the weight using troy pounds for the larger nuggets of gold found in the Reed Gold Mine area. _____(Accept Reasonable Answers)_____ Title STEM / Leaf 0/7 1/3, 7, 0 2/3, 8 4. Which is greater, the number of nuggets that weigh more than 20 pounds troy or between 10 and 20 pounds troy? (10-20) 5. How many nuggets weigh between 15 to 20 pounds troy? (1) 6. How many nuggets weigh between 10 pounds troy and 15 pounds troy? (2) 7. How many nuggets weigh between 1 to 19 pounds troy? (4) 8. What if you wanted to show the data about gold nuggets in a bar graph? From the stem-and-leaf plot, can you tell which bar would be the longest? (Yes – the 28-pound 63 troy nugget would be longest because it is the heaviest.) 9. Using the information in the stem-and-leaf plot in question 3, create a bar graph that represents the information given. Accept any resonable title 7 13 17 10 23 28 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nuggets Weight in Troy Pounds 10. If the 17-pound troy nugget that Conrad Reed found in 1799 were divided evenly between 3 people, how many pounds would each person get? (Hint: look at the information in troy ounces.) (17 pounds troy = 204 ounces troy 204 / 3 = 68 ounces troy each) (68/12 = 5.67 troy pounds each) 11. If that nugget were divided between 4 people how many pounds would each person get? (17 pounds troy = 204 ounces troy 204 / 4 = 51 ounces troy each) (51/12 = 4.25 troy pounds each) 12. Gold is measured in troy ounces and pounds. There are 12 ounces troy in one pound troy. If a miner found a 3-pound nugget, how many ounces would the nugget be? (36 ounces troy) 13. How many ounces troy would be in a 5-pound nugget? (60) 64 14. If the price for one ounce of gold were $214, how much would the 5 largest nuggets be worth? 28 pounds troy = 336 ounces troy x $214 = $71,904 23 pounds troy = 276 ounces troy x $214 = $59,064 17 pounds troy = 204 ounces troy x $214 = $43,656 13 pounds troy = 156 ounces troy x $214 = $33,384 10 pounds troy = 120 ounces troy x $214 = $25,680 15. If you went to Reed Gold Mine, you could pan for gold. If you found a nugget that weighs 3 ounces, how much would it be worth if the price per ounce were $232? (3 x $232 = $696) 16. If a friend found a nugget weighing 2 ounces and the price per ounce was $350. How much would it be worth? (2 x $350 = $700) 17. What is the difference in the value of the nuggets in questions 14 and 15? ($4.00) 18. Using the information in this lesson, create 3 problems. Be sure to include your answers. 65 Mathematics Nugget4: Graphing These three exercises are for students to practice graphing skills. The pictures created are of tools that have been used at Reed Gold Mine. Cornish Kibble Cat's Head Mallet Boring Hammer 66 A Cornish Kibble was an ore bucket used to carry the gold out of the mine. Connect the ordered pairs inside each set of brackets to see what it looked like. <(8,0) (12,0) (15,3) (15,11) (14,12) (6,12) (5,11) (5,3) (8,0)> <(6,12) (6,16) (9,19) (11,19) (14,16) (14,12)> <(5,11) (15,11)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 67 Answer Key A Cornish Kibble was an ore bucket used to carry the gold out of the mine. Connect the ordered pairs inside each set of brackets to see what it looked like. <(8,0) (12,0) (15,3) (15,11) (14,12) (6,12) (5,11) (5,3) (8,0)> <(6,12) (6,16) (9,19) (11,19) (14,16) (14,12)> <(5,11) (15,11)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 68 A Cat’s Head Mallet is a large hammer-like tool used at the Reed Gold Mine. To see what it looked like, connect the ordered pairs inside each set of brackets. <(10,2) (12,2) (12,14) (13,14) (13,16) (16,16) (16,19) (6,19) (6,16) (9,16) (9,14) (10,14) (10,2)> <(6,17) (11,16) (16,17)> <(6,17) (11,19) (16,18)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 69 Answer Key A Cat’s Head Mallet <(10,2) (12,2) (12,14) (13,14) (13,16) (16,16) (16,19) (6,19) (6,16) (9,16) (9,14) (10,14) (10,2)> <(6,17) (11,16) (16,17)> <(6,17) (11,19) (16,18)> 22 21 20 19 18 is a large hammer-like tool used at the Reed Gold Mine. To see what it looked like, connect the ordered pairs inside each set of brackets. 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 70 A Boring Hammer was a hammer-like tool used at the Reed Gold Mine. Connect the ordered pairs in the brackets to see what it looked like. <(2,5) (3,8) (4,10) (3,10) (2,8) (1,5) (2,2) (3,0) (4,0) (3,2) (2,5) <(2,6) (12,6) (12,4) (2,4)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 71 A Boring Hammer was a hammer-like tool used at the Reed Gold Mine. Connect the ordered pairs in the brackets to see what it looked like. <(2,5) (3,8) (4,10) (3,10) (2,8) (1,5) (2,2) (3,0) (4,0) (3,2) (2,5) <(2,6) (12,6) (12,4) (2,4)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 11 10 7 4 3 2 0 1 3 4 5 8 9 11 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 13 12 9 8 6 5 1 2 6 7 10 12 14 21 72 Mathematics Nugget 5: Basic Computation This activity has students practice basic computations. It is an optional set of practice sheets designed for students who need additional practice in this area. Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division 73 Directions: Some students went panning for gold. Each person found 2 gold nuggets. Solve the addition problems to see how much each student found. 23 35 36 370 +12 +31 +42 +123 +370 509 385 281 400 +813 +705 +587 668 711 451 341 +321 +383 +106 +857 74 Directions: Some students went panning for gold. Each person found 2 gold nuggets. Solve the addition problems to see how much each student found. 23 35 36 31 370 +12 + +42 +123 35 66 78 493 509 385 281 400 +370 +813 +705 +587 879 1198 986 987 668 711 451 341 +321 +383 +106 +857 989 1094 557 1198 75 Directions: Some 4th grade students found some gold in Little Meadow Creek. They sold the gold and used the money to buy some things. Do the subtraction problems to see how much they have left. 23 35 42 370 -12 -31 -36 -123 509 885 781 500 -370 -313 -205 -487 668 711 451 841 -321 -383 -106 -357 What would you buy if you found a gold nugget? ___________________ 76 Directions: Some 4th grade students found some gold in Little Meadow Creek. They sold the gold and used the money to buy some things. Do the subtraction problems to see how much they have left. 23 35 42 370 247 -12 -31 -36 -123 11 4 6 509 885 781 500 -370 -313 -205 -487 139 572 576 13 668 711 451 841 -321 -383 -106 -357 347 328 345 484 What would you buy if you found a gold nugget? (answers vary) 77 3 x 6 = 4 x 9 = 2 x 6 = 7 x 8 = 7 x 9 = 4 x 5 = 8 x 3 = 3 x 3 = Directions: Several 4th grade students decided to work together to find gold nuggets. Do the multiplication to see how many gold nuggets each group found. 8 x 2 = 8 x 5 = 7 x 6 = 8 x 9 = 78 Directions: Several 4th grade students decided to work together to find gold nuggets. Do the multiplication to see how many gold nuggets each group found. 3 x 6 = 18 4 x 9 =36 8 x 3 = 24 3 x 3 = 8 x 2 = 16 8 x 5 = 40 2 x 6 = 12 7 x 8 = 56 7 x 6 = 42 8 x 9 = 72 7 x 9 = 63 4 x 5 = 20 9 79 42 7 = 9 3 = 45 5 = 40 5 = 56 7 = 16 2 = Directions: The same students decided to divide the nuggets evenly. Do the division problems to see how many nuggets each student has. 12 2 = 18 6 = 25 5 = 8 8 = 63 7 = 24 8 = 80 42 7 = 6 9 3 = 12 2 = 6 18 6 = 3 25 5 = 8 8 = 63 7 = 8 = 3 Directions: The same students decided to divide the nuggets evenly. Do the division problems to see how many nuggets each student has. 3 45 5 = 9 40 5 = 8 5 1 9 24 56 7 = 8 16 2 = 8 81 Mathematics Nugget 6: Math Games The first activity has students practice using calculators. Each computation spells a word which answers a question related to gold. In the second game, students use multiplication to crack the code. Calculator Math Secret Code 82 Calculator Math Directions: Complete each problem using a calculator, then invert the calculator to read the answer to each riddle. 1. What was the size of Conrad Reed's nugget? 147 +471 2. + In 1802, Reed did this with his doorstop. 2486 5249 3. What does John Reed do when he finds 2789.12 out the nugget's true value? +3016.22 4. The expression "It ain't worth a ________ 1102 of beans" might trace back to the tale of x 7 John's wife, Sally, after he used his money to buy her coffee beans and a new dress. 5. After Reed discovered he had been cheated, 750386 he settled with his ______________ . -214879 83 Calculator Math 1. Directions: Complete each problem using a calculator, then invert the calculator to read the answer to each riddle. What was the size of Conrad Reeds nugget? 147 +471 BIG 2. In 1802, Reed did this with his doorstop. 2486 +5249 SELL 3. What does John Reed do when he finds 2789.12 out the nugget's true value. +3016.22 HE SOBS 4. The expression "It ain't worth a ________ 1102 of beans" might trace back to the tale of x 7 HILL John's wife, Sally, after he used his money to buy her coffee beans and a new dress. 5. After Reed discovered he had been cheated 750386 he settled with his ______________ . -214879 LOSSES 84 Secret Code Directions: Use your multiplication facts to complete these problems. Then on the line below the problem, decode the secret fact about the Reed Gold Mine. A 18 B 24 C 32 D 12 E 20 F 49 G 40 H 9 I 36 J 8 K 16 L 30 M 26 N 35 O 27 P 48 R 63 S 81 T 64 U 72 V 84 4 12 x9 x7 5 x7 6 x3 9 x9 5 x6 2 x9 5 x4 1804, 7 x5 x6 13 10 x2 x8 4 x5 x2 9 x7 3 x2 3 x4 6 8 x8 10 7 x7 9 x3 8 x9 5 x7 4 x3 x8 3 x2 8 x3 10 8 x3 4 x9 5 x4 4 x5 9 x9 8 x8 5 x7 9 x8 10 x4 20 x2 4 x5 8 x8 x8 10 at Reed Gold Mine. 85 Secret Code Directions: Use your multiplication facts to complete these problems. Then on the line below the problem, decode the secret fact about the Reed Gold Mine. A 18 B 24 C 32 D 12 E 20 F 49 G 40 H 9 I 36 J 8 K 16 L 30 M 26 N 35 O 27 P 48 R 63 S 81 T 64 U 72 V 84 4 x9 5 x7 6 x3 9 x9 5 x6 2 x9 12 x7 5 x4 36 I 35 1804, 18 A 81 S 30 L 18 A 84 V 20 N E 7 x5 x6 13 x2 10 x2 3 x4 6 x8 4 8 x8 10 x2 9 x7 35 N 18 A 26 M 20 12 D 48 P 20 E 64 T 20 E 63 R 3 x5 E 7 x7 x3 8 x9 5 x7 4 x3 x8 3 x3 10 x2 49 F 27 O 72 U 35 N 12 D 64 T 9 H 20 E 9 8 8 x3 4 x9 5 x8 10 x4 4 x5 9 x9 8 x8 5 x7 9 x8 10 x4 20 x2 4 x5 8 24 B 36 I 40 G G 20 E 81 S 64 T 35 N 72 U 40 G 40 G 20 E 64 T x8 40 at Reed Gold Mine. 86 Mathematics Nugget 7: Math Board Games The first board game has students create equations that equal a number specified by a roll of dice. In the second, students practice basic computation. Pile on the Nuggets Race to the Gold 87 Pile on the Nuggets Materials: One Game Board Pair of Dice Two Different Color Markers Roll the dice. Use any operation with the two numbers you rolled to match a number from your nugget piles. Then color in that number. The first one with all the nuggets colored wins. (Example: dice roll to 2 and 3; 2+3=5 color in five OR 2x3=6 color in 6) 88 17 - 9 4 x 9 16- 4 x 3 Go Back 3 64 8 7 + 7 he pot of gold. The Roll player with the most gold chips at the end is the winner. Again Go to Start 728 3 x 7 x 4 12 – 7 16 - 9 Materials: Gameboard Markers Cut out gold pieces or you may use counters, chips, pennies, etc. 8X7 7 x 0 x 9 9 x 9 6 + 13 Directions: Player One rolls the die and moves forward the number of spaces. If a math problem appears in the coin, they must answer it correctly to receive a gold pot. Play continues with Player Two. If a player lands on a square, follow the directions in that square. 4 + 9 8 + 3 7 x 9 70+9 Lose a Gold Chip Take a Chip from Someone Go Ahead 4 100X40 6X13 Go Ahead 4 Lose 2 Gold Chips Lose a Gold Chip Lose 2 Gold Chips Race to the Gold Object: Everyone must reach t Start 89 90 Social Studies Nugget 1: Life of John Reed This is an overview of John Reed’s life from birth to death. Reading Section Activities 91 The Life of John Reed Johannes Ried, better known as John Reed, is a mysterious and interesting character. Because there are not many records concerning his background, there are lots of uncertainties regarding his life. However, church records, military records, and county court documents do tell us much about his life. According to a military record, Johannes Ried was originally from a small, poor town in Germany called Appenfeld. However, Raboldshausen is most commonly referred to as the village of his birth. A church record confirms the date as April 14, 1759. Johannes was born as an illegitimate child (born of parents who were not married) to Anna Elisabeth Ried (mother) and Johann Jakob Helmerich (father). Eventually, Anna married Adam Henrich Hahn who became Johannes’s stepfather. Once he began living in America, Johannes Ried took the Anglicized name of John Reed. As John grew older, he became involved in the military. He served in Company 2 of the Garrison Regiment von Wissenbach that was part of the Hessian Militia. It is believed that Reed arrived in America as a replacement recruit. He was part of the patrols that performed military examinations and protected missions that provided food for troops and livestock maintained inside the British lines. According to military records, Reed deserted his post on June 21, 1782, somewhere outside of Savannah, Georgia. This was a dangerous feat because a group known as the Tory Militia, including Native Americans and African Americans, conducted search parties looking for deserters. When found, they could return to their post where they were usually punished severely for deserting or, if they were not willing to return, they were killed and their scalps were taken back to the military leaders. Luckily for Reed, however, it is believed that some individual Salzburgers 92 helped their fellow nationals who spoke German escape across the Savannah River into the backwoods of South Carolina. From there, he eventually made his way to the North Carolina area, but it is not known whether he traveled alone or with someone. In the fall of 1782, it is believed that John Reed married Sarah “Sally” Kiser. They later had nine children including Henry (1783), Frances (1785), Conrad (1787), John Jr. (1790), George (1792), Elizabeth (1794), Catherine (1797), Mary “Polly” (1800), and Martha “Patsy” (1803). These children then had their own children, totaling 68 grandchildren for John and Sarah Reed. Reed and his family lived in “Upper” Mecklenburg County, which is in present-day Cabarrus County. They lived on Mansion Hill, which is located about a mile south of the modern Reed Gold Mine visitor center. Reed was a farmer who became a very successful businessman later. However, he is thought to have been illiterate (could not read or write) because he always signed his deeds during land transactions with an X. Schools were not available near the Reed family, so it is not known how educated his children were either. The males, who could sign their names, were probably taught by other family or friends. Furthermore, John Reed owned as many as eighteen slaves who helped inside and outside the mansion and at the gold mine. Even though Reed’s life was dedicated to farming, his lifestyle changed one day when his second son, Conrad, went to Little Meadow Creek. At the creek in 1799, Conrad found a mysterious yellow rock. After Conrad showed it to his father, John Reed took it to a silversmith who was unsure of what it was, so this “rock” ended up being a doorstop for two to three years. After this time, Reed took it to another silversmith where he discovered the “rock” was really 17 pounds of almost pure gold. He sold the gold for $3.50 93 to the silversmith, not understanding the value of gold. The story goes that he later recovered an additional $1,200 from that jeweler. This discovery changed Reed’s life even though he remained loyal to farming. Mining began taking place on Reed’s land. John soon formed a partnership with Rev. James Love, Martin Phifer, Jr., and his brother-in-law Frederick Kiser. Together, using slave labor, they worked the mines, splitting the “finds” equally. After many years of mining, some other partners were added and much of the family became more involved. Yet as more became involved, conflicts regarding the gold being discovered became more common. After one family argument, the mine was closed by court order between 1834 and 1844. Throughout his time with the mine, and despite his lack of capital (money or property) when first married, Reed engaged in 21 documented land transactions in Cabarrus County. During these transactions, Reed bought 2,091 acres and disposed of 1,046 acres to sons and sons-in-law of which 986 acres were sold. He also sold 250 more to John Barbee, leaving him 795 acres at the time of his death. In 1842, at age 82, John Reed became a citizen of the United States. Not long after that on May 28, 1845, he died at age 86, just eighteen months after his wife died. According to his will, the mine and mining property were to be sold at an auction. The mine changed hands a number of times. In the 1890s, the land was sold to the Kelly family who later sold it in 1971 to the State of North Carolina. Today, Reed Gold Mine is still owned by the state and is a historic site that many people visit every year. *Information based on A Hessian Immigrant finds Gold: The Story of John Reed by M. A. Schwalm 94 After reading “The Life of John Reed”, choose one of the following to complete. Research your family’s history. Write about your findings in a report or create a family tree. Choose one person you are interested in. Read a book or other sources about that person. Then write a report and construct a project about the person’s family history. Choose any group who settled in your county and research their history. Write a report including information such as answers to questions like, “What brought them to North Carolina?” ,“What did they do?” ,and “How did they influence their area?” 95 Social Studies Nugget 2: Vocabulary In this section, use the puzzles and word searches to become familiar with commonly used mining terms. Vocabulary Definitions Cross Word Word Scramble Word Search 96 WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? Define these terms using information from the Reed Gold Mine Website, the Reed Gold Mine Handbook, and your visit to Reed Gold Mine. Acre Adit Amalgamation Arrastra Assay Chilean mill Crosscut Drift Excavation Gallery Foot wall Geologist Hanging wall Immigrants Investments Kibble Ore Pan Placer mining Proprietor Prospecting Rural Shaft Stamp Mill Stope Vein Whim Windlass Suggested projects for use with definitions: 1. Imagine you are a miner at Reed Gold Mine. Every night you write in your journal about that day’s experience. Write a journal entry, using at least half of the vocabulary, explaining what happened during one of your workdays. 