Gold Rush!

Recently I took a day trip to Calico Ghost Town, in California, just outside of Barstow, not too far from the Nevada border. It makes for a fun outing, stepping back in time, basically to the mid-1800's when it was a booming silver mining town. When silver was devalued, people lost interest, and moved away.

It got me to thinking about mining in the 18th Century, in the United States. The first actual documented gold mining took place in Virginia in 1782, but it was not until the discovery at Reed's Farm in 1799 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, that real excitement took hold!

In 1799, a man named Conrad Reed, son of a Hessian soldier found a 17 lb. rock in a creek on his family farm. The boulder was tinged yellow and for three years, it served as a door stop, until a jeweler in 1802, recognized it for what it was worth! A golden nugget!!! Reed sold it for a whopping $3.50, thinking he got the better end of the deal. It's real at the time value was about $3,600.

By 1803, though, Reed organized a small mining operation, and then a slave found a larger rock, this time 28 lbs worth! Reed continued to mine, placer mining, as it was called. This is the type where gold is extracted from alluvial deposits, dirt or gravel, basically panning. Later Reed began underground mining, or lode mining. Eventually he died a very rich man. All the gold came off his very own property. You can visit the Reed Mine today, a state historical site.

By the way, it was Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, under George Washington, who priced the American dollar by the "gold standard", which at the time amounted to a little more than 24 grains of gold, about 1/20 of an ounce, or about $19.39. This price of gold remained in place until 1934!