Fun in the Woods, Part 3

 So, We get the frame and cowl out of the woods and Mike and Harry and I go back to Mr. Ward's because he has the original stones that were used to crush the gold ore from the Bechtler mining operation.  

Behind Mike is the Dam and race that fed the water wheel that spun the stones used to crush the raw ore to extract the gold.  After all, we were in Golden Valley, NC.  There were two large stones embedded in the bedrock of the creek across from where we got the frame.  On top of them were two smaller stones spinning and crushing the ore to be mixed with mercury "quicksilver" as Mr. Ward put it. Them Bechtlers didn't know much about quicksilver as it killed them both early!   

Last is a pic of a Bechtler gold piece.  In 1830 there was a lot of mining going on in NC but there was no Mint in the South, so the Bechtler family newly arrived from Germany quickly bought up property in Rutherford County's Golden Valley and started mining gold in 1831 and then built all their own equipment to start minting gold for other miners.  The U.S. Government did not stop them because their coins actually contained more gold than those minted by the U.S. Mint!  

Google Augustus and Christopher Bechtler or stop by the Bechtler Mint Muesum and home in Rutherfordton NC.  So, you get a car adventure and a history lesson all in one day!  Thanks everyone involved for a great adventure, hope the poison ivy rash doesn't show up!