2. As you visit the mine or the website, look and listen to how these terms are used when they are found in the movie, museum, or tour. 3. Using flash cards or some other means, have students give the definitions as cards are shown or show the definitions so they can respond with the correct term. 4. Create a board or card game based on the vocabulary, mining methods, and history the students learned about while at Reed. 97 REED GOLD MINE VOCABULARY TRIVIA Fill in the correct answer 1. Which of the following processes uses mercury? chlorination cyanidation amalgamation radiation 2. You would be able to crush gold-bearing ore in which of the following? Chilean mill arrastra Stamp mill all of the above 3. What is a kibble? ore bucket sturdy rope lazy miner miner’s drink 4. John Reed was an _______________ from Germany. ancestor immigrant teacher artist 5. In 1799, the first authenticated gold was found in the United States in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. What does authenticated mean? confirmed to be real fake systematic speculated 6. At first, the part-time process of prospecting the creek was referred to as _____________ and was considered primitive and unsystematic. jaw crushing speculation placer mining radiation 7. The proprietors realized the substantial profit they could make through mining for gold. What is a proprietor? owner buyer banker 8. Which of the following means “a vertical entrance to a mine cut downward from the surface”? adit drift wince shaft 9. A person who studies the earth’s crust, the layers of which it is composed, and its history is call a ________________. miner meteorologist geologist inventor 10. Concentrations property of gold were found in soil and creek sediments after the weathering of gold-quartz veins and erosive action took place. What does this mean? much thinking about gold occurred large amounts of gold were brought together in one place equipment was used for mining fake pieces of gold known as pyrite were found 98 Answer Key REED GOLD MINE VOCABULARY TRIVIA Fill in the correct answer 1. Which of the following processes uses mercury? chlorination cyanidation amalgamation radiation 2. You would be able to crush gold-bearing ore in which of the following? Chilean mill arrastra stamp mill all of the above 3. What is a kibble? ore bucket sturdy rope lazy miner miner’s drink 4. John Reed was an _______________ from Germany. ancestor teacher artist 5. In 1799, the first authenticated immigrant gold was found in the United States in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. What does authenticated mean? confirmed to be real fake systematic speculated 6. At first, the part-time process of prospecting the creek was referred to as _____________ and was considered primitive and unsystematic? jaw crushing speculation radiation 7. The proprietors realized the substantial profit they could make through mining for gold. What is a proprietor? owner buyer property banker 8. Which of the following means “a vertical entrance to a mine cut downward from the surface”? adit drift wince shaft 9. A person who studies the earth’s crust, the layers of which it is composed, and its history is call a ________________? miner meteorologist geologist inventor 10. Concentrations placer mining of gold were found in soil and creek sediments after the weathering of gold-quartz veins and erosive action took place. What does this mean? much thinking about gold occurred large amounts of gold were brought together in one place equipment was used for mining fake pieces of gold known as pyrite were found 99 "First Gold in the United States" Reed Gold Mine Crossword Puzzle 3 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Adit Amalgamation Arrastra Assay Coins Gangue Lode Miner Rocker Barringer Bechtler Candle Chilean Mill Cornwall Drift Drill Fish Fools Gold Foreman Gold Jaw Crusher Kibble Linker Little Meadow Mecklenburg Mint Nugget Ore Panning Philadelphia Pick Placer Quartz Reed Gold Mine Shaft Stamp Mill Stope Veins Whim Women 100 Clues to Reed Gold Mine Crossword Puzzle ACROSS 1. Device used for washing earth and separating gold 18. Conrad found one that weighed 17 pounds 5. Site of the first United States Mint 8. They commonly operated the rockers 9. White rock that sometimes contains gold 13. Area of England where many experienced miners came from 14. He started the first mint in North Carolina 16. To test quartz samples for gold 17. Early source of light worn on miners’ caps 20. Supervisor of a mine 24. Tool used to make blasting holes 25. Place where gold was made into coins 26. The streets of Charlotte are paved with 30. Name of an adit and shaft at Reed Gold Mine 31. Montgomery County man who first discovered gold in quartz 32. Gold was found in underground stripes of quartz called _______ 33. First gold mine in the United States 34. Drag mill 36. Large machine used to crush ore 37. Digging tool used in underground mining 38. A common type of placer mining 39. Nearby county once containing over 100 mines 40. Iron bucket used as an elevator to carry men and ore DOWN 2. Rock containing gold or other minerals 3. Hoisting device used to raise ore buckets 4. Breaks ore into smaller pieces for the mill 15. Tunnel dug following a quartz vein 28. Person who digs for gold 35. Vertical mine entrance 6. Creek where Conrad found gold 7. Underground mining 10. Surface mining 11. Gold was sometimes made into this form of currency 12. Another name for pyrite 19. Another term for bull quartz 21. A horizontal entrance to a mine 22. What Conrad was looking for when he struck gold 23. Underground room dug to remove an ore sample 27. Process of extracting gold using mercury 29. Ore crusher using large stone wheels 101 Solution "First Gold in the United States" Reed Gold Mine Crossword Puzzle 1R 2O C K E R 3W R 4J H 5P H I 6L A D E 7L P H I A I I O 8W O M E N 9Q U A R T Z D C 10P 11C 12F T E 13C O R N W A L L O O 14B E C H T L E R 15D U A I O E R 16A S S A Y 17C A N D L E M I H E S S 18N U 19G G E T 20F O R E M 21A N R G A A 22F T R D 23S O N 24D R I L L 25M I N T 26G O L D G O S 27A T O D 28M U W H M P 29C 30L I N K E R 31B A R R I N G E R H N L 32V E I N S E 33R E E D G O L D M I N E L 34A R R A 35S T R A A E H 36S T A M P M I L L A A A N F T M T 37P I C K 38P A N N I N G O L 39M E C K L E N B U R G 40K I B B L E 102 acre investment WORD BOX Using the circled letters in the Word Search above, answer the riddle… I aim les s ly wan der thr o ug h Jo hn Reed s lan d. Why , o ld Jo hn even fo un d g o ld in m e. proprietor prospecting resources rural vegetation authenticated concentrations economy excavation geologist immigrant __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 103 Teacher’s Key I aim les s ly wan der thr o ug h Jo hn Reed s Lan d. Why , o ld Little Meadow Creek Jo hn even fo un d g o ld in m e. 104 Gold Mine Word Scramble Unscramble the words and match their definitions. 1. EOR A. A horizontal entrance to a mine. 2. IGNNMI B. To test ore to find the value and quality of gold 3. EDED C. A chopping tool with a sharp blade head fitted on a long handle. 4. DLGO D. A small piece of metal, usually flat and round, used for money. Also, to make money from metal. 5. KCIP E. A contract showing ownership of a piece of property. 6. FAHTS F. A soft yellow mineral that is found by mining and considered very valuable. 7. DARRET G. Gold in powder form. 8. APN H. A person who digs for valuable minerals. 9. EGUNTG I. The business of removing minerals (gold, coal, silver, copper) from the earth. 10. DTGDSOLU J. A place where gold is made into coins. 11. ITAD K. A solid lump of gold. 12. RINEM L. A rock or mineral which is often the source of valuable metals. 13. NIVE M. A round plate made of tin, in which dirt is washed in order to search for gold. 14. ZAQRUT A tool for digging through hard surfaces, made of a curved bar which is sharpened at both ends N. and attached to a long handle. 15. XA O. A milky white rock which sometimes has gold running through it. 16. IOCN P. A device used to weigh small items. 17. YAASS Q. A vertical opening or tunnel dug into the ground. 18. LENTUN R. A person who buys and sells. 19. LACSE S. An underground passage. 20. TINM T. A stripe or streak of quartz or other ore underground. Answer Key Gold Mine Word Scramble Unscramble the words and match their definitions. 105 ORE 1. EOR 11 A. A horizontal entrance to a mine. MINING 2. IGNNMI 17 B. To test ore to find the value and quality of gold DEED 3. EDED 15 C. A chopping tool with a sharp blade head fitted on a long handle. GOLD 4. DLGO 16 D. A small piece of metal, usually flat and round, used for money. Also, to make money from metal. PICK 5. KCIP 3 E. A contract showing ownership of a piece of property. SHAFT 6. FAHTS 4 F. A soft yellow mineral that is found by mining and considered very valuable. TRADER 7. DARRET 10 G. Gold in powder form. PAN 8. APN 12 H. A person who digs for valuable minerals. NUGGET 9. EGUNTG 2 I. The business of removing minerals (gold, coal, silver, copper) from the earth. GOLDDUST 10. DTGDSOLU 20 J. A place where gold is made into coins. ADIT 11. ITAD 9 K. A solid lump of gold. MINER 12. RINEM 1 L. A rock or mineral which is often the source of valuable metals. VEIN 13. NIVE 8 M. A round plate made of tin, in which dirt is washed in order to search for gold. QUARTZ 14. ZAQRUT 5 N. A tool for digging through hard surfaces, made of a curved bar which is sharpened at both ends and attached to a long handle. AX 15. XA 14 O. A milky white rock which sometimes has gold running through it. COIN 16. IOCN 19 P. A device used to weigh small items. ASSAY 17. YAASS 6 Q. A vertical opening or tunnel dug into the ground. TUNNEL 18. LENTUN 7 R. A person who buys and sells. SCALE 19. LACSE 18 S. An underground passage. MINT 20. TINM 13 T. A stripe or streak of quartz or other ore underground. 106 Social Studies Nugget 3: Timeline The Timeline displays the major events of The Reed Gold Mine form 1778 - 1971. Time line questions Timeline 107 1778 John Reed comes to the Colonies to fight for the British as a German mercenary during the American Revolutionary War. 1787 John Reed receives from the state of North Carolina a land grant of 70 acres on Meadow Creek. 1799 Reed’s son, Conrad, finds a large, shiny yellow rock in Little Meadow Creek. 1802 A jeweler in Fayetteville determines that Conrad’s yellow rock is really 17 pounds of almost pure gold. 1803 John Reed joins three other men Frederick Kizer, Rev. James Love, and Martin Phifer, Jr. forming a mining partnership to search of gold in Little Meadow Creek. Peter, slave of Reed’s partner Rev. Love, discovers the largest nugget ever found at Reed. The nugget weighed approximately 28 pounds. 1804 The United States Mint in Philadelphia processes $11,000 in Cabarrus County gold. 1806 William Thornton, physician, inventor, and designer of the United States Capitol, purchases on credit 35,000 acres of land near the Reed and establishes the North Carolina Gold Mine Company. 1820 Gold is discovered in other counties adjoining Cabarrus. 1824 Reed Gold Mine becomes one of the state’s three major gold mines, having unearthed an estimated $100,000 worth of gold. 1827 The North Carolina state legislature charters the North Carolina Gold Mining Company. 1829 The stamp mill, a wood and iron structure used for crushing ore, makes its appearance in North Carolina. 1831 Christopher Bechtler and his son Augustus begin the minting of gold coins in Rutherford County. John Reed’s grandson, Isaac Crayton sinks the first shaft at Reed. 1834 A legal dispute begins between the sons and sons-in-law of John Reed over a 13-pound nugget, resulting in a court order for the closing of Reed Gold Mine. 1835 Congress votes to establish a branch of the Federal Mint at Charlotte. 1837 The Charlotte mint opens for business. A slave named Jim is thought to be hiding at the Reed. 1842 John Reed becomes a U.S. citizen at the age of 82. 1854 The Reed Gold and Copper Mining Company fails, and many other mining corporations are either ruined or in financial difficulty. 1855 The sheriff of Cabarrus County auctions the Reed Gold Mine. 1861 The Charlotte mint closes because of disruptive effects of the Civil War. 1895 Oliver Kelly, Warren Kelly and Dr. Justin Lisle purchase Reed Gold Mine. 1912 The last underground excavations take place at the Reed Mine. 1915 Much work is done in the Carolina mines, and the largest amount of gold is found since 1887. 1942 The federal government orders that gold mining be suspended to divert production to national defense during World War II. 1966 The Reed is designated a Registered National Historic Landmark. 1971 North Carolina acquires the Reed property from the Kelly family. 1977 On April 23, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site opens to the public. 1845 On May 28, John Reed dies at the age of 86. 108 Name_________________________ Date__________________________ Fill in the square for the correct answer. 1. What is the range of this timeline? 207 years 3,749 years 199 years 2. Who originally discovered the gold on the Reed’s property? John Reed Conrad Reed Rev. James Love 3. How much did the first gold nugget weigh? 17 ounces 17 pounds 27 pounds 4. All of the following except ___________ were partners with John Reed. Frederick Kizer William Thornton 5. Who established the North Carolina Gold Mine Company? William Thornton Christopher Bechtler Rev. James Love 6. How many years elapsed between the opening and closing of the Charlotte mint? 36 years 24 years 76 years 7. Why did the federal government stop gold mining in 1942? There was very little gold left to mine. The government wanted to be in control of all gold production in the United States. Martin Phifer The United States wanted to decrease gold production in order to increase production of supplies needed for World War II. 109 8. In which year did the State of North Carolina acquire Reed Gold Mine? 1971 1778 1835 9. How many years after John Reed came as a German mercenary, did he die? 46 years 67 years 36 years 1824 1799 1831 11. The jeweler that determined Conrad’s rock was gold was located in what town? Charlotte Raleigh Fayetteville 12. In 1834, the Reed was closed because of a dispute over a ____ pound nugget. 18 28 13 13. Christopher Bechtler and his son began minting gold coins in this county in 1831. Cabarrus Mecklenburg 14. A wood and iron structure that is used for crushing ore is called a __________. pick Stamp mill nugget 15. A slave named _______ found the largest nugget ever discovered at Reed in 1803. John Conrad Peter 16. Warren Kelly, Oliver Kelly and Dr. Justin Lisle purchased the Reed in this year. 1799 1977 1895 10. In what year was the first shaft dug at the Reed? Rutherford 110 Answer Key Name__________________________ Date___________________________ Fill in the square for the correct answer. 1. What is the range of this timeline? 207 years 3,749 years 2. Who originally discovered the gold on the Reed’s property? John Reed Conrad Reed Rev. James Love 3. How many did the first gold nugget weigh? 17 ounces 17 pounds 27 pounds 4. All of the following except ___________ were partners with John Reed. Frederick Kizer William Thornton Martin Phifer 5. Who established the North Carolina Gold Mine Company? Christopher Bechtler Rev. James Love 6. How many years elapsed between the opening and closing of the Charlotte Mint? 36 years 24 years 76 years 7. Why did the federal government stop the gold mining in 1942? There was very little gold left to mine. The government wanted to be in control of all gold production in the United States. The United States wanted to decrease gold production in order to increase production of supplies needed for World War II. 199 years William Thornton 111 8. In which year did the state of North Carolina acquire Reed Gold Mine? 1971 1835 9. How many years after John Reed came as a German mercenary, did he die? 46 Years 67 Years 36 Years 10. In what year was the first shaft dug at Reed Gold Mine? 1824 1799 1831 11. The jeweler that determined Conrad’s rock was gold, was located in what town? Raleigh Fayetteville 12. In 1834, the Reed was closed because of a dispute over a ______ pound nugget. 18 28 13 13. Christopher Becthler and his son began minting coins in this county in 1831. Cabarrus Rutherford Mecklenburg 14. A wood and iron structure that is used for crushing ore is called a _____. pick Stamp Mill 15.A slave named ______ found the largest nugget ever discovered at Reed in 1803. John Conrad Peter 16. Warren Kelly, Oliver Kelly and Dr. Justin Lisle purchased the Reed in this year. 1799 1977 1895 1778 Charlotte nugget 112 II. Choose one of the following activities: A. Choose a key era from the time line and describe your life and lifestyle. Be sure to include the following: economy schools and education social activities religion entertainment important people key historical events of the period B. Research changes in one of the following areas: population environment landform industry I. Read Reed Gold Mine Timeline to gain background knowledge. See Activity entitled “In the Time of Reed Gold Mine” for questions related to the timeline. C. Based on your research, create and illustrate your own timeline. D. Using the Internet, search the North Carolina Gold Mine or North Carolina Historic Sites home page and create a new timeline of major events relating to Reed Gold Mine. 113 Social Studies Nugget 4: Mapping Activities To enhance the students’ knowledge of location, this part contains various mapping activities relating to gold in North Carolina, the United States, and the world. Mapping Activities Find the Tar Heel Gold North Carolina Map 114 Reed Gold Mine Mapping Activities Materials N. C. County Map (Included) N. C. Road Map N. C. Map with latitude and longitude U. S. Map World Map N. C. County Map Activities 3. On paper, classify the “gold” counties by regions using a tree diagram or chart. 4. Using various resources, identify and list the other kinds of mining done in these areas. 5. Create a graph showing the types and amounts of mining in each region of North Carolina. North Carolina State Map Activities 1. Using the county map of North Carolina, locate and star * your county in green. 2. Using the Map Activity Sheet # 1, complete the different tasks. 1. Using the state map of North Carolina, determine the mileage from your hometown to Reed Gold Mine. 2. Using the above map, determine location of your county and the distance from your county to at least 10 different other mining counties in North Carolina. 3. Using both cardinal and intermediate directions, determine your county’s location to each mining county. 4. Create a database on the computer using data you have collected on mining counties in North Carolina. 115 United States and World Map Activities 1. Using different resources, identify and place on a map of the United States the locations where gold has been found. 2. Find out what other types of mining were or are being done in these same areas and in other areas of the world. 3. Predict the other types of mining that may have been or are in these same places. 4. Now find out the other types of mining and list them. Compare your predictions to your actual finding. Critical Thinking 1. Based on your findings from all of the above activities, draw a Venn Diagram using North Carolina, the United States, and the rest of the world depicting the differences and similarities in what was being mined. 2. What is the most common mineral, ore, or gem that is mined globally? 3. How do you think the knowledge of mining spread from one place to another over the thousands of years of reported history? Support your answer. Projects 1. Using the information you have researched, create a display showing all the places gold has been found and/or mined in the world throughout history. 2. Using the blueprints found on-line and pictures of Reed Gold Mine, recreate a three-dimensional model of the gold mine. 116 FIND THE TAR HEEL GOLD -- ACTIVITY SHEET North Carolina has 100 counties. Gold has been found in over half of them. Six belts of rock in the state contain gold. The most important are the slate belt, stretching from South Carolina to Virginia, and the Charlotte belt. 1. Color the major mining counties: Ashe Burke Cabarrus Catawba Cherokee Davidson Davie Gaston Guilford Franklin Halifax Henderson Jackson Lincoln Macon McDowell Mecklenburg Montgomery Nash Person Polk Randolph Rowan Rutherford Stanly Union Yadkin Wake Warren 2. Outline your home in red. Add your school. 3. Reed Gold Mine is in southeastern Cabarrus County. Put a red dot at the mine. 4. Draw a line from your school to Reed Gold Mine. 117 Teacher Key 118 Social Studies Nugget 5: Project Ideas The students will be able to choose from a variety of projects to extend their knowledge in areas directly and indirectly related to gold Economy Types of Mining Technology Dangers of Mining Who Worked in Mines Transportation Communication Mint North Carolina Nicknames Rocks and Minerals Other Project Ideas 119 Project Ideas A. Economy- 1. Pose the question: how many of you have used gold in the last 24 hours
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Title | Reed Gold Mine teacher's guide |
Contributor | North Carolina. Historic Sites Division. |
Date | 2000-09 |
Subjects |
Gold mines and mining--Study and teaching (Elementary)--North Carolina Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site (N.C.) |
Place | Reed Gold Mine (historical), Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States |
Description | "September 2000." |
Publisher | s.n. |
Agency-Current |
