GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999
RATIFIED BILL

RESOLUTION 14
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 76

A JOINT RESOLUTION HONORING THE MEMORY OF JOHN REED ON THE BICENTENNIAL OF AMERICA'S FIRST GOLD DISCOVERY.

Whereas, John Reed, a Hessian soldier of the American Revolution who fled the British army, took up farming in present-day Cabarrus County; and
Whereas, in 1799 his 12-year-old son Conrad discovered a small wedge-shaped rock that weighed an estimated 17 pounds; and
Whereas, that find was the first authenticated discovery of gold north of Mexico and initiated the first gold rush in America; and
Whereas, during the next half century North Carolina played a leading role in gold mining, this activity reaching from the mountains to the coastal plain and employing thousands of North Carolinians; and
Whereas, the Bechtler family established the nation's first private mint in Rutherford County; and
Whereas, all of the native gold minted in the United States prior to 1828 came from the Old North State; and
Whereas, the United States government established a branch mint in Charlotte in 1837; and
Whereas, before 1849 North Carolina produced more gold than any state in the Union; and
Whereas, Canada and Alaska are commemorating the centennial of the Klondike gold rush; and
Whereas, the state of California is commemorating the sesquicentennial of the California gold rush; and
Whereas, North Carolina needs to reassert its primacy in the history of gold in America; Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

Section 1.  The General Assembly honors the memory of John Reed and calls upon all North Carolinians to observe, celebrate, and participate in events commemorating the bicentennial of the discovery of gold at the Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site and the importance of gold in the history of the State and nation.
Section 2.  This resolution is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 16th day of June, 1999.

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	Dennis A. Wicker
	President of the Senate

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	James B. Black
	Speaker of the House of Representatives