New Line for An Old Tale

In my currect efforts to illustrate that stories are everywhere, I made a trip with my family to the Reed Gold Mine today, a North Carolina Historic Site we have visited a few times.

Two of my sons are completing their new children's book, Discover North Carolina from Murphy to Manteo. It is based on their many adventures while traveling to all one hundred counties. Beau began collecting information and photos for a fourth grade North Carolina ABC project. My husband and I thought he should see the places that represented the letters in his book. That meant his younger brother, Brian, also shared the experience.

Recently, I realized I have lost many photographs. When we visited Zebulon Vance's home in Weaverville, Beau couldn't decide whether to make "Z" for Zebulon, "V" for Vance, or "W" for Weaverville. When he found that Zebulon, North Carolina was named for the Civil War governor, he indeed let "Z" represent Zebulon. Then, we set out to find Zebulon. Two days ago I looked but could not find any "Z" photos. (Note: We have photographs of street signs, buildings, highway markers, and people.)

Then, Brian noticed we no longer had Reed Gold Mine photos. That bugged me. So, after lunch, we drove over to the mine (about 85 miles away) to see what we could see, along with taking fresh snaps.

First of all, I forgot that the site is in the middle of nowhere (as compared to driving to a city-type location.) There are no fast food restaurants....only a Coke machine. (There are picnic tables.) Brian made a note that his readers might need to know this. In other words, visitors have to make this a destination.

They have a decent enough exhibit in their history/reception center. But, the tour of the mine shaft is great. The super plus is that there is no admission fee. Gold panning requires a $2.00 ticket. It is worth the two bucks, even without finding gold.

The interpreter was informative. It was obvious she enjoyed her job and wanted every visitor to enjoy the experience. It was the first time, ever, that I have toured with children and not one single one was running the other way. That is a major plus for a historical site. There was something about going 50 feet underground in limited light and 60 degrees. We were amazed by the sheer effort it took in 1803 through the 1850s to dig tunnels, haul out quartz matrix, and, then, extract gold.

Yet, the truth of the matter was that Mr. Reed never considered himself a miner. He wanted to be known as a farmer. I am guessing that he became a rich farmer from his efforts as a miner.

Then, there is the (allegedly) true story of how Reed's son found a giant gold nugget (weighing 17 pounds) beside the creek. After he realized his son had found gold, Reed spent time at the creek picking up nuggets. According to the interpreter, large holes are still visible (there was too much flora today) where gold was dug near the surface of the ground. This area is referred to as John Reed's "potato patch."

This was amazing stuff. It took me into thoughts of a small boy playing hooky from church and going fishing. Along with fish, he takes home a big rock that the father uses as a door stop. The door stop story is true. I don't know about the fishing part. But, why else would a boy play hooky from church?

The story doesn't stop there. The father finally discovers the big rock is gold and the rest is a great "get rich" story, not unlike a modern day person winning the lottery. In shaping this into a children's book, I would have to refer to the Jack Tale called "Jack and the Three Sillies." The plots would not intertwine, but the way that Jack, like Mr. Reed, does a hugely ignorant thing (OK, Jack does three dumb things) would give me ideas on how to give the story a little tension. Selling the huge rock for such a small price makes Reed look like a fool. The story could move forward after it appears he has made a crazy decision.

Rather than take $3.50 for gold, I'd keep it as a doorstop.

In "Jack and the Three Sillies," Jack's third trade is for a rock. When his cat scratches the daylights out of him, he trades it for a rock. When he returns, Jack explains to his wife why he left home with a cow and comes back with a large rock for a (nice) doorstop. I heard the story of Reed and thought about how he left home with 17 pounds of gold and returned with $3.50. So, at this point, the story could veer toward how Reed's wife, like Jack's wife, got the entire mess straightened out.

I'll never have time to write this as a book or short story. However, it is fun to think about. Would the story be about the son's find, the father rectifying his mistake, or his wife taking charge? Where does the ultimate story lie?

Aside from the story, the truth prevails. The importance of the historic site rests with the fact that this was the first discovery of gold in the United States. And, it happened in North Carolina in 1799 on a family farm.

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