North Carolina Office of Archives and History, Department of Natural and Cultural Resources North Carolina Office of Arts and Libraries, Department of Natural and Cultural Resources |
Rights | State Document see http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,63754 |
Physical Characteristics | 170 p. of electronic text : digital, PDF file. |
Collection | North Carolina State Documents Collection. State Library of North Carolina |
Type | Text |
Language | English |
Format | Instructional materials |
Digital Characteristics-A | 5069 KB; 170 p. |
Digital Collection | North Carolina Digital State Documents Collection |
Digital Format | application/pdf |
Related Items | http://worldcat.org/oclc/806040198/viewonline |
Audience |
Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 |
Pres File Name-M | pubs_reedgoldmine200009.pdf |
Pres Local File Path-M | \Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_borndigital\images_master\ |
Full Text | Reed Gold Mine Teacher’s Guide September 2000 2 Acknowledgments SINCEREST APPRECIATION TO: Dr. Richard F. Knapp, North Carolina Historic Sites -Division of Archives and History John B. Dysart, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site -Site Manager Susan E. Smith, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site -Chief of Historic Interpretations Don McNeely of T. Braeden’s, Inc. -President of Gold History Corporation Elizabeth Boyd, T. Braeden’s, Inc. President AND TO: The Reed Gold Mine Bicentennial of Gold Education Committee: Robert Remsburg III, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site - Former Assistant Site Manager Dr. Barbara Theide, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site -Former Bicentennial Coordinator Amy Archer, Kannapolis City Schools, - Instructional Technology Specialist Dr. Ken Burrows, University of North Carolina at Charlotte - Professor of Continuing Education Jody Cohen, Kannapolis City Schools, Social Studies - 4th Grade Teacher 3 Michael Corrigan, Kannapolis City Schools - K-5 Resource Room Teacher Patricia J. Dickson, Mecklenberg Area Catholic Schools, Math - 4th Grade Teacher Cathy Jewett, Cabarrus County Schools - Middle School Curriculum Coordinator Susan Kimball, Rowan-Salisbury Schools, Social Studies - 4th Grade Teacher Boone Linker, Cabarrus County Schools, Science - 4th Grade Teacher Karen Mann, Mecklenberg Area Catholic Schools, Math - Learning Support Program Director Linda H. Medlin, Cabarrus County Schools, Communications - 4/5 AG Teacher Ann Parker, Cabarrus County Schools, Communications - 4th Grade Teacher E. Campbell Price, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction - Instructional Technology Consultant Paula Ritchie, Cabarrus County Schools - Assistant Principal for Instruction Robert Shinn, Kannapolis City Schools - Director of Student and Special Services Brenda Steadman, Charlotte - Mecklenburg Schools - Elementary Social Studies Coordinator Martha West, Rowan County Schools - Director of Elementary Education 4 Table of Contents N. C. Gold Rush: Information for Teachers Gold Fast Facts Gold History for Teachers Gold History for Students Mathematics Expanded Notation Using Graphs and Charts Stem and Leaf Graphs Graphing Basic Computation Math Games Board Games Social Studies Life of John Reed Vocabulary Time Line Mapping Project Ideas 5 Science Exploring Erosion Mass, Volumes, and Density Simple Machines Plant Succession Language Arts Writing Prompts Oral Tradition Stories Oral Tradition Vocabulary Newspaper Article Poetry Activities 6 North Carolina Gold Rush: Information for Teachers Nugget 1: Gold Fast Facts This is an overview of information about the North Carolina Gold Rush. Facts about NC Gold Rush Facts about Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site 7 Facts About the North Carolina Gold Rush The site of the first documented discovery of gold and the first American gold rush is located at Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. In 1804, the U. S. Mint in Philadelphia processed $11,000 worth of gold from Cabarrus County. Between 1804 and 1825 North Carolina produced $134,000 of gold from placer mining alone. Between 1800 and 1948 the Central Piedmont boasted 294 mines (South Carolina had 50) By 1849 Charlotte mines had produced 2.6 million dollars worth of gold. Between 1804 and 1828 North Carolina remained the only producer of domestic gold in the country. North Carolina remained the highest producer of the precious metal until 1848, when gold was discovered in California. The estimated value of gold recovered during the high tide years of the 1850’s reached over a million dollars a year. Estimated total gold production ranges from 50 to 65 million dollars worth of gold. That same gold would be worth about $742,856,800 today. Americans first dubbed NORTH CAROLINA “The Golden State”. 8 Facts About Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site John Reed was illegitimate. His father and mother did public penance (recorded in the church at Raboldshausen, Germany) a few months before he was born. Did Reed deliberately give a false birth date? His gravestone gives his birth date as January 1757, but church records indicate he was born on April 14, 1759. Perhaps he didn't want anyone in his adopted land to find out about his embarrassing past. John Reed fought with British and Hessian troops in the American Revolution, but deserted from Savannah, Georgia. The trek to North Carolina was a dangerous one, given the fact that bounty hunters were paid for bringing back the scalps of deserters. Reed made his way through the roads in three colonies, settled, married and later had nine children with his wife Sarah in Cabarrus County. John Reed's twelve-year-old son Conrad made the first documented discovery of gold in the United States. After the boy lugged the 17-pound "rock" home to his parents, the Reeds used it as a doorstop for three years. Once during that time, John Reed brought the nugget to a silversmith in Concord, but the silversmith couldn't identify it. Not until 1802, when Reed left for his annual marketing trip to Fayetteville, did the secret come out. At that point, Reed's curiosity got the better of him once again, and he hauled the nugget all the way to the "big city." A jeweler there asked Reed to leave the nugget with him, and while Reed was gone, the jeweler melted the bar of gold down to a bar about seven or eight inches in length. When Reed returned, the jeweler asked him to name his price. Reed suggested $3.50, a week's worth of wages back then, and the jeweler paid -- gladly. The nugget was worth at least 100 times that much in those days (that's about $75,000 in today's world). Reed discovered later that he'd been cheated. Oral tradition tells us that Reed went back to the jeweler to demand more money, and that he did receive an addition $1,000. 9 Back in 1802 three dollars and fifty cents seemed like an awful lot of money. Reed, the story goes, bought his wife Sarah calico for a new dress and coffee beans. The story continues: when Sarah got the beans, she tossed them in a pot of water with a bit of meat and was astonished to find that the beans could not be cooked soft. The mess was tossed on the hill beside the house (maybe that accounts for the expression "it's not worth a hill of beans"). Maybe money made the world go around in the early 19th century, too. Still, John Reed never gave up his belief that farming was a better source of wealth than mining. He refused to allow his sons and sons-in-law to mine in any fields he cultivated -- even when he found gold nuggets there sticking to end of his plow. The area around his house included, according to one 19th-century observer, quartz outcroppings that may have contained gold. But Reed kept his fields intact and the area was never mined. He bought major parcels of land through the early 19th century, but even when the provisions of sale included rights to mine in that area, Reed never bothered with purchasing pans, rockers, or any other mining tools. In his mind, golden fields of corn or wheat must have glittered in their own way. In 1804 a slave named Peter found the biggest gold nugget ever discovered at Reed Gold Mine. The find occurred in the first true mining season on Reed's land. The nugget weighed 28 pounds, and was worth, in today's terms, $131,264. Peter belonged to Rev. James Love, a Baptist minister, partner to John Reed, and friend to the Reed family. Two of John Reed's children married Love's children. In later years George Barnhardt, John Reed's son-in-law, told a story about the day when the 28-pound nugget was found. Barnhardt said that Love offered Peter the opportunity to pry a knob off the gold nugget with his fork as a reward for his good work. Love reportedly said that if Peter succeeded in prying the knob off the nugget he could keep it. According to Barnhardt, Peter responded, "No, master. I don't want to do that. I might break my fork." Obviously Peter, as well as Rev. Love, was well aware there was no possibility his fork would be strong enough to dislodge any gold from the nugget. Also, the replacing of a broken fork would not be a minor expense. 10 The Reed mine was amazingly successful as soon as men began looking for gold. In a mere six weeks, during 1803-04, the Reed saw a net return of $14,000 to $20,000 from surface mining. In the mid-1890s two brothers, William and Robert Gadd worked at the Reed Gold Mine. One accused the other of having murdered a woman and thrown the body down a shaft. Arrests were made and an intense search initiated. Authorities found nothing, however, that could prove the story to be true. Still, rumors persist to this day that a tooth, a lock of hair, and a watch were found in the mine. In the first thirty years or so after Reed discovered he had gold on his land he and his three partners controlled mining operations. Each partner was to supply the manpower initially through two slaves apiece, and John Reed supplied the land. Profits were divided equally among the four men. Martin Phifer, a prominent local businessman in Cabarrus County, routinely assayed gold nuggets found at the mine. One week, Phifer claimed, he had received three nuggets, each weighing about twenty pounds, for assaying. When he examined the pieces closely, he discovered that they fit together perfectly. But there was a large gap where a fourth piece, also about twenty pounds worth, would have fit. Clearly, the pieces had somehow been broken apart. Just as clearly, one piece was missing. No one ever discovered where the missing nugget went. No legal battles ensued and the partnership continued its existence without accusations or recriminations. The same could not be said of a dispute among the next generation of partners. After the original partners died, John Reed allowed his sons and sons-in-law to operate the mine, while giving him one-ninth of the profits. One day, George Reed (John's son) could not get to the mine because his wife and son were ill. He sent his 16-year-old son in his place. That day, a 13-pound nugget was discovered. George's partners refused to give him a share of the nugget. They insisted that his son was not capable of performing an adult's share of work. George, therefore, did not deserve any share 11 of the nugget. Seventy-five-year old John Reed attempted to pay George off using his personal resources. But George was not appeased. He took his brothers and brothers-in-law to court, and the mine shut down for 10 years because of the legal wrangle, which George eventually won (he recovered a sum of money that just about covered 10 years of legal expenses). Slaves who worked at gold mines generally labored during the off-seasons. They had to do some of the most dangerous work. Gold mine operators who were after quick profits sometimes made slaves dig directly into hillsides without giving them the opportunity or time to make sure the roof was secure. The earth, according to one historian, "often gave way and crushed the workers.” Some slaves, however, were able to use the mines to better purposes. A few were allowed to use some of the gold they found to buy their freedom. Slave miners also earned money for doing "extra work" and made up to 30 dollars a month that way. Some slaves used Sundays and holidays to prospect on their own. Overseers did not trust slaves, apparently, and watched them carefully. Perhaps that lack of trust was the result of one basic reality: when slaves could, they often ran away from their white masters. One advertisement described runaway slave named Reuben and his wife Jinney, who were thought to be hiding in or around Smart's Mine in Mecklenburg County. John K. Harrison of Mecklenburg asserted that his slave, missing in 1837, was "lurking about Reed's Gold Mine." Mecklenburg County led the way in developing underground mining techniques. While miners at the Reed still relied on pans and rockers, miners to the west were digging shafts and tunnels so that they could follow gold through the ground. By the late 1820's Charlotte was experiencing a real gold "rush," producing, according to estimates, some $2,000 of gold per week. The North Carolina gold rush prompted the New York Observer to send a correspondent to the gold fields. Famous architect William Thornton (physician, inventor, and designer of the U.S. Capitol) visited the Reed in the early 19th century. Thornton decided to purchase 12 land that bordered Reed's holdings and form a joint stock company to mine gold. The North Carolina Gold Mine Company included a number of prominent Washingtonians, but for some reason, the enterprise never got off (or in) the ground. Perhaps only one-third of gold mined in North Carolina ever made it to the U.S. mint. Matthias Barringer discovered that gold ran in quartz veins in 1825. He was panning for gold in a stream on his land in Stanly (then Montgomery) County when the gold seemed, simply, to run out. Then he noticed quartz rock in the side of the creek bed. Digging furiously, he discovered that gold was intermingled with quartz -- and that following quartz veins could become, in the right circumstances, quite profitable. North Carolina earned an early reputation as an economically retarded state, for which it was called the Rip Van Winkle State. That reputation persisted, even a good while after gold was discovered, and one New York writer characterized North Carolina as "the last state in the world, from which we would expect any good thing to come.” Still, by 1828, the Tar Heel State earned another nickname: the Golden State. Some crafty natives sold their land to unsuspecting entrepreneurs by "salting" their holdings and making it appear that there was gold in their own hills. One source gave explicit advice for succeeding in such chicanery: "Melt up a silver dollar or a small gold piece . . . Divide them into small particles by throwing it into a basin of water while hot . . . Then scatter them about your spring, or in a branch where the road crosses it . . . Let some of your neighbors discover them by accident. . ." There were divided feelings about the influence of foreigners in the gold mining industry. In the early 1830s, Hezekiah Niles estimated there was a 10 percent return on foreign capital. But some natives offered proposals to exclude foreign capital from mines, and others even refused to work for European superintendents. 13 Mining, it seemed, did not always bring out the best in men and women of the times. One observer wrote, "I can hardly conceive of a more immoral community . . . Drunkenness, gambling, fighting, lewdness, and every other vice exist here to an awful extent." Still, some mining superintendents did try to keep control of the climate by forbidding liquor at the mine. And some Cornishmen arranged for the preaching of the Gospel to miners. Some observers tried to tally up the overall benefits of mining: new business activity, increased employment for mechanics and artisans, influx of visitors and residents, 200-300 percent jump in property values, high rental returns, and more circulation of money. Each $100 worth of gold produced was said to represent an additional $75 worth of foodstuff sold to miners. Some miners' toasts: "May the gold miners meet with shallow pitting and rich grit for their reward. Health of body, peace of mind, and four pennyweights to the hand! (July 30, 1832) In 1831 a German jeweler and clockmaker named Christopher Becthler arrived in North Carolina. Local mining leaders convinced him to mint coins and help establish a sound regional currency. Bechtler minted the very first gold dollar in the U.S. in 1832 and, over the years, made a reputation for honesty. 14 North Carolina Gold Rush: Information for Teachers Nugget 2: Gold History for Teachers This is an overview of historical information about North Carolina Gold written as background for teachers. John Reed’s Gold Mine The North Carolina Gold Rush Uses of Gold 15 John Reed’s Gold Mine The first documented discovery of gold in America occurred in 1799, some 50 years before the California gold rush began. The owner of North Carolina’s first mine was a German immigrant who, strange as it may seem, preferred farming to working his rich mine. John Reed’s original name was Johannes Riedt, Ried, or Rieth. He was born on April 14, 1759, in the province of Hessen Cassel in west-central Germany. As a teenager, Rieth joined or was drafted into the Hessian militia from nearby Appenfeld. In 1776, Frederick II of Hessen Cassel mobilized Rieth’s unit and shipped it to America to help his brother-in-law, George III of Britain, in his war with the American colonies. Rieth was probably a replacement recruit who reached America in 1778. Rieth deserted on June 21, 1782, from a post “outside of Savannah.” Rieth and several other Hessians made their way to rural Dutch Buffalo Creek in eastern Mecklenburg—now Cabarrus County. Decades earlier, some of the Germans who had traveled down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania settled there. Most lived in crude log houses on modest farms. In 1782, Rieth married Sarah Kiser. They had nine children—four sons and five daughters. With the help of his brother brother-in-law Frederick Kiser, Rieth acquired 330 acres by 1800. Sometime thereafter he changed his name to John Reed. Little is known of Reed’s personal life and qualities. He signed papers with an X, so historians have assumed that he was illiterate. Unlike most German immigrants, he was not a member of a Lutheran church. Perhaps Reed and his family attended church with his neighbor, Rev. James Love, a Baptist preacher. Love became Reed’s partner in mining. Reed’s obituary later called him a Christian and a friend of the poor. To local historians he was “honest but unlearned,” “a rather primitive character, but a good liver in his way and a respected citizen.” In 1799 he was forty years old. That year the accidental discovery of gold on his property changed his future. One Sunday his son, 12 year-old Conrad went bow-and-arrow fishing with his siblings in Little Meadow Creek on the family farm. He retrieved “a yellow substance shining in the 16 water.” The heavy, wedge-shaped rock was the size of a small flatiron and weighed about 17 pounds. Conrad showed the rock to his father, who set it aside as a doorstop. So far as we know, Reed tried only one time in three years to find out what the rock was made of. He asked a jeweler in Concord to identify the rock, but the latter was unable to do so. In 1802 a jeweler in Fayetteville, whom Reed visited on a marketing trip, fluxed the metal into a bar of gold. When the craftsman offered to buy it, Reed asked for $3.50, a week’s wages. The merchant was quite willing to fleece his unwary customer. John Reed had sold his nugget for less than a thousand times its value: Conrad’s find was worth $3,600. Reed discovered his error and supposedly recovered about $1,000 from the jeweler. In 1803, Reed took three friends—Frederick Kiser, Reverend Love, and landowner Martin Phifer Jr.—into partnership. In late summer, after crops were planted and the stream had nearly dried up, each of the three supplied equipment and two slaves to dig for gold in Reed’s creek. The partners planned an equal division of returns. That first season, Peter, an African American owned by Love, unearthed a 28-pound nugget worth more than $6,600. Gold enabled intelligent but uneducated Reed to become one of the wealthiest men in his part of the state. Reed invested in land and slaves but otherwise lived modestly. He forbade destructive mining on land he cultivated, and ultimately bought over 2,000 acres, nearly half of which he had retained at his death. He purchased three African Americans—Dinah, Charity, and Sam—in 1804. Reed later owned as many as 17 slaves. The outside world had learned of the mine by 1803. Apparently Peter’s nugget was shipped to the United States mint in Philadelphia. In one year, miners at the Reed found five nuggets weighing up to nine pounds each, as well as gold in dust and fine particles. The four partners reportedly garnered over $14,000 in six weeks. In 1804, $11,000 in Cabarrus gold reached the mint. A few periodicals mentioned the mine, and word reached Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. Other farmers found gold, but Reed’s creek remained the nation’s principal gold mine. Soon workers there had gathered the larger nuggets and began panning for smaller, more numerous, particles. An apparatus called a “rocker” superseded the pan for washing gravel in the area. Both devices used 17 the high specific gravity of gold (19 times as heavy as water) to isolate the metal. A typical rocker was a box, a half-barrel, or half of a hollow log. After adding auriferous gravel and water to the device, the miner rocked it to wash away lighter material. By 1824, haphazard digging at the Reed had yielded $100,000 in gold, and seasonal mining was common in several counties. Yet farming predominated, and little technological progress occurred. In the decade after 1825 gold mining in North Carolina saw significant changes and a genuine boom. There was a rush for placer gold in Burke County, but much increased output came from veins. The first was discovered by Matthias Barringer of Stanly County in 1825. Both slaves and whites did seasonal mining. Underground vein mining provided a method of seeking gold at its source inside the earth. Men discovered the great vein mines of Mecklenburg Countythe Capps, Rudisill, and McCombs. New corporations using skilled European miners and the latest technology soon controlled those mines. Prospectors developed dozens of smaller mines. The state’s output of gold rose sharply about 1825; much of it being made into jewelry, used in local trade, or exported to Europe. Within a decade the private Bechtler mint and a federal branch mint in Charlotte were established. Yet Reed’s creek mine remained a simple operation. Reed farmed and collected royalties while relatives, slaves, and partners mined. Before 1826 gold found in pieces exceeding one pound reached a total of 84 pounds. Shortly, people estimated the total yield at $200,000. Little Meadow was probably the state’s most dug-over creek. While larger mines had steam power and professional underground miners, Reed continued a close family operation, choosing not to disrupt his lifestyle with outside workers, values, technology, and perhaps capital. In 1831 underground work began at the Reed. Isaac Craton, Reed’s grandson, dug the first pit on Upper Hill and found a vein yielding five dollars per bushel of ore. The amateurs made considerable underground progress while continuing creek (placer) mining. Miners, many of whom were relatives of Reed, deepened pits into shafts. The family probably utilized both African American and local white labor. There were four or five shafts up to 90 feet deep on Upper Hill and probably others on Lower Hill, which at one point supposedly produced four pounds of gold daily. 18 The miners erected horse-powered whims to raise ore from shafts and an arrastra, or drag-stone mill, near the creek to crush ore. Perhaps the workers still used rockers. Tales circulated about conflicts and wealth at the Reed. Grandson Timothy Reed forced Craton from his shaft and recovered up to $20,000 in gold there. Son-in-law Robert Motley supposedly recovered 14 pounds of gold one day before breakfast. A Captain Biggers said he worked his weight in gold. Miners dug gold “like potatoes”. The family reportedly paid employees with pieces of gold pounded in a common hand mortar. In early 1834 Conrad Reed died. The family continued mining, but in November an argument over a 13-pound nugget led to a bitter lawsuit. One of John’s sons, George Reed, was denied his share of the nugget because he had not worked at the mine the day the nugget was found, and had sent his young son as a replacement. The other partners were of two minds over whether the boy was a suitable replacement. George spurned John Reed’s personal offer of reimbursement and secured an injunction that closed the mine for a decade until the state supreme court finally settled the case. Legal expenses consumed all but $20 of the son’s $535 recovery. John Reed died soon after the case was settled, in 1845. His executors sold the mine, and the estate probably grossed about $25,000 ($550,000 today). A son-in-law and a grandson then ran the mine with limited success, using obsolete equipment and a few horses. Perhaps they dug several new shafts. Once they tunneled 140 feet through solid rock to intersect a vein that on the first day reportedly paid for the tunnel. In 1850 the partners produced ore worth $7,500 with 20 hands at a labor cost of $400 monthly. Yet by 1852 the owners remained heavily in debt. In July 1853 the Reed Gold and Copper Mining Company paid $25,000 for an additional 745 acres. The New York corporation hired professional miners and installed the latest equipment, becoming one of several companies that were active in Tar Heel mining after the California gold rush. During the mid-1850s Dr. Louis Posselt, a chemist and miner, directed the Reed, which could boast the most expertise and up-to-date equipment of its history. Posselt spent considerable money developing the mine underground and erecting new surface machinery and buildings. He built a small village with an engine house and 19 millhouse, a large whim house and whim to raise ore, an office, a powder house, stables, a blacksmith shop, and 11 cabins. By mid-1854, the underground beneath Upper Hill contained 15 shafts and over 500 feet of tunnels. Posselt instructed his employees in centuries-old European techniques. Miners tunneled along ore at different levels and chiseled out rooms to remove the ore. Loose ore was moved underground in low wheelbarrows. Iron kibbles were used at Reed to hoist ore and miners up the 110-foot-deep engine shaft to the surface. A hoisting whim, initially powered by a single horse, accomplished this difficult work. The engine shaft also contained a steam pump to raise water for the mill and drain the mine. A fifty-horsepower steam engine operated the pump and ore-crushing machinery that included a stamp mill. The wood-and-iron stamp mill resembled those of medieval Germany. Three large Chilean mills crushed ore to a finer size. A Chilean mill had a pair of large stone wheels for crushing ore. An arrastra, or drag-stone mill, substituted stones for the wheels of the Chilean mills. Shaking tables used a reciprocating motion to separate gold from lighter materials. The mill workers used these steam-powered machines, with water and mercury, to catch bits of metal before purifying it in retorts to recover gold. Despite that machinery, the Reed company, like many others, failed during 1854. Tightening of the New York money market as well as flagrant speculation ruined many Carolina mines. Perhaps Posselt did not examine ore reserves adequately before erecting costly machinery. Shortly the state geologist of South Carolina reported the gold at Reed was almost entirely gone. In 1855 the Cabarrus sheriff auctioned the property for one-fourth of its price in 1853. Tar Heel gold production had slipped, however, and the new owners did little mining. Various people panned in the creek, finding a few nuggets. By 1860 the mine was closed and remained so during the Civil War, along with nearly all Carolina gold mines. For several years after 1890 little happened at the mine. Then the century-old mine attracted Ohio’s Kelly family, which purchased the mine for $15,000. A consultant told the Kellys they would need $50,000 to put the mine in good working order. 20 In 1895 the owners had a crew doing placer (surface) and underground work at the mine. Local men leased placer rights. One of them, Jacob Shinn, found the last great nugget there (about 23 pounds) in April 1896. Shinn’s find rekindled the owners’ enthusiasm. The Kellys ordered a heavy new, cast-iron stamp mill from the Mecklenburg Iron Works of Charlotte, a principal manufacturer of southern mining equipment. Again the Reed was somewhat typical of leading mines. In 1899 and 1900 young Armin Kelly and some old-timers got the mill running and tested some ore before suspending operations. In 1912 the Kellys deepened the engine shaft to 140 or 150 feet, the last underground work until state ownership. Gold production in Carolina sputtered along until 1915 but then dropped sharply and never recovered, despite renewed activity during the Great Depression. Even gold at $850 an ounce in 1981 could not revive the industry, because commercially recoverable gold simply was gone. There were few significant occurrences at Reed. Various people tested and explored the old mine. Panners worked the creek for decades, particularly in the 1930s. In 1999 the state historic site celebrated the bicentennial of the first documented discovery of gold in the United States. 21 The North Carolina Gold Rush North Carolina's gold rush began after German immigrant John Reed discovered in 1802 that the rock he'd used for a doorstop for three years was actually gold. Word got around, and soon farmers in the area began hunting in their creek beds for gold nuggets. Charlotte, a little town of some 700 citizens, grew into a booming mine town, filled with folks who hoped they could strike it rich during America’s first gold rush. The gold industry brought real change to the Piedmont. In 1837 Congress authorized building branches of the U.S. Mint in Charlotte, Dahlonega, Georgia and New Orleans. The Charlotte mint operated from 1838 through 1861. The total worth of the gold coins struck at the mint amounted to $5 million. Many of the mining engineers who worked in the Piedmont’s mining industry came from overseas. Some arrived from Latin America, where gold and silver had been mined for centuries. Others came from well-known mining areas in Europe. Cornish miners, German mining engineers, Italian workers, English investors -- they all came to the state to try their fortune. One observer claimed that over 13 languages were spoken on Charlotte's streets in the 1830s! Some Americans had mixed feelings about the foreigners flocking to the Piedmont. On the one hand, the immigrants possessed needed skills for the new industry. Many brought funds for investing in mining ventures and mining equipment. On the other hand, North Carolinians worried those foreign investors and miners might exploit the state’s good fortune for their own benefit. Some observers also noted that mining had all sorts of positive effects on the local economy. For one thing, gold made it possible to pay in hard currency instead of relying on paper money. This eliminated old-fashioned and inexact trading methods. For another, property values in the Piedmont jumped between 200 and 300 hundred percent after gold was discovered. Each $100 worth of gold produced was said to represent an additional $75 worth of foodstuff sold to the miners. 22 Back in Cabarrus County, John Reed made sure his farm would not become a big mining operation like the Rudisill and St. Catherine's mines in Charlotte. The first shaft dug underground at the Reed Gold Mine was opened in 1831, several years after miners in Charlotte had been pulling gold out of quartz veins in the earth. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, when miners at the Rudisill were using ore-crushing equipment that processed nearly 3,000 pounds of ore a day, miners at the Reed still relied on primitive methods of surface mining. Heavy machinery wasn't brought to the Reed until the 1850s -- well after John Reed's death in 1845. John Reed had plenty of chances to expand his mining operations. But he was strict: neither his partners nor his sons or sons-in-law were allowed to mine in any areas he cultivated. Apparently, the old farmer wanted to stay a farmer first, and be a miner second. Mining became the second largest occupation in the state - - after farming. Many farmers complained about the way mining tore up agricultural land, making it impossible for farmers to cultivate fields filled with pits and shafts. Reed apparently decided that his mine produced enough gold without hauling in heavy machinery. However small his mining operation may have seemed to outsiders, it appears that it was, for him at least, big enough. North Carolina produced at least 1.1 million ounces of gold with a value of approximately $25 million. The gold rush made Charlotte a financial center for the region in the 19th century, and for the country at the close of the twentieth. Charlotte’s two biggest banks; Bank of America and First Union, have their roots in gold rush history. 23 California gold may have eclipsed the gold rush in the Tarheel State. Still, North Carolina can always claim the bragging rights to the very first documented discovery of gold in the United States. 24 USES OF GOLD Gold has certain characteristics that throughout history have made it ideal for many uses. Some of these characteristics, or properties, are store of value, ductility and malleability, resistance to corrosion, electrical and thermal conductivity, and infrared reflectivity. Gold has a high store of value: It is the only substance that is accepted all over the world as a form of currency. Gold was used as money in China as early as 1091 B. C. Gold is ductile and malleable: It is the softest and easiest to shape of all metals. Because gold is ductile, (meaning it can be drawn or pulled out), one ounce can be pulled into a wire five miles long. Because gold is malleable, (meaning it can be hammered thin), one ounce can be hammered into a sheet one hundred feet square. This means gold is very useful for making jewelry, artwork, and even electronic components. Gold can even be made so thin that it is possible to see right through it. Gold is resistant to corrosion: It does not react with oxygen to form rust, so gold can be used in electronics and mechanical parts. Gold is an electrical and thermal conductor: Because it conducts electricity and heat better than other metals, gold is used in wiring and shielding for electronic equipment. Gold wires and circuitry can be used to carry electricity from one point to another, or gold shielding can be used to carry heat away from sensitive electronic parts. 25 Gold has reflective abilities: It can reflect heat, so gold is used in the shielding on spacecraft and satellites. The gold in the shields reflects the sun’s harmful infrared rays away from delicate machinery, preventing the machinery from over-heating. It is also used in the helmets of astronauts to reflect infrared rays from astronauts’ eyes. Because of the properties listed above, gold has a large number of common uses, including: Electronics and Mechanical Equipment: Gold is used in the electronic circuitry found in computers, telephones, televisions, VCRs, and spacecraft. It is also used in parts found in aircraft and automobile engines. Lasers and Optics: Gold can be found in the internal workings of some telescopes, copy machines, satellites, and security systems. Medicine and Health: Doctors and scientists are now experimenting in using gold in eye surgery, lasers for cancer treatment, thermometers, and genetic and biochemical research. Dentists have also used gold for many years in crowns, bridges, inlays, and dentures. 26 North Carolina Gold Rush: Information for Teachers Nugget 3: Gold History for Students This is an overview of North Carolina Gold written in short selections that are easier for students to read. America’s First Gold John Reed: Owner of America’s First Gold Mine The Discovery: How America’s First Gold was Found in 1799 The Price of Progress Foreigners in the Mines African Americans and the North Carolina Gold Rush The Bechtler Mint The Charlotte Mint The Kelly Family and Reed Gold Mine The Last Large Nugget Found at the Reed Matthias Barringer Goes Underground Squeezing Gold From a Rock Pete Nash: North Carolina’s Last Gold Prospector 27 America’s First Gold A child on a fishing trip went hunting for dinner and found gold instead. Conrad Reed, 12 year-old son of German immigrant John Reed, took a 17-pound rock home to his parents instead of fish. Many Cabarrus County residents know the amazing follow-up to the find: the Reed family didn’t know what their son had brought home, so they used the rock as a doorstop for three years. John Reed, Conrad’s father, first took the rock to William Atkinson, a Concord jeweler, but he couldn’t shed any light on the matter and the doorstop went back home and sat on the floor for awhile longer. Conrad’s father, John Reed, decided to take the rock with him on his annual shopping trip to Fayetteville. A jeweler there melted the rock down into a bar of almost pure gold, about nine inches long. He asked John Reed to name his price. John Reed named what he considered a big price: $3.50. That was serious money for a farmer in those days -- a week's worth of wages, in fact. But it turned out that Reed had sold the rock for less than one percent of its actual value. The rock was worth over $3,600 (in today's terms, around $58,000). How could John Reed have been so innocent of gold’s value? Reed himself was an unlearned man, who had lived a hard and hungry life as a child in Hessen Cassel, Germany. He was born April 14, 1759, as Johannes Ried and came to America as a young man. Reed, like many of his countrymen, was drafted into German forces lent to the British king, George III. These men were sent to America to fight against American revolutionaries. Reed deserted from his troops on June 21, 1792, near Savannah, Georgia. He made his way over the Georgia border, through South Carolina and some of North Carolina -- 28 all the way to the northeastern tip of what was then called Mecklenburg County. (John Reed’s home became part of newly established Cabarrus County in 1796.) How John Reed made it, no one knows. To run away from his troops was a dangerous decision: deserters were considered criminals. They were hunted and, if caught, punished severely. A whipping was the best a deserter could expect, a hanging the worst. But somehow John Reed must have traded in his German uniform or stayed out of sight of those loyal to the British crown during his long trek across the southeastern colonies. Somehow he must have discovered that other Germans were living in the area north and east of Charlotte. John Reed probably worked as a laborer on or around a farm owned by the Kisers, a German family that had come to North Carolina down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania. Soon after John arrived in the area, he married Sarah Kiser. John and Sarah had nine children. They lived a long life together. Their youngest child was born in 1803, shortly after Reed discovered he had gold on his land. Perhaps John Reed had always thought of his adopted country as a golden one. He must have been sure of it after he became the owner of America’s very first gold mine. America’s first gold rush had begun. 29 John Reed: Owner of America’s First Gold Mine John Reed was born April 14, 1759 as Johannes Ried in Hessen Cassel, Germany. He came to America as a mercenary. Many men from his homeland were drafted into German forces lent to the British king, George III. These men were trained as soldiers and sent to America to fight against the American revolutionaries. John Reed apparently had no heart for the fight, and he deserted from his troops on June 21, 1792, near Savannah, Georgia. He made his way through part of Georgia, all of South Carolina, and some of North Carolina – all the way to the northeastern tip of what was then called Mecklenburg County. John Reed’s new home became part of the newly established Cabarrus County in 1796. How John Reed made it, no one knows. To run away from one’s troops was dangerous: deserters were considered criminals. They were hunted and if caught, subject to harsh treatment. They were whipped – in some cases, even hanged. Somehow John Reed must have traded in his German uniform or stayed out of sight of those loyal to the British crown during his long trek across southeastern colonies. Somehow he must have known that Germans were living in the area north of Charlotte. John Reed probably worked as a laborer on or around a farm owned by the Kizers, a German family that had come to North Carolina down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania. Soon after John arrived in the area, he married Sarah Kizer. John and Sarah had nine children. Their youngest child was born in 1803, the year after the Reeds discovered they had gold on their land. Perhaps John Reed thought of his adopted country as a golden one when he was just a farmer. Perhaps he was sure of it after he became the owner of America’s very first gold mine. 30 The Discovery: How America’s First Gold was Found in 1799 According to the story, John Reed’s 12-year old son, Conrad, went bow-and-arrow-fishing one day down at the creek on his father’s farm. Supposedly the young boy noticed something shiny and yellow in the waters of Little Meadow Creek. Curiosity got the better of Conrad. He waded into the water and hauled out a 17-pound chunk of gold. Conrad and his family had never seen raw gold, and neither they nor a Concord jeweler by the name of William Atkinson understood the value of what Conrad had pulled from the creek bed. Conrad’s father, John Reed, decided to take the rock with him on his annual shopping trip to Fayetteville. A jeweler there melted the rock down into a bar about nine inches long of almost pure gold. He asked John Reed to name his price for the gold. John Reed asked what he considered a big price: $3.50. That was a big price for a farmer in those days – a week’s worth of wages in fact! It turned out that Reed had sold the rock for less than one percent of its actual value. The rock was worth over $3,600 (around $58,000 in today’s terms). The story goes that John Reed figured out that he’d been swindled and went back to the Fayetteville jeweler. According to stories handed down over the years, he got an additional $1,000 for his golden doorstop. 31 The Price of Progress: Is it too High? John Reed never allowed his farm to become a big mining operation like the Rudisill and St. Catherine’s mines in Charlotte. The first shaft dug underground at the Reed Gold Mine was opened in 1831, several years after miners in Charlotte had been following gold through quartz veins into the earth. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, when miners at the Rudisill used ore-crushing equipment that processed nearly 3,000 pounds of ore a day, many miners at the Reed still relied on primitive methods of surface mining. Heavy machinery wasn’t brought to the Reed until the 1850s, after John Reed’s death in 1845. John Reed had plenty of chances to expand his mining operations, though. But he was strict: neither his partners nor his sons and sons-in-law were allowed to mine in any areas where he cultivated crops. Apparently the old farmer wanted to stay a farmer first, and a miner second. In 1826, when Reed was 67 years old, he had an interesting, foreign visitor. Matthew Thomas, a mining engineer and speculator from Cornwall, England, offered Reed a ninety-nine year lease for gold mining activity – with a fair percentage of profits to go to the old German. Reed turned Thomas down. Mining became the second largest occupation in the state – after farming. Many farmers complained about the way mining tore up agricultural land, making it impossible for farmers to cultivate fields filled with pits and shafts. Reed apparently decided that his mine produced enough gold without hauling in heavy machinery. However small his mining operation may have seemed to outsiders, it appears that it was, for him at least, big enough. 32 Foreigners in the Mines North Carolina’s gold rush began after German immigrant John Reed discovered in 1802 that the rock he’d used for a doorstop for three years was actually gold. Word got around, and soon farmers in the area had begun hunting in their creek beds for gold nuggets. Charlotte, a little town of some 700, grew into a booming mine town, filled with folks who thought they had a chance of striking it rich during America’s very first gold rush. Many of the mining engineers who worked in the area came from overseas. Some came from Latin America, where gold and silver had been mined for centuries. Others came from well-known mining areas in Europe. Many Cornishmen, who had a wealth of experience in England’s tin mines, came to North Carolina to work in the gold fields. German mining engineers, Italian workers, English investors – they all came to the state to try their fortune. Some Americans had mixed feelings about the foreigners flocking to the Piedmont. On the one hand, the immigrants possessed needed skills for the new industry. Many brought funds for investing in mining; investors and miners might exploit the gold rush for their own benefit only. State residents suspected that North Carolina’s most beautiful and impressive nuggets would end up in European museums. They believed that foreigners would take their profits back to their own countries. Some observers noted that mining had all sorts of positive effects on the local economy. For one thing, gold made it possible to pay in hard currency (gold coin) instead of relying on old-fashioned and inexact trading methods. For another, property values in the Piedmont jumped between 200 and 300 percent after gold was discovered. Each $100 worth of gold produced was said to represent an additional $75 worth of foodstuff sold to the miners. Still, North Carolinians often found it hard to adjust to an influx of people speaking different languages and coming from different cultures. Hearing over 13 languages spoken on Charlotte’s streets in the 1830s must have been confusing for a person who spoke only one, no matter which language that happened to be! 33 African Americans and the North Carolina Gold Rush Slaves worked in North Carolina’s mines during America’s first gold rush. Peter, a slave owned by one of John Reed’s first partners, Rev. James Love, found the largest nugget ever documented at the Reed. Peter discovered the nugget in 1803, during the first real mining season on Reed’s land. The nugget weighed 28 pounds and was worth, in today’s terms, $131,264. Slaves who worked at gold mines generally labored during the off-seasons. They often had to do some of the most dangerous work. Gold mine operators who were after quick profits sometimes made slaves dig directly into hillsides without giving them the opportunity or time to make sure the roof was secure. The earth, according to one historian, “often gave way and crushed the workers.” But some slaves were able to use the mines to better purposes. A few were allowed to use some of the gold they found to buy their freedom. Slave miners also earned money for doing “extra work,” and they made up to $30 per month that way. Some used Sundays and holidays to prospect—and profit—on their own. Historians have discovered that slaves also used North Carolina’s mines as escape locations. One contemporary advertisement described a slave named Reuben and his wife Jinney, who were thought to be hiding in or around Smart’s Mine in Mecklenburg County. John K. Harrison of Mecklenburg claimed that his slave, missing in 1837, was “lurking about Reed’s Gold Mine.” North Carolina’s gold mines could mean almost anything to slaves laboring there: a chance to improve their circumstances, a chance to escape servitude, even, in some cases, a chance to buy their freedom. 34 The Bechtler Mint In the early 1800s, gold and silver money was hard to come by in North Carolina and other southern states. North Carolina was the country’s biggest gold producer until 1848, but the only official place to make coins was the federal mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. No local mint meant very few coins available locally, as well as a long and dangerous trip north for miners to sell their gold. A German immigrant named Christopher Bechtler soon helped provide a solution. Christopher Bechtler was born in the Grand Duchy of Baden in Germany around 1782. He came to America with his son Augustus and nephew Christopher in 1829, eventually settling in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Bechtler started out as a jeweler and watchmaker, but he began minting coins in 1831. The Bechtler mint made coins in three values--$5 (called a “half-eagle”), $2.50 (“quarter-eagle”), and the first American gold dollars. Christopher Bechtler also designed and made all of his coining equipment himself. He developed a reputation for honesty, and his coins were highly prized because of their accurate weight and gold content. Throughout the 1830s, North Carolina was trying hard to convince the federal government to build a branch of the federal mint in the South. The Charlotte branch mint opened in 1837, providing some competition for the Bechtler mint. However, the Bechtlers continued to be successful, and by 1840 they had coined over two million dollars in gold. Christopher Bechtler died in 1842, passing the business to his son, Augustus. When Augustus died in 1844, his cousin Christopher took over the mint and continued to make coins until 1852. Even after the Bechtler mint closed, Bechtler coins continued to circulate and were accepted as currency for many years. The Bechtler mint in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, was one of only a few private mints ever operated in the United States. 35 The Charlotte Mint In the early days of gold mining in America, the only place gold could be made into coins was at the federal mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Since the southern states were producing all the gold being coined, however, miners had to make a long trip north to sell their gold to the mint. No southern mint also meant no real standard form of money in the South. North Carolina began trying to convince the U.S. government to build a branch mint in Charlotte. In 1835, Congress passed a bill to establish branch mints in New Orleans, Louisiana, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dahlonega, Georgia. The Charlotte mint was the first of these southern branches to be constructed. Samuel McCombs, a businessman and mine owner in Charlotte, was appointed commissioner of the new mint. The building was designed by Philadelphia architect William Strickland, and built by Reuben Perry and Thomas Phiger’s construction company out of Raleigh. The Charlotte mint, located on West Trade Street, opened on December 4, 1837, with John H. Wheeler of Murfreesboro as president. The very first deposit received at the Charlotte branch mint was a gold bar worth $1,974.08, which belonged to Ervin & Elms a dry goods firm. The mint purchased gold from miners or mining companies, refined it (took out the impurities), and mixed the gold with other metals to make alloys. The alloyed gold was shaped into ingots, or small bars, and the ingots were rolled out and stamped into blank coins called planchets. The planchets were tested to be sure they were the correct weight, and then they were stamped with a pattern in a coining press and given a ridged edge. Coins minted in Charlotte had a “C” on the reverse of the coin, by the eagle’s foot and came in three denominations (amounts)—half-eagles ($5.00), quarter-eagles ($2.50), and dollars. For a fee, miners could also bring gold to the mint to be assayed—tested to find out the purity of the gold. In 1861 North Carolina entered the Confederacy and the new government took control of the Charlotte mint. The mint produced about a 1,000 $5.00 coins for the Confederacy (the last coins it 36 ever made), but the mint was closed in 1862 and used only as office space for the Confederate naval yard. The building was also used as a hospital during the Civil War. When the war ended in 1865, Federal troops arrived in Charlotte and took over the mint as their own headquarters. The Confederate War Department seal was later found in a vault at the mint. The Charlotte mint reopened in 1868, but only as an assay office. It never again produced coins, but the mint did buy local gold and made ingots to be sent to the mint in Philadelphia. The assay office was finally closed permanently in 1913. By that time, the Charlotte mint had produced $5,059,180 in gold coins and the assay office had done business valued at $10,163,660. The mint had even been used as temporary work space by Thomas Edison in 1901, when he came to North Carolina to experiment with extracting gold from rock using electromagnetics. The Charlotte mint sat empty until 1930, when it was scheduled to be destroyed. The efforts of Mary Myers Dwelle saved the building, and it was restored and moved to its present location on Randolph Road. The building now houses the Mint Museum of Art. Suggested Vocabulary Words to Accompany Article (words are denoted in bold in the article) refine alloy ingot denomination assay electromagnetic 37 The Kelly Family and Reed Gold Mine Oliver S. Kelly was born on December 23, 1824 in Green Township, Ohio. At the age of 28, Kelly left his Midwestern home and headed west, hoping like so many others to strike it rich in California’s gold fields. He learned plenty about mining, and became a prosperous businessman, but returned to Springfield, Ohio to start the O.S. Kelly Company and enter the political arena. He became a member of the Springfield City Council for six years and mayor for two. Oliver’s oldest son, O. Warren Kelly, was born in Springfield in 1851. When he was 18, Warren left for Europe to study German. He later entered into a partnership with his father in a Colorado silver smelting plant. In late 1894, Oliver and Warren Kelly, along with Dr. Justin Lisle, visited Reed Gold Mine, on a shopping expedition. All three were looking for a gold mine to buy, and buy they did. On January 10, 1895, they purchased Reed Gold Mine. On December 6, 1898, Warren ordered a ten-stamp mill to be constructed at the foot of Middle Hill near a deep part of Little Meadow Creek. The mill was probably delivered around January of 1899 and was in use by spring. First attempts to exploit the area were failures. In 1899, Warren bought Dr. Lisle’s share of the Reed and sent his eldest son, Armin, to be the next superintendent. Armin arrived in March of 1899, and began directing several underground mining ventures. He had discovered a small stringer vein above the 90-foot level of a shaft in an old stope. The ore in the area reportedly boasted an assay value of more than $20,000 per ton. But during the next 38 year, very little gold was produced at the Reed. Armin went back home to Springfield by 1900. Armin went back to the Reed for visits now and then, and found his father sinking Engine Shaft to a depth of about 150 feet. Warren wasn’t having any luck either, though, and Reed Gold mine officially closed down that year. Almost 23 years later, the Kelly family hired Frank Cox to reopen the mine and work several veins on the surface of Upper Hill. To no avail. Little was found and operations ceased once again. In 1935 the Kellys allowed anyone to pan freely along the creek, as long as any large nuggets were reported to the family and profits shared. In 1971, after owning the mine for three-quarters of a century, the Kelly family donated their historic mining acreage and sold the remaining portion of their property to the state of North Carolina. Reed Gold Mine became a state historic site in 1976, and continues to be the only underground gold mine open to the public in North Carolina. 39 The Last Large Nugget Found at the Reed During 1896, the Kelly family leased the rights to mine along Little Meadow Creek to four local residents— Jacob L. Shinn, Jesse Cox, his son A. Mack Cox, and Dr. James Robert Jerome. All four had other occupations and mined in their spare time, like many farmers had even at the height of the gold rush. One Thursday morning, on April 9, 1896, the four commenced digging in Dry Hollow just above Little Meadow Creek. Late in the morning, Jacob Shinn, who was digging at around three and a half feet below the surface, struck a large, heavy something. He took that something down to the creek to wash the dirt off, and discovered that he was not holding just a large rock in his hands, but a nugget of gold weighing nearly 23 pounds in Troy weight. The nugget was 11 inches in length and 13 1/2 inches in circumference. It contained approximately five pounds of quartz. Apparently, Jesse Cox shouted out with joy while Dr. Lisle was so astonished that he couldn’t breathe properly. He managed to regain his composure, however, and hitched up his surrey. The four miners headed to Georgeville to weigh the rock and spread the news: the “big one” had been found at the Reed... On the way, Jesse Cox shouted out his glad tidings and soon everyone who heard him was talking about the discovery. When the men passed by the Georgeville Academy, the principal overheard excited shouting. He declared, so the story goes, that the men who so rudely interrupted serious academic study either had been hitting the bottle or had struck gold. Hundreds of people hoping to see the nugget traveled to Georgeville, which was then a tiny village that sported little more than a store, a post office, a flour and corn mill, sawmill, and cotton gin. Within days Dr. Lisle received telegrams from as far away as Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York, asking if the nugget was for sale. But the nugget was taken to Concord first and later to the Charlotte assay offices to be displayed. Several casts were made of the nugget—one for the Smithsonian Museum. Finally, the nugget was ground up for its gold. The “Shinn nugget” was the last large nugget ever found at the Reed. At least, as far as we know! 40 Matthias Barringer Goes Underground In 1825, Matthias Barringer was working the creek on his farm, panning for gold. Along the lower part of the creek, he found many small gold nuggets, but as he followed the creek upstream there were no more gold nuggets. He realized that at some point the gold must have washed out of the rocks on the bank of the creek. As he walked along the stream, he spotted some quartz rock and broke it open with a pick. To his surprise, he found lots of gold in the quartz. With the help of partners and probably slaves, Matthias dug out this quartz and followed it deeper and deeper into the earth. Eventually, this hole would become a deep shaft with tunnels at different levels underground. Miners dug through the solid granite rock searching for more quartz. Not all the quartz had gold, but a lot of it did. Matthias Barringer became wealthy and many other gold mines started to look underground for gold in quartz. 41 Squeezing Gold from a Rock After Matthias Barringer realized that gold could be in quartz rock, a method had to be found to get the gold out of the rock. Pieces of rock that had large amounts of gold were easy, just keep smashing with a hammer until the quartz rock breaks up and pick out the gold. But what about those tiny specks of gold in the quartz? Was it possible to get more gold if you crushed more quartz? Gold miners in North Carolina already knew that gold is attracted to mercury (like iron is attracted to a magnet), so they needed a way to crush the quartz after it came out of the mine. The first invention was the arrastra, a platform of granite cobblestones that an ox or a horse could pull a large granite stone across. This “dragstone”, being larger and heavier than the quartz, would crush the quartz into a powder. Arrastras were slow and not very efficient. The miners then borrowed an ancient grinding stone idea, the Chilean Mill that originally was used to grind grain and crush olives in Biblical times. The Chilean Mills were made of granite were hard enough to crush the quartz. Mercury was added to the base stone and the upright wheel- 42 stones to grinding the ore. As the quartz rock was crushed, the mercury attracted the gold allowing much more gold to be recovered. The process was still too slow, so after the 1849 gold rush to California, miners invented the “modern” stamp mill. Large steam or water powered stamps, which were like giant hammers, would fall onto the ore, crushing it into powder. The cast iron stamps weighed over 700 pounds each. This noisy cast-iron machine worked much faster than the earlier stone crushing mills but actually left more gold behind in the powdered rock. 43 Pete Nash: North Carolina’s Last Gold Prospector? Most folks think gold mining is a thing of the past. But not Pete Nash. Pete Nash is the oldest gold miner in Cabarrus County—maybe in North Carolina. He’s been mining since he was ten years old, and working at the family-owned Snider Mine as a teenager. Nash can tell you stories about the days when gold mines were still open and operating, all right. He remembers seeing the last gold ingot poured at the famous Rudisill Mine in Charlotte back in the 1930s. Nash has visited all the mines in the area, including Gold Hill in Rowan County, the Coggins Mine in Montgomery County, and the Howie Mine in Waxhaw. At 83, Nash is still panning for gold as often as he can. If he feels well, he’ll be out every day the weather permits. “I do it for the excitement,” he says. “I know I’m going to find it. That yellow stuff attracts my attention.” Out at Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site, employees joke that Pete Nash can smell gold. Certainly he knows just where to find it. “I work in one spot for about ten minutes. If I don’t see some gold I move,” he explains. Nash and his family have provided Reed Gold Mine with a number of artifacts, including drills, windlasses, hydraulic winches, and even steam pumps. Pete’s brother Harold helped reconstruct Reed Gold Mine’s stamp mill, and the visitor center includes a 44 display that holds nuggets Pete found here in North Carolina. Pete still provides the souvenir gold nuggets that are for sale to the public at the site’s visitor center. Pete loves to show children how to pan out at Reed Gold Mine, and he’ll be found helping out the staff at every major event the site organizes. “You go out there and there are 100 kids panning,” he says. “You know how many will find gold? Lots of times they’ll dump it out, or won’t have any. I pick out two or three that I’m going to make sure they get gold. I put it in the pan. Lots of times I put a nice piece in there and you’d be surprised what excitement that generates. I have a good time with those kids.” At 83, Pete Nash is still looking for the big one. The largest nugget he ever found weighed a little over a pound. He found it in Stanly County. Ninety-five percent of the time he finds fine flakes of gold, he says, but he’s sure there’s plenty still out there. “I’m going to find it at Reed Gold Mine for the museum. I’m going to find it in Little Meadow Creek. I know it’s there. They didn’t get it all.” Lots of folks ask the old prospector where he pans. But he’s not revealing any secrets, he says. “There are several good spots,” he admits. “But I don’t tell nobody. I spit in my hand and pop it with my finger and say `that direction.’“ He chuckles. “That tells them a lot, doesn’t it?” 45 Mathematics Nugget 1: Expanded Notation and Written Numerals This activity has students practice expanded notation and written numerals by rewriting numerals in a paragraph. Expanded Notation and Written Numerals 46 Expanded Notation and Written Numerals Change the numerals into expanded notation: 359 = __________ + ___________ + ____________ 2,984 = _________ + __________ + ___________ + __________ 857,092 = ________ + _________ + __________ + _________ + ________ + ________ Spell out the numerals. Use one letter in each space. 12 = ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ 37 = ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ - ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ 249 = ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Directions: Change the numbers in the following story into expanded notation or spell out the numbers. Use one letter in each space when spelling out the numerals. According to the story, in 1799 (______ + _______ + ________ + ________) John Reed’s 12 (__________ + ___________) year-old son, Conrad, went bow-and-arrow fishing 1 (___ ___ ___) day down at the creek on his father’s farm. The young boy saw something shiny and yellow in the waters of Little Meadow Creek. He waded into the water and hauled out a 17 (_______________ + ____________) pound chunk of gold. The family used it as doorstop for 3 (___ ___ ___ ___ ___) years. John Reed sold it for $3.50 (____ ____ ____ ____ ____ dollars and ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ cents) but the gold rock was worth a lot more. It was worth $3,600 ($ __________ + _________). Today it would be worth about $58,000 (_________ + _________) . 47 Teacher's Key Expanded Notation and Written Numerals Change the numerals into expanded notation: 359 = 300+ 50+ 9 2,984 = 2000 + 900 + 80 + 4 857,092 = 800,000 + 50,000 + 7,000 + 90 +2 Spell out the numerals. 12 = TWELVE 37 = THIRTY-SEVEN 249 = TWO HUNDRED FORTY-NINE Directions: Change the numbers in the following story into expanded notation or spell out the numbers. According to the story, in 1799 (1000 + 700 + 90 + 9) John Reed’s 12 (10 + 2) year-old son, Conrad, went bow-and-arrow fishing one (ONE) day down at the creek on his father’s farm. The young boy saw something shiny and yellow in the waters of Little Meadow Creek. He waded into the water and hauled out a 17 (10 + 7) pound chunk of gold. The family used the rock as doorstop for 3 (THREE) years. John Reed sold it for $3.50 ($ three dollars and fifty cents) but the gold rock was worth a lot more. It was worth $3,600 ($ 3,000 + 600). Today it would be worth about $58,000 (50,000 + 8,000). 48 Mathematics Nugget 2: Using Graphs and Charts This lesson asks students to complete a chart, create a bar graph, and interpret information. Using Graphs and Charts Price of Gold 49 Using Graphs and Charts Reed Gold Mine Adit Information Adit/Crosscut Name Approximate Length Main Rocks Approximate Year Opened Linker Morgan Tunnel #3 Saw Mill The Reed Gold Mine has a series of adits, or horizontal tunnels. (Shafts are vertical tunnels.) The four main adits are Linker, Morgan, Tunnel #3, and Sawmill. The approximate lengths and approximate years opened are: Linker, 150 feet, 1833; Morgan, 85 feet, 1840; Tunnel #3, 75 feet, 1880; and Sawmill, 60 feet, 1895. Linker had 40% greenstone, 30% argilite, and 30 % quartz. Morgan had 70% greenstone, and 30 % quartz. Tunnel #3 had 50% greenstone, 30% argilite, and 20 % quartz. Sawmill had 20% greenstone, and 80% argilite. 1. Complete the chart above using the information in the paragraph above. 2. Milky quartz is the stone in which gold is found. Which of the adits has quartz? 3. Using the chart from problem 1, make a bar graph showing the lengths of the adits/crosscuts. Use a sheet of paper to make the graph. 50 Use the graph you made to answer these questions: 4. Which adit or crosscut is the longest? 5. Which adit or crosscut is the shortest? 6. Using the information on the rock types present, why was the shortest adit not expanded? 7. Why do you think Linker Adit is the longest? Excavation Times Kind of Rock Time to Excavate per inch Greenstone 45 minutes Quartz 30 minutes Argilite 10 minutes 8. Tunnel # 3 consists of about 23 feet of argilite, 15 feet of quartz, and about 36 feet of greenstone. Using the chart above, how long would it take to dig Tunnel # 3? (Hints: 1 foot equals 12 inches. Then find the length of time it would take to dig each kind of rock.) 9. If Tunnel # 3 had 2 more feet of greenstone, how much longer would it take to complete the shaft? 10. Using the information from the table above, create your own word problem and answers. 51 Teacher's Key Using Graphs and Charts Reed Gold Mine Adit Information Adit/Crosscut Name Approximate Length Main Rocks Approximate Year Opened Linker 150 feet Greenstone (40%), Argilite (30%), Quartz (30%) 1833 Morgan 85 feet Greenstone (70%), Quartz (30%) 1840 Tunnel #3 75 feet Greenstone (50%), Argilite (30%), Quartz (20%) 1880 Sawmill 60 feet Argilite (80%), Greenstone (20%) * 1895 * Sawmill Adit does not have any quartz. The Reed Good Mine has a series of adits or horizontal tunnels. (Shafts are vertical tunnels.) The four main adits are Linker, Morgan, Tunnel #3, and Sawmill. The approximate lengths and approximate years opened are Linker, 150 feet, 1833; Morgan, 85 feet, 1840; Tunnel #3, 75 feet, 1880; and Sawmill, 60 feet, 1895. Linker had 40% greenstone, 30% argilite, and 30 % quartz. Morgan had 70% greenstone, and 30 % quartz. Tunnel #3 had 50% greenstone, 30% argilite, and 20 % quartz. Sawmill had 20% greenstone, and 80% argilite. 1. Complete the chart using the above information. (Answers are in the chart.) 2. Milky quartz is the stone in which gold is found. Which of the adits has quartz? (Linker, Morgan, Tunnel #3) 52 Teacher's Key Using Graphs and Charts 3. Using the data from above, make a bar graph showing the lengths of the adits/crosscuts. Adit/Crosscut Length 150 85 75 60 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 Linker Morgan Tunnel #3 Saw Mill Adit Length 4. Which adit or crosscut is the longest? (Linker) 5. Which adit or crosscut is the shortest? (Sawmill) 6. Using the information on the rock types present, why was the shortest adit not expanded? (No quartz was found after 60 feet, therefore there was no chance of finding gold in that section.) 7. Why do you think Linker Adit is the longest? (Possible answers: The adit had to be long to reach the veins of quartz. It was the first adit mined, so they thought there could be more gold if they continued. The other adits and crosscuts were so deep they were too far below the water table for the water to be safely removed and Linker was intended to help with drainage.) 53 Teacher's Key Using Graphs and Charts Excavation Times Kind of Rock Time to Excavate per inch Greenstone 45 minutes Quartz 30 minutes Argilite 10 minutes 8. Tunnel # 3 consists of about 23 feet of argilite, 15 feet of quartz, and about 36 feet of greenstone. Using the chart above, how long would it take to dig Tunnel # 3? (Hints: 1 foot equals 12 inches. Then find the length of time it would take to dig each kind of rock.) Argilite: 23 x 12 = 276 inches; 276 x 10 = 2760 minutes; 2760 minutes = 46 hours Quartz: 15 x 12 = 180 inches; 180 x 30 = 5400 minutes; 5400 minutes = 90 hours Greenstone: 36 x 12 =432 inches; 432 x 45 =19,440 minutes; 19,440 minutes = 324 hours 9. If Tunnel # 3 had 2 more feet of greenstone, how much longer would it take to complete the shaft? 2 x 12 = 24 inches; 24 x 45 = 1080 minutes; 1080 minutes = 18 hours 10. Using the information from the table above, create your own word problem and answers. 54 Price of Gold Average Annual Price of Gold (US Dollars - Actual Terms) Year Average Price per Ounce Low High Difference Between Low and High Prices 1998 $ 294.09 $ 173.40 $ 313.15 1997 $ 331.29 $ 293.00 $ 367.80 1996 $ 387.87 $ 367.40 $ 416.25 1995 $ 384.05 $ 372.45 $ 395.55 1994 $ 384.15 $ 369.65 $ 397.50 1993 $ 359.82 $ 326.10 $ 406.70 1992 $ 343.95 $ 330.20 $ 359.60 1991 $ 362.26 $ 344.25 $ 403.70 1990 $ 383.59 $ 345.85 $ 421.40 1989 $ 380.79 $ 355.75 $ 417.15 1988 $ 436.00 $ 389.05 $ 485.30 1987 $ 446.07 $ 390.00 $ 502.75 1986 $ 367.94 $ 326.00 $ 442.75 1985 $ 317.27 $ 284.25 $ 340.90 1984 $ 360.36 $ 303.25 $ 406.85 1983 $ 424.12 $ 374.25 $ 511.50 1982 $ 375.90 $ 296.75 $ 488.50 1981 $ 459.75 $ 391.25 $ 599.25 1980 $ 612.74 $ 474.00 $ 850.00 1979 $ 306.67 $ 216.55 $ 524.00 1978 $ 193.24 $ 166.30 $ 243.65 1977 $ 147.72 $ 129.40 $ 168.15 1976 $ 124.82 $ 103.50 $ 140.35 1975 $ 161.03 $ 128.75 $ 186.25 Complete the chart. Then use the chart above to answer these questions: 1. In which year was there the biggest difference in the high and low prices? What was the difference? 2. In which year was there the smallest difference in the high and low prices? What was the difference? 3. In how many years was the average price between $300 and $399? 55 4. List the top 5 years for the highest average price. (In order from highest) 5. Using the answers from question 4, which years are consecutive? 6. If you had bought 1 ounce of gold in 1975, in what year would it have had its highest value? (Hint: Look at the high price column.) 7. Use the average price on the chart to determine how much each nugget would be worth for the years given and then the difference in the prices: a) 3 ounce nugget in 1985: in 1995: difference: b) 5 ounce nugget in 1975: in 1983: difference: c) 7 ounce nugget in 1977: in 1980: difference: * Challenges (Remember to change ounces into pounds. Precious metals such as gold are measured in troy units. 12 ounces troy are in one pound troy.) d) 1 pound 3 ounce nugget in 1996: and in 1981 difference: e) 4 pound 6 ounce nugget in 1987: and in 1986: difference: f) Conrad Reed's nugget was valued at about $3,600 for approximately 17 pounds of gold. How much did it count per ounce? 56 TEACHER'S KEY Price of Gold Average Annual Price of Gold (US Dollars - Actual Terms) Year Average Price per Ounce Low High Difference Between Low and High Prices 1998 $ 294.09 $ 173.40 $ 313.15 $141.90 1997 $ 331.29 $ 293.00 $ 367.80 $74.80 1996 $ 387.87 $ 367.40 $ 416.25 $48.85 1995 $ 384.05 $ 372.45 $ 395.55 $23.10 1994 $ 384.15 $ 369.65 $ 397.50 $27.85 1993 $ 359.82 $ 326.10 $ 406.70 $80.70 1992 $ 343.95 $ 330.20 $ 359.60 $29.40 1991 $ 362.26 $ 344.25 $ 403.70 $59.20 1990 $ 383.59 $ 345.85 $ 421.40 $75.55 1989 $ 380.79 $ 355.75 $ 417.15 $61.40 1988 $ 436.00 $ 389.05 $ 485.30 $96.25 1987 $ 446.07 $ 390.00 $ 502.75 $112.75 1986 $ 367.94 $ 326.00 $ 442.75 $116.75 1985 $ 317.27 $ 284.25 $ 340.90 $65.65 1984 $ 360.36 $ 303.25 $ 406.85 $103.35 1983 $ 424.12 $ 374.25 $ 511.50 $137.00 1982 $ 375.90 $ 296.75 $ 488.50 $191.75 1981 $ 459.75 $ 391.25 $ 599.25 $208.00 1980 $ 612.74 $ 474.00 $ 850.00 $376.00 1979 $ 306.67 $ 216.55 $ 524.00 $307.45 1978 $ 193.24 $ 166.30 $ 243.65 $77.35 1977 $ 147.72 $ 129.40 $ 168.15 $38.75 1976 $ 124.82 $ 103.50 $ 140.35 $36.85 1975 $ 161.03 $ 128.75 $ 186.25 $57.75 Complete the chart. Then use the chart above to answer these questions: 1. In which year was there the biggest difference in the high and low prices? What was the difference? 1980; $376.00 2. In which year was there the smallest difference in the high and low prices? What was the difference? 1995; $23.10 3. In how many years was the average price between $300 and $399? 14 57 4. List the top 5 years for the highest average price. (In order from highest) 1980 ($612.74), 1981 ($459.75), 1987 ($446.07), 1988 ($436.00), 1983 ($424.12) 5. Using the answers from question 4, which years are consecutive? 1980-1981, 1987-1988 6. If you had bought 1 ounce of gold in 1975, in what year would it have had its highest value? (Hint: Look at the high price column.) 1980 7. Use the average price on the chart to determine how much each nugget would be worth for the years given and then the difference in the prices: a) 3-ounce nugget in 1985: $951.81 in 1995: $1152.15 difference: $200.34 b) 5 ounce nugget in 1975: $805.15 in 1983: $2,120.60 difference: $1315.45 c) 7 ounce nugget in 1977: $1034.04 in 1980: $4289.18 difference: $3255.14 * Challenges (Remember to change ounces into pounds. Precious metals such as gold are measured in troy units. 12 ounces troy are in one pound troy.) d) 1 pound 3 ounce nugget in 1996: 12 oz. + 3 oz. = 15oz x $387.87 = $5,818.05 in 1981: 15 oz. x $459.75 = $6,896.25 difference: $1,078.20 e) 4 pound 6 ounce nugget in 1987: 12oz x 4 + 6oz = 54 oz. x $446.07 = $24,087.78 in 1986: 54oz. x $367.94 = $19,868.76 difference: $4,219,02 f) Conrad Reed’s nugget was valued at about $3,600 for approximately 17 pounds of gold. How much did it count per ounce? 17 pounds = 204 oz. $3,600/204 = $17.65 (rounded to the nearest cent) Some additional information: In 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt banned the export of gold, halted the conversion of dollar bills into gold, ordered U. S. citizens to hand in all the gold they possessed, and then established a daily price for gold. In 1934 the daily price was fixed at $35 per ounce. On March 15, 1968, the central bank gave up fixed pricing for gold (then still at $35 per ounce), and let it free float. On December 31, 1974, the US government ended the ban on individual ownership of gold. Since then the prices have risen and fallen dramatically. It will be important to explain to the students the difference in the standard measurements we use and the troy system. 12 troy ounces = 1 pound rather than the standard 16 oz. = 1 lb. 58 Mathematics Nugget 3: Stem and Leaf Graphs Students learn to create and use stem and leaf graphs to solve word problems. Stem and Leaf Graphs with Word Problems 59 Stem and Leaf Graphs with Word Problems There have been a number of large nuggets found at and around Reed Gold Mine. The largest have weighed 28, 23, 17, 13, 10, and 7 pounds troy. 1. Troy pounds have 12 ounces (rather than 16 ounces). Convert the nugget weights given above into troy ounces. 2. Create a stem and leaf plot to show the weight using troy ounces for the larger nuggets of gold found in the Reed Gold Mine area. _______________________________ Title STEM / Leaf 3. Create a stem and leaf plot to show the weight using troy pounds for the larger nuggets of gold found in the Reed Gold Mine area. _______________________________ Title STEM / Leaf 4. Which is greater, the number of nuggets that weigh more than 20 pounds troy or between 10 and 20 pounds troy? 5. How many nuggets weigh between 15 to 20 pounds troy? 6. How many nuggets weigh between 10 pounds troy and 15 pounds troy? 7. How many nuggets weigh between 1 to 19 pounds troy? 60 8. What if you wanted to show the data about gold nuggets in a bar graph? From the stem-and-leaf pot, how can you tell which bar would be the longest? 9. Using the information in the stem-and-leaf plot, create a bar graph that represents the information given. 10. If the 17-pound troy nugget that Conrad Reed found in 1799 were divided evenly between 3 people, how many pounds would each person get? (Hint: Look at the information in troy ounces.) 11. If that nugget were divided between 4 people, how many pounds would each person get? 12. Gold is measured in troy ounces and pounds. There are 12 ounces troy in one pound troy. If a miner found a 3-pound nugget, how many ounces would the nugget be? 13. How many ounces troy would be in a 5-pound nugget? 14. If the price for one ounce of gold were $214, how much would the 5 largest nuggets be worth? 61 15. If you went to Reed Gold Mine, you could pan for gold. If you found a nugget that weighs 3 ounces, how much would it be worth if the price per ounce were $232? 16. If a friend found a nugget weighing 2 ounces and the price per ounce was $350, how much would it be worth? 17. What is the difference in the value of the nuggets in questions 14 and 15? 18. Using the information in this lesson, create three problems. Be sure to include your answers. 62 TEACHER KEY Stem an d Leaf Gr aphs with Wo r d Pr o blem s There have been a number of large nuggets found at and around Reed Gold Mine. The largest have weighed: 28, 23, 17, 13, 10, 7 pounds troy. 1. Troy pounds have 12 ounces (rather than 16 ounces). Convert the nugget weights given above into troy ounces. 28 = 336 23 = 276 17 = 204 13 = 156 10 = 120 7 = 84 2. Create a stem and leaf plot to show the weight using troy ounces for the larger nuggets of gold found in the Reed Gold Mine area. _____(Accept Reasonable Answers)_____ Title STEM / Leaf 8/4 12/0 15/6 20/4 27/6 33/6 3. Create a stem and leaf plot to show the weight using troy pounds for the larger nuggets of gold found in the Reed Gold Mine area. _____(Accept Reasonable Answers)_____ Title STEM / Leaf 0/7 1/3, 7, 0 2/3, 8 4. Which is greater, the number of nuggets that weigh more than 20 pounds troy or between 10 and 20 pounds troy? (10-20) 5. How many nuggets weigh between 15 to 20 pounds troy? (1) 6. How many nuggets weigh between 10 pounds troy and 15 pounds troy? (2) 7. How many nuggets weigh between 1 to 19 pounds troy? (4) 8. What if you wanted to show the data about gold nuggets in a bar graph? From the stem-and-leaf plot, can you tell which bar would be the longest? (Yes – the 28-pound 63 troy nugget would be longest because it is the heaviest.) 9. Using the information in the stem-and-leaf plot in question 3, create a bar graph that represents the information given. Accept any resonable title 7 13 17 10 23 28 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nuggets Weight in Troy Pounds 10. If the 17-pound troy nugget that Conrad Reed found in 1799 were divided evenly between 3 people, how many pounds would each person get? (Hint: look at the information in troy ounces.) (17 pounds troy = 204 ounces troy 204 / 3 = 68 ounces troy each) (68/12 = 5.67 troy pounds each) 11. If that nugget were divided between 4 people how many pounds would each person get? (17 pounds troy = 204 ounces troy 204 / 4 = 51 ounces troy each) (51/12 = 4.25 troy pounds each) 12. Gold is measured in troy ounces and pounds. There are 12 ounces troy in one pound troy. If a miner found a 3-pound nugget, how many ounces would the nugget be? (36 ounces troy) 13. How many ounces troy would be in a 5-pound nugget? (60) 64 14. If the price for one ounce of gold were $214, how much would the 5 largest nuggets be worth? 28 pounds troy = 336 ounces troy x $214 = $71,904 23 pounds troy = 276 ounces troy x $214 = $59,064 17 pounds troy = 204 ounces troy x $214 = $43,656 13 pounds troy = 156 ounces troy x $214 = $33,384 10 pounds troy = 120 ounces troy x $214 = $25,680 15. If you went to Reed Gold Mine, you could pan for gold. If you found a nugget that weighs 3 ounces, how much would it be worth if the price per ounce were $232? (3 x $232 = $696) 16. If a friend found a nugget weighing 2 ounces and the price per ounce was $350. How much would it be worth? (2 x $350 = $700) 17. What is the difference in the value of the nuggets in questions 14 and 15? ($4.00) 18. Using the information in this lesson, create 3 problems. Be sure to include your answers. 65 Mathematics Nugget4: Graphing These three exercises are for students to practice graphing skills. The pictures created are of tools that have been used at Reed Gold Mine. Cornish Kibble Cat's Head Mallet Boring Hammer 66 A Cornish Kibble was an ore bucket used to carry the gold out of the mine. Connect the ordered pairs inside each set of brackets to see what it looked like. <(8,0) (12,0) (15,3) (15,11) (14,12) (6,12) (5,11) (5,3) (8,0)> <(6,12) (6,16) (9,19) (11,19) (14,16) (14,12)> <(5,11) (15,11)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 67 Answer Key A Cornish Kibble was an ore bucket used to carry the gold out of the mine. Connect the ordered pairs inside each set of brackets to see what it looked like. <(8,0) (12,0) (15,3) (15,11) (14,12) (6,12) (5,11) (5,3) (8,0)> <(6,12) (6,16) (9,19) (11,19) (14,16) (14,12)> <(5,11) (15,11)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 68 A Cat’s Head Mallet is a large hammer-like tool used at the Reed Gold Mine. To see what it looked like, connect the ordered pairs inside each set of brackets. <(10,2) (12,2) (12,14) (13,14) (13,16) (16,16) (16,19) (6,19) (6,16) (9,16) (9,14) (10,14) (10,2)> <(6,17) (11,16) (16,17)> <(6,17) (11,19) (16,18)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 69 Answer Key A Cat’s Head Mallet <(10,2) (12,2) (12,14) (13,14) (13,16) (16,16) (16,19) (6,19) (6,16) (9,16) (9,14) (10,14) (10,2)> <(6,17) (11,16) (16,17)> <(6,17) (11,19) (16,18)> 22 21 20 19 18 is a large hammer-like tool used at the Reed Gold Mine. To see what it looked like, connect the ordered pairs inside each set of brackets. 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 70 A Boring Hammer was a hammer-like tool used at the Reed Gold Mine. Connect the ordered pairs in the brackets to see what it looked like. <(2,5) (3,8) (4,10) (3,10) (2,8) (1,5) (2,2) (3,0) (4,0) (3,2) (2,5) <(2,6) (12,6) (12,4) (2,4)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 71 A Boring Hammer was a hammer-like tool used at the Reed Gold Mine. Connect the ordered pairs in the brackets to see what it looked like. <(2,5) (3,8) (4,10) (3,10) (2,8) (1,5) (2,2) (3,0) (4,0) (3,2) (2,5) <(2,6) (12,6) (12,4) (2,4)> 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 11 10 7 4 3 2 0 1 3 4 5 8 9 11 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 13 12 9 8 6 5 1 2 6 7 10 12 14 21 72 Mathematics Nugget 5: Basic Computation This activity has students practice basic computations. It is an optional set of practice sheets designed for students who need additional practice in this area. Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division 73 Directions: Some students went panning for gold. Each person found 2 gold nuggets. Solve the addition problems to see how much each student found. 23 35 36 370 +12 +31 +42 +123 +370 509 385 281 400 +813 +705 +587 668 711 451 341 +321 +383 +106 +857 74 Directions: Some students went panning for gold. Each person found 2 gold nuggets. Solve the addition problems to see how much each student found. 23 35 36 31 370 +12 + +42 +123 35 66 78 493 509 385 281 400 +370 +813 +705 +587 879 1198 986 987 668 711 451 341 +321 +383 +106 +857 989 1094 557 1198 75 Directions: Some 4th grade students found some gold in Little Meadow Creek. They sold the gold and used the money to buy some things. Do the subtraction problems to see how much they have left. 23 35 42 370 -12 -31 -36 -123 509 885 781 500 -370 -313 -205 -487 668 711 451 841 -321 -383 -106 -357 What would you buy if you found a gold nugget? ___________________ 76 Directions: Some 4th grade students found some gold in Little Meadow Creek. They sold the gold and used the money to buy some things. Do the subtraction problems to see how much they have left. 23 35 42 370 247 -12 -31 -36 -123 11 4 6 509 885 781 500 -370 -313 -205 -487 139 572 576 13 668 711 451 841 -321 -383 -106 -357 347 328 345 484 What would you buy if you found a gold nugget? (answers vary) 77 3 x 6 = 4 x 9 = 2 x 6 = 7 x 8 = 7 x 9 = 4 x 5 = 8 x 3 = 3 x 3 = Directions: Several 4th grade students decided to work together to find gold nuggets. Do the multiplication to see how many gold nuggets each group found. 8 x 2 = 8 x 5 = 7 x 6 = 8 x 9 = 78 Directions: Several 4th grade students decided to work together to find gold nuggets. Do the multiplication to see how many gold nuggets each group found. 3 x 6 = 18 4 x 9 =36 8 x 3 = 24 3 x 3 = 8 x 2 = 16 8 x 5 = 40 2 x 6 = 12 7 x 8 = 56 7 x 6 = 42 8 x 9 = 72 7 x 9 = 63 4 x 5 = 20 9 79 42 7 = 9 3 = 45 5 = 40 5 = 56 7 = 16 2 = Directions: The same students decided to divide the nuggets evenly. Do the division problems to see how many nuggets each student has. 12 2 = 18 6 = 25 5 = 8 8 = 63 7 = 24 8 = 80 42 7 = 6 9 3 = 12 2 = 6 18 6 = 3 25 5 = 8 8 = 63 7 = 8 = 3 Directions: The same students decided to divide the nuggets evenly. Do the division problems to see how many nuggets each student has. 3 45 5 = 9 40 5 = 8 5 1 9 24 56 7 = 8 16 2 = 8 81 Mathematics Nugget 6: Math Games The first activity has students practice using calculators. Each computation spells a word which answers a question related to gold. In the second game, students use multiplication to crack the code. Calculator Math Secret Code 82 Calculator Math Directions: Complete each problem using a calculator, then invert the calculator to read the answer to each riddle. 1. What was the size of Conrad Reed's nugget? 147 +471 2. + In 1802, Reed did this with his doorstop. 2486 5249 3. What does John Reed do when he finds 2789.12 out the nugget's true value? +3016.22 4. The expression "It ain't worth a ________ 1102 of beans" might trace back to the tale of x 7 John's wife, Sally, after he used his money to buy her coffee beans and a new dress. 5. After Reed discovered he had been cheated, 750386 he settled with his ______________ . -214879 83 Calculator Math 1. Directions: Complete each problem using a calculator, then invert the calculator to read the answer to each riddle. What was the size of Conrad Reeds nugget? 147 +471 BIG 2. In 1802, Reed did this with his doorstop. 2486 +5249 SELL 3. What does John Reed do when he finds 2789.12 out the nugget's true value. +3016.22 HE SOBS 4. The expression "It ain't worth a ________ 1102 of beans" might trace back to the tale of x 7 HILL John's wife, Sally, after he used his money to buy her coffee beans and a new dress. 5. After Reed discovered he had been cheated 750386 he settled with his ______________ . -214879 LOSSES 84 Secret Code Directions: Use your multiplication facts to complete these problems. Then on the line below the problem, decode the secret fact about the Reed Gold Mine. A 18 B 24 C 32 D 12 E 20 F 49 G 40 H 9 I 36 J 8 K 16 L 30 M 26 N 35 O 27 P 48 R 63 S 81 T 64 U 72 V 84 4 12 x9 x7 5 x7 6 x3 9 x9 5 x6 2 x9 5 x4 1804, 7 x5 x6 13 10 x2 x8 4 x5 x2 9 x7 3 x2 3 x4 6 8 x8 10 7 x7 9 x3 8 x9 5 x7 4 x3 x8 3 x2 8 x3 10 8 x3 4 x9 5 x4 4 x5 9 x9 8 x8 5 x7 9 x8 10 x4 20 x2 4 x5 8 x8 x8 10 at Reed Gold Mine. 85 Secret Code Directions: Use your multiplication facts to complete these problems. Then on the line below the problem, decode the secret fact about the Reed Gold Mine. A 18 B 24 C 32 D 12 E 20 F 49 G 40 H 9 I 36 J 8 K 16 L 30 M 26 N 35 O 27 P 48 R 63 S 81 T 64 U 72 V 84 4 x9 5 x7 6 x3 9 x9 5 x6 2 x9 12 x7 5 x4 36 I 35 1804, 18 A 81 S 30 L 18 A 84 V 20 N E 7 x5 x6 13 x2 10 x2 3 x4 6 x8 4 8 x8 10 x2 9 x7 35 N 18 A 26 M 20 12 D 48 P 20 E 64 T 20 E 63 R 3 x5 E 7 x7 x3 8 x9 5 x7 4 x3 x8 3 x3 10 x2 49 F 27 O 72 U 35 N 12 D 64 T 9 H 20 E 9 8 8 x3 4 x9 5 x8 10 x4 4 x5 9 x9 8 x8 5 x7 9 x8 10 x4 20 x2 4 x5 8 24 B 36 I 40 G G 20 E 81 S 64 T 35 N 72 U 40 G 40 G 20 E 64 T x8 40 at Reed Gold Mine. 86 Mathematics Nugget 7: Math Board Games The first board game has students create equations that equal a number specified by a roll of dice. In the second, students practice basic computation. Pile on the Nuggets Race to the Gold 87 Pile on the Nuggets Materials: One Game Board Pair of Dice Two Different Color Markers Roll the dice. Use any operation with the two numbers you rolled to match a number from your nugget piles. Then color in that number. The first one with all the nuggets colored wins. (Example: dice roll to 2 and 3; 2+3=5 color in five OR 2x3=6 color in 6) 88 17 - 9 4 x 9 16- 4 x 3 Go Back 3 64 8 7 + 7 he pot of gold. The Roll player with the most gold chips at the end is the winner. Again Go to Start 728 3 x 7 x 4 12 – 7 16 - 9 Materials: Gameboard Markers Cut out gold pieces or you may use counters, chips, pennies, etc. 8X7 7 x 0 x 9 9 x 9 6 + 13 Directions: Player One rolls the die and moves forward the number of spaces. If a math problem appears in the coin, they must answer it correctly to receive a gold pot. Play continues with Player Two. If a player lands on a square, follow the directions in that square. 4 + 9 8 + 3 7 x 9 70+9 Lose a Gold Chip Take a Chip from Someone Go Ahead 4 100X40 6X13 Go Ahead 4 Lose 2 Gold Chips Lose a Gold Chip Lose 2 Gold Chips Race to the Gold Object: Everyone must reach t Start 89 90 Social Studies Nugget 1: Life of John Reed This is an overview of John Reed’s life from birth to death. Reading Section Activities 91 The Life of John Reed Johannes Ried, better known as John Reed, is a mysterious and interesting character. Because there are not many records concerning his background, there are lots of uncertainties regarding his life. However, church records, military records, and county court documents do tell us much about his life. According to a military record, Johannes Ried was originally from a small, poor town in Germany called Appenfeld. However, Raboldshausen is most commonly referred to as the village of his birth. A church record confirms the date as April 14, 1759. Johannes was born as an illegitimate child (born of parents who were not married) to Anna Elisabeth Ried (mother) and Johann Jakob Helmerich (father). Eventually, Anna married Adam Henrich Hahn who became Johannes’s stepfather. Once he began living in America, Johannes Ried took the Anglicized name of John Reed. As John grew older, he became involved in the military. He served in Company 2 of the Garrison Regiment von Wissenbach that was part of the Hessian Militia. It is believed that Reed arrived in America as a replacement recruit. He was part of the patrols that performed military examinations and protected missions that provided food for troops and livestock maintained inside the British lines. According to military records, Reed deserted his post on June 21, 1782, somewhere outside of Savannah, Georgia. This was a dangerous feat because a group known as the Tory Militia, including Native Americans and African Americans, conducted search parties looking for deserters. When found, they could return to their post where they were usually punished severely for deserting or, if they were not willing to return, they were killed and their scalps were taken back to the military leaders. Luckily for Reed, however, it is believed that some individual Salzburgers 92 helped their fellow nationals who spoke German escape across the Savannah River into the backwoods of South Carolina. From there, he eventually made his way to the North Carolina area, but it is not known whether he traveled alone or with someone. In the fall of 1782, it is believed that John Reed married Sarah “Sally” Kiser. They later had nine children including Henry (1783), Frances (1785), Conrad (1787), John Jr. (1790), George (1792), Elizabeth (1794), Catherine (1797), Mary “Polly” (1800), and Martha “Patsy” (1803). These children then had their own children, totaling 68 grandchildren for John and Sarah Reed. Reed and his family lived in “Upper” Mecklenburg County, which is in present-day Cabarrus County. They lived on Mansion Hill, which is located about a mile south of the modern Reed Gold Mine visitor center. Reed was a farmer who became a very successful businessman later. However, he is thought to have been illiterate (could not read or write) because he always signed his deeds during land transactions with an X. Schools were not available near the Reed family, so it is not known how educated his children were either. The males, who could sign their names, were probably taught by other family or friends. Furthermore, John Reed owned as many as eighteen slaves who helped inside and outside the mansion and at the gold mine. Even though Reed’s life was dedicated to farming, his lifestyle changed one day when his second son, Conrad, went to Little Meadow Creek. At the creek in 1799, Conrad found a mysterious yellow rock. After Conrad showed it to his father, John Reed took it to a silversmith who was unsure of what it was, so this “rock” ended up being a doorstop for two to three years. After this time, Reed took it to another silversmith where he discovered the “rock” was really 17 pounds of almost pure gold. He sold the gold for $3.50 93 to the silversmith, not understanding the value of gold. The story goes that he later recovered an additional $1,200 from that jeweler. This discovery changed Reed’s life even though he remained loyal to farming. Mining began taking place on Reed’s land. John soon formed a partnership with Rev. James Love, Martin Phifer, Jr., and his brother-in-law Frederick Kiser. Together, using slave labor, they worked the mines, splitting the “finds” equally. After many years of mining, some other partners were added and much of the family became more involved. Yet as more became involved, conflicts regarding the gold being discovered became more common. After one family argument, the mine was closed by court order between 1834 and 1844. Throughout his time with the mine, and despite his lack of capital (money or property) when first married, Reed engaged in 21 documented land transactions in Cabarrus County. During these transactions, Reed bought 2,091 acres and disposed of 1,046 acres to sons and sons-in-law of which 986 acres were sold. He also sold 250 more to John Barbee, leaving him 795 acres at the time of his death. In 1842, at age 82, John Reed became a citizen of the United States. Not long after that on May 28, 1845, he died at age 86, just eighteen months after his wife died. According to his will, the mine and mining property were to be sold at an auction. The mine changed hands a number of times. In the 1890s, the land was sold to the Kelly family who later sold it in 1971 to the State of North Carolina. Today, Reed Gold Mine is still owned by the state and is a historic site that many people visit every year. *Information based on A Hessian Immigrant finds Gold: The Story of John Reed by M. A. Schwalm 94 After reading “The Life of John Reed”, choose one of the following to complete. Research your family’s history. Write about your findings in a report or create a family tree. Choose one person you are interested in. Read a book or other sources about that person. Then write a report and construct a project about the person’s family history. Choose any group who settled in your county and research their history. Write a report including information such as answers to questions like, “What brought them to North Carolina?” ,“What did they do?” ,and “How did they influence their area?” 95 Social Studies Nugget 2: Vocabulary In this section, use the puzzles and word searches to become familiar with commonly used mining terms. Vocabulary Definitions Cross Word Word Scramble Word Search 96 WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? Define these terms using information from the Reed Gold Mine Website, the Reed Gold Mine Handbook, and your visit to Reed Gold Mine. Acre Adit Amalgamation Arrastra Assay Chilean mill Crosscut Drift Excavation Gallery Foot wall Geologist Hanging wall Immigrants Investments Kibble Ore Pan Placer mining Proprietor Prospecting Rural Shaft Stamp Mill Stope Vein Whim Windlass Suggested projects for use with definitions: 1. Imagine you are a miner at Reed Gold Mine. Every night you write in your journal about that day’s experience. Write a journal entry, using at least half of the vocabulary, explaining what happened during one of your workdays. 2. As you visit the mine or the website, look and listen to how these terms are used when they are found in the movie, museum, or tour. 3. Using flash cards or some other means, have students give the definitions as cards are shown or show the definitions so they can respond with the correct term. 4. Create a board or card game based on the vocabulary, mining methods, and history the students learned about while at Reed. 97 REED GOLD MINE VOCABULARY TRIVIA Fill in the correct answer 1. Which of the following processes uses mercury? chlorination cyanidation amalgamation radiation 2. You would be able to crush gold-bearing ore in which of the following? Chilean mill arrastra Stamp mill all of the above 3. What is a kibble? ore bucket sturdy rope lazy miner miner’s drink 4. John Reed was an _______________ from Germany. ancestor immigrant teacher artist 5. In 1799, the first authenticated gold was found in the United States in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. What does authenticated mean? confirmed to be real fake systematic speculated 6. At first, the part-time process of prospecting the creek was referred to as _____________ and was considered primitive and unsystematic. jaw crushing speculation placer mining radiation 7. The proprietors realized the substantial profit they could make through mining for gold. What is a proprietor? owner buyer banker 8. Which of the following means “a vertical entrance to a mine cut downward from the surface”? adit drift wince shaft 9. A person who studies the earth’s crust, the layers of which it is composed, and its history is call a ________________. miner meteorologist geologist inventor 10. Concentrations property of gold were found in soil and creek sediments after the weathering of gold-quartz veins and erosive action took place. What does this mean? much thinking about gold occurred large amounts of gold were brought together in one place equipment was used for mining fake pieces of gold known as pyrite were found 98 Answer Key REED GOLD MINE VOCABULARY TRIVIA Fill in the correct answer 1. Which of the following processes uses mercury? chlorination cyanidation amalgamation radiation 2. You would be able to crush gold-bearing ore in which of the following? Chilean mill arrastra stamp mill all of the above 3. What is a kibble? ore bucket sturdy rope lazy miner miner’s drink 4. John Reed was an _______________ from Germany. ancestor teacher artist 5. In 1799, the first authenticated immigrant gold was found in the United States in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. What does authenticated mean? confirmed to be real fake systematic speculated 6. At first, the part-time process of prospecting the creek was referred to as _____________ and was considered primitive and unsystematic? jaw crushing speculation radiation 7. The proprietors realized the substantial profit they could make through mining for gold. What is a proprietor? owner buyer property banker 8. Which of the following means “a vertical entrance to a mine cut downward from the surface”? adit drift wince shaft 9. A person who studies the earth’s crust, the layers of which it is composed, and its history is call a ________________? miner meteorologist geologist inventor 10. Concentrations placer mining of gold were found in soil and creek sediments after the weathering of gold-quartz veins and erosive action took place. What does this mean? much thinking about gold occurred large amounts of gold were brought together in one place equipment was used for mining fake pieces of gold known as pyrite were found 99 "First Gold in the United States" Reed Gold Mine Crossword Puzzle 3 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Adit Amalgamation Arrastra Assay Coins Gangue Lode Miner Rocker Barringer Bechtler Candle Chilean Mill Cornwall Drift Drill Fish Fools Gold Foreman Gold Jaw Crusher Kibble Linker Little Meadow Mecklenburg Mint Nugget Ore Panning Philadelphia Pick Placer Quartz Reed Gold Mine Shaft Stamp Mill Stope Veins Whim Women 100 Clues to Reed Gold Mine Crossword Puzzle ACROSS 1. Device used for washing earth and separating gold 18. Conrad found one that weighed 17 pounds 5. Site of the first United States Mint 8. They commonly operated the rockers 9. White rock that sometimes contains gold 13. Area of England where many experienced miners came from 14. He started the first mint in North Carolina 16. To test quartz samples for gold 17. Early source of light worn on miners’ caps 20. Supervisor of a mine 24. Tool used to make blasting holes 25. Place where gold was made into coins 26. The streets of Charlotte are paved with 30. Name of an adit and shaft at Reed Gold Mine 31. Montgomery County man who first discovered gold in quartz 32. Gold was found in underground stripes of quartz called _______ 33. First gold mine in the United States 34. Drag mill 36. Large machine used to crush ore 37. Digging tool used in underground mining 38. A common type of placer mining 39. Nearby county once containing over 100 mines 40. Iron bucket used as an elevator to carry men and ore DOWN 2. Rock containing gold or other minerals 3. Hoisting device used to raise ore buckets 4. Breaks ore into smaller pieces for the mill 15. Tunnel dug following a quartz vein 28. Person who digs for gold 35. Vertical mine entrance 6. Creek where Conrad found gold 7. Underground mining 10. Surface mining 11. Gold was sometimes made into this form of currency 12. Another name for pyrite 19. Another term for bull quartz 21. A horizontal entrance to a mine 22. What Conrad was looking for when he struck gold 23. Underground room dug to remove an ore sample 27. Process of extracting gold using mercury 29. Ore crusher using large stone wheels 101 Solution "First Gold in the United States" Reed Gold Mine Crossword Puzzle 1R 2O C K E R 3W R 4J H 5P H I 6L A D E 7L P H I A I I O 8W O M E N 9Q U A R T Z D C 10P 11C 12F T E 13C O R N W A L L O O 14B E C H T L E R 15D U A I O E R 16A S S A Y 17C A N D L E M I H E S S 18N U 19G G E T 20F O R E M 21A N R G A A 22F T R D 23S O N 24D R I L L 25M I N T 26G O L D G O S 27A T O D 28M U W H M P 29C 30L I N K E R 31B A R R I N G E R H N L 32V E I N S E 33R E E D G O L D M I N E L 34A R R A 35S T R A A E H 36S T A M P M I L L A A A N F T M T 37P I C K 38P A N N I N G O L 39M E C K L E N B U R G 40K I B B L E 102 acre investment WORD BOX Using the circled letters in the Word Search above, answer the riddle… I aim les s ly wan der thr o ug h Jo hn Reed s lan d. Why , o ld Jo hn even fo un d g o ld in m e. proprietor prospecting resources rural vegetation authenticated concentrations economy excavation geologist immigrant __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 103 Teacher’s Key I aim les s ly wan der thr o ug h Jo hn Reed s Lan d. Why , o ld Little Meadow Creek Jo hn even fo un d g o ld in m e. 104 Gold Mine Word Scramble Unscramble the words and match their definitions. 1. EOR A. A horizontal entrance to a mine. 2. IGNNMI B. To test ore to find the value and quality of gold 3. EDED C. A chopping tool with a sharp blade head fitted on a long handle. 4. DLGO D. A small piece of metal, usually flat and round, used for money. Also, to make money from metal. 5. KCIP E. A contract showing ownership of a piece of property. 6. FAHTS F. A soft yellow mineral that is found by mining and considered very valuable. 7. DARRET G. Gold in powder form. 8. APN H. A person who digs for valuable minerals. 9. EGUNTG I. The business of removing minerals (gold, coal, silver, copper) from the earth. 10. DTGDSOLU J. A place where gold is made into coins. 11. ITAD K. A solid lump of gold. 12. RINEM L. A rock or mineral which is often the source of valuable metals. 13. NIVE M. A round plate made of tin, in which dirt is washed in order to search for gold. 14. ZAQRUT A tool for digging through hard surfaces, made of a curved bar which is sharpened at both ends N. and attached to a long handle. 15. XA O. A milky white rock which sometimes has gold running through it. 16. IOCN P. A device used to weigh small items. 17. YAASS Q. A vertical opening or tunnel dug into the ground. 18. LENTUN R. A person who buys and sells. 19. LACSE S. An underground passage. 20. TINM T. A stripe or streak of quartz or other ore underground. Answer Key Gold Mine Word Scramble Unscramble the words and match their definitions. 105 ORE 1. EOR 11 A. A horizontal entrance to a mine. MINING 2. IGNNMI 17 B. To test ore to find the value and quality of gold DEED 3. EDED 15 C. A chopping tool with a sharp blade head fitted on a long handle. GOLD 4. DLGO 16 D. A small piece of metal, usually flat and round, used for money. Also, to make money from metal. PICK 5. KCIP 3 E. A contract showing ownership of a piece of property. SHAFT 6. FAHTS 4 F. A soft yellow mineral that is found by mining and considered very valuable. TRADER 7. DARRET 10 G. Gold in powder form. PAN 8. APN 12 H. A person who digs for valuable minerals. NUGGET 9. EGUNTG 2 I. The business of removing minerals (gold, coal, silver, copper) from the earth. GOLDDUST 10. DTGDSOLU 20 J. A place where gold is made into coins. ADIT 11. ITAD 9 K. A solid lump of gold. MINER 12. RINEM 1 L. A rock or mineral which is often the source of valuable metals. VEIN 13. NIVE 8 M. A round plate made of tin, in which dirt is washed in order to search for gold. QUARTZ 14. ZAQRUT 5 N. A tool for digging through hard surfaces, made of a curved bar which is sharpened at both ends and attached to a long handle. AX 15. XA 14 O. A milky white rock which sometimes has gold running through it. COIN 16. IOCN 19 P. A device used to weigh small items. ASSAY 17. YAASS 6 Q. A vertical opening or tunnel dug into the ground. TUNNEL 18. LENTUN 7 R. A person who buys and sells. SCALE 19. LACSE 18 S. An underground passage. MINT 20. TINM 13 T. A stripe or streak of quartz or other ore underground. 106 Social Studies Nugget 3: Timeline The Timeline displays the major events of The Reed Gold Mine form 1778 - 1971. Time line questions Timeline 107 1778 John Reed comes to the Colonies to fight for the British as a German mercenary during the American Revolutionary War. 1787 John Reed receives from the state of North Carolina a land grant of 70 acres on Meadow Creek. 1799 Reed’s son, Conrad, finds a large, shiny yellow rock in Little Meadow Creek. 1802 A jeweler in Fayetteville determines that Conrad’s yellow rock is really 17 pounds of almost pure gold. 1803 John Reed joins three other men Frederick Kizer, Rev. James Love, and Martin Phifer, Jr. forming a mining partnership to search of gold in Little Meadow Creek. Peter, slave of Reed’s partner Rev. Love, discovers the largest nugget ever found at Reed. The nugget weighed approximately 28 pounds. 1804 The United States Mint in Philadelphia processes $11,000 in Cabarrus County gold. 1806 William Thornton, physician, inventor, and designer of the United States Capitol, purchases on credit 35,000 acres of land near the Reed and establishes the North Carolina Gold Mine Company. 1820 Gold is discovered in other counties adjoining Cabarrus. 1824 Reed Gold Mine becomes one of the state’s three major gold mines, having unearthed an estimated $100,000 worth of gold. 1827 The North Carolina state legislature charters the North Carolina Gold Mining Company. 1829 The stamp mill, a wood and iron structure used for crushing ore, makes its appearance in North Carolina. 1831 Christopher Bechtler and his son Augustus begin the minting of gold coins in Rutherford County. John Reed’s grandson, Isaac Crayton sinks the first shaft at Reed. 1834 A legal dispute begins between the sons and sons-in-law of John Reed over a 13-pound nugget, resulting in a court order for the closing of Reed Gold Mine. 1835 Congress votes to establish a branch of the Federal Mint at Charlotte. 1837 The Charlotte mint opens for business. A slave named Jim is thought to be hiding at the Reed. 1842 John Reed becomes a U.S. citizen at the age of 82. 1854 The Reed Gold and Copper Mining Company fails, and many other mining corporations are either ruined or in financial difficulty. 1855 The sheriff of Cabarrus County auctions the Reed Gold Mine. 1861 The Charlotte mint closes because of disruptive effects of the Civil War. 1895 Oliver Kelly, Warren Kelly and Dr. Justin Lisle purchase Reed Gold Mine. 1912 The last underground excavations take place at the Reed Mine. 1915 Much work is done in the Carolina mines, and the largest amount of gold is found since 1887. 1942 The federal government orders that gold mining be suspended to divert production to national defense during World War II. 1966 The Reed is designated a Registered National Historic Landmark. 1971 North Carolina acquires the Reed property from the Kelly family. 1977 On April 23, Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site opens to the public. 1845 On May 28, John Reed dies at the age of 86. 108 Name_________________________ Date__________________________ Fill in the square for the correct answer. 1. What is the range of this timeline? 207 years 3,749 years 199 years 2. Who originally discovered the gold on the Reed’s property? John Reed Conrad Reed Rev. James Love 3. How much did the first gold nugget weigh? 17 ounces 17 pounds 27 pounds 4. All of the following except ___________ were partners with John Reed. Frederick Kizer William Thornton 5. Who established the North Carolina Gold Mine Company? William Thornton Christopher Bechtler Rev. James Love 6. How many years elapsed between the opening and closing of the Charlotte mint? 36 years 24 years 76 years 7. Why did the federal government stop gold mining in 1942? There was very little gold left to mine. The government wanted to be in control of all gold production in the United States. Martin Phifer The United States wanted to decrease gold production in order to increase production of supplies needed for World War II. 109 8. In which year did the State of North Carolina acquire Reed Gold Mine? 1971 1778 1835 9. How many years after John Reed came as a German mercenary, did he die? 46 years 67 years 36 years 1824 1799 1831 11. The jeweler that determined Conrad’s rock was gold was located in what town? Charlotte Raleigh Fayetteville 12. In 1834, the Reed was closed because of a dispute over a ____ pound nugget. 18 28 13 13. Christopher Bechtler and his son began minting gold coins in this county in 1831. Cabarrus Mecklenburg 14. A wood and iron structure that is used for crushing ore is called a __________. pick Stamp mill nugget 15. A slave named _______ found the largest nugget ever discovered at Reed in 1803. John Conrad Peter 16. Warren Kelly, Oliver Kelly and Dr. Justin Lisle purchased the Reed in this year. 1799 1977 1895 10. In what year was the first shaft dug at the Reed? Rutherford 110 Answer Key Name__________________________ Date___________________________ Fill in the square for the correct answer. 1. What is the range of this timeline? 207 years 3,749 years 2. Who originally discovered the gold on the Reed’s property? John Reed Conrad Reed Rev. James Love 3. How many did the first gold nugget weigh? 17 ounces 17 pounds 27 pounds 4. All of the following except ___________ were partners with John Reed. Frederick Kizer William Thornton Martin Phifer 5. Who established the North Carolina Gold Mine Company? Christopher Bechtler Rev. James Love 6. How many years elapsed between the opening and closing of the Charlotte Mint? 36 years 24 years 76 years 7. Why did the federal government stop the gold mining in 1942? There was very little gold left to mine. The government wanted to be in control of all gold production in the United States. The United States wanted to decrease gold production in order to increase production of supplies needed for World War II. 199 years William Thornton 111 8. In which year did the state of North Carolina acquire Reed Gold Mine? 1971 1835 9. How many years after John Reed came as a German mercenary, did he die? 46 Years 67 Years 36 Years 10. In what year was the first shaft dug at Reed Gold Mine? 1824 1799 1831 11. The jeweler that determined Conrad’s rock was gold, was located in what town? Raleigh Fayetteville 12. In 1834, the Reed was closed because of a dispute over a ______ pound nugget. 18 28 13 13. Christopher Becthler and his son began minting coins in this county in 1831. Cabarrus Rutherford Mecklenburg 14. A wood and iron structure that is used for crushing ore is called a _____. pick Stamp Mill 15.A slave named ______ found the largest nugget ever discovered at Reed in 1803. John Conrad Peter 16. Warren Kelly, Oliver Kelly and Dr. Justin Lisle purchased the Reed in this year. 1799 1977 1895 1778 Charlotte nugget 112 II. Choose one of the following activities: A. Choose a key era from the time line and describe your life and lifestyle. Be sure to include the following: economy schools and education social activities religion entertainment important people key historical events of the period B. Research changes in one of the following areas: population environment landform industry I. Read Reed Gold Mine Timeline to gain background knowledge. See Activity entitled “In the Time of Reed Gold Mine” for questions related to the timeline. C. Based on your research, create and illustrate your own timeline. D. Using the Internet, search the North Carolina Gold Mine or North Carolina Historic Sites home page and create a new timeline of major events relating to Reed Gold Mine. 113 Social Studies Nugget 4: Mapping Activities To enhance the students’ knowledge of location, this part contains various mapping activities relating to gold in North Carolina, the United States, and the world. Mapping Activities Find the Tar Heel Gold North Carolina Map 114 Reed Gold Mine Mapping Activities Materials N. C. County Map (Included) N. C. Road Map N. C. Map with latitude and longitude U. S. Map World Map N. C. County Map Activities 3. On paper, classify the “gold” counties by regions using a tree diagram or chart. 4. Using various resources, identify and list the other kinds of mining done in these areas. 5. Create a graph showing the types and amounts of mining in each region of North Carolina. North Carolina State Map Activities 1. Using the county map of North Carolina, locate and star * your county in green. 2. Using the Map Activity Sheet # 1, complete the different tasks. 1. Using the state map of North Carolina, determine the mileage from your hometown to Reed Gold Mine. 2. Using the above map, determine location of your county and the distance from your county to at least 10 different other mining counties in North Carolina. 3. Using both cardinal and intermediate directions, determine your county’s location to each mining county. 4. Create a database on the computer using data you have collected on mining counties in North Carolina. 115 United States and World Map Activities 1. Using different resources, identify and place on a map of the United States the locations where gold has been found. 2. Find out what other types of mining were or are being done in these same areas and in other areas of the world. 3. Predict the other types of mining that may have been or are in these same places. 4. Now find out the other types of mining and list them. Compare your predictions to your actual finding. Critical Thinking 1. Based on your findings from all of the above activities, draw a Venn Diagram using North Carolina, the United States, and the rest of the world depicting the differences and similarities in what was being mined. 2. What is the most common mineral, ore, or gem that is mined globally? 3. How do you think the knowledge of mining spread from one place to another over the thousands of years of reported history? Support your answer. Projects 1. Using the information you have researched, create a display showing all the places gold has been found and/or mined in the world throughout history. 2. Using the blueprints found on-line and pictures of Reed Gold Mine, recreate a three-dimensional model of the gold mine. 116 FIND THE TAR HEEL GOLD -- ACTIVITY SHEET North Carolina has 100 counties. Gold has been found in over half of them. Six belts of rock in the state contain gold. The most important are the slate belt, stretching from South Carolina to Virginia, and the Charlotte belt. 1. Color the major mining counties: Ashe Burke Cabarrus Catawba Cherokee Davidson Davie Gaston Guilford Franklin Halifax Henderson Jackson Lincoln Macon McDowell Mecklenburg Montgomery Nash Person Polk Randolph Rowan Rutherford Stanly Union Yadkin Wake Warren 2. Outline your home in red. Add your school. 3. Reed Gold Mine is in southeastern Cabarrus County. Put a red dot at the mine. 4. Draw a line from your school to Reed Gold Mine. 117 Teacher Key 118 Social Studies Nugget 5: Project Ideas The students will be able to choose from a variety of projects to extend their knowledge in areas directly and indirectly related to gold Economy Types of Mining Technology Dangers of Mining Who Worked in Mines Transportation Communication Mint North Carolina Nicknames Rocks and Minerals Other Project Ideas 119 Project Ideas A. Economy- 1. Pose the question: how many of you have used gold in the last 24 hours |
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