My service learning project this semester was to explore the town of Silver Reef, Utah and give a lesson to the 6^th grade class at Desert Hills Middle School in St. George, Utah. I used information found in the Special Collections Library at Southern Utah University, including a Senior Thesis paper by Marci Harman (SUU 2005), a Masters Thesis by Alfred Stucki titled A Historical Study of Silver Reef: Southern Utah Mining Town (BYU 1966), and Treasure House: The Utah Mining Story (VHS 1995). I also had the opportunity to peruse Silver, Sinners, and Saints: A History of Old Silver Reef by Paul Proctor and Morris Shirts (1991). These two papers and book were just about all the information dedicated to an area in Southern Utah that my grandparents retired to in 1974; hence my interest. On April 20, 2006, I taught a lesson for Wendy Gibbons’ 6^th grade class. This project altered the way I perceive history at Silver Reef and Southern Utah.

I spent approximately two hours in Special Collections before I had them photo copy the Harman thesis paper and found Stucki’s book online at the B.Y.U. library and downloaded it to my computer. The video I was able to check out is two hours long. I spent ten to twelve hours reading the materials listed and developed from them my lesson plan. I also found a collection of photographs at the University of Utah library website, which I downloaded and used for my Power Point presentation. There were photographs that I used from the two thesis papers as well. The collection of photographs and a host of information slides made up my presentation on Power Point. I also used two three minute clips from the video tape.

I dressed as close as I could to the appearance of a miner for the class. I was wearing boots, jeans, flannel shirt, gloves, and a hard hat. I carried with me a shovel as the teacher thought it would be bad to carry a pick-ax into class. I entered the classroom with my shovel in one hand and a metal bucket in the other (which was filled with Hershey Kisses). My opening statement to the class was that they were all silver miners, and whoever could tell me any facts about Silver Reef and mining would get a silver nugget (the candy). The children were hooked, whether by my outrageous appearance or the bribing of the candy. They were very attentive as I went over the definition of such terms to be used including “amalgamation” and “assay”.

We then continued our journey with a look back at the history and origins of Silver Reef. Most of the class either had never heard of Silver Reef or had never had a chance to visit. They were amazed to learn that such a precious ore was found so close to home. I first covered the founding of the settlement and showed pictures of what the old Main Street looked like during the time. We then discussed the major players involved with naming the town and the ones responsible for the town’s initial growth. In the discussion of the town’s formation, we talked about the surrounding area (Pine Valley Mountain) and the elevation, climate, and vegetation found in Silver Reef.

Next we watched a video segment concerning the mining of the town, which seemed to get the class excited yet again. I think all students perk up when the notion of watching something on television in the classroom is presented. After viewing the film we all discussed what was covered and the class had many questions. It was good to interact with the children even if I had to prod them towards the information I sought to discuss.

I then showed the class a comprehensive list of all the shops and conveniences that were located along Main Street. They were again amazed at how much the town had to offer and found it interesting that there was no jail, school, or church present. The low prices for materials was also an interesting point of discussion as I too have a hard time fathoming the cost of inflation over that many years.

What made the mining town of Silver Reef so different from other mining towns was the amount of industry and commerce. It was almost self-sufficient in those veins before the money from the ore became available. The fact that the town was situated along the trade route between the two major cities in the state (Salt Lake City and St. George) made it possible for the inhabitants to have access to just about anything. The class was probably not as interested in this fact as I was and I realized then and there that the possibility for the same reaction would probably be the same in any classroom.

The bulk of the lesson was spent on the operation of the mines and the process of turning the ore into silver. I showed original photographs and charts which explained the process clearly. I think the information in this segment was perhaps a bit over the kids’ heads, but I hope they got the overall gist. I covered the process of removing the ore from the mines, the two different methods used to crush the ore, the amalgamation process, the straining process, and finally the process of heating the good pieces into a liquid form that could be pored into molds to create the bullion. We then discussed the many different mills that were necessary for processing the ore, as the location prevented the miners from shipping it to other sites for processing. The class enjoyed seeing photos of the old mines and newer pictures of existing remnants of the same.

Finally, the discussion turned to what made the town fail. The fact that when the mines stopped producing the precious metals that the town would die was one the class anticipated with ease. After the once great town was reduced to a ghost town, the area remained unpopulated until the retirement homes began popping up in the late 1960s. We discussed how the area has now boomed into an extremely expensive and desirable place to live in today’s market.

The class was ended with a questionnaire that illustrated the lack of knowledge that youngsters have for their local history. It also asked them how they liked their lesson. Surely the candy had something to do with the glowing reviews, but the first question was quite illuminating (1=lowest and 5= agree with most):

Before this lesson, I had heard of Silver Reef.

1(6) 2(4) 3(4) 4(1) 5(9)

I enjoyed this lesson.

1(0) 2(0) 3(1) 4(8) 5(15)

I learned something new today.

1(0) 2(0) 3(0) 4(3) 5(21)

Chris gave a great lesson.

1(0) 2(0) 3(0) 4(3) 5(21)

Additional comments were available to the kids to cite anything they wished. Some of which included; “good candy”, “thank you for coming”, “cool”, “it was awesome”, “I want to visit Silver Reef”, “it was really sweet!”, “a bunch of good information. I will go there to visit soon”, “fantastic!”, and “I love your presentations. They are very interesting and well put together. Thank you for coming. Chris rules!!” Of course the last was my favorite.

I very much appreciated the opportunity to learn about this topic which is still relatively unknown. I can’t understand why there aren’t more resources that deal with such a diverse and controversial town. There were many cultures present in the town, all of which added to the color of the area. I would have loved to have had more information on the wildness of this town to draw from. The thesis paper by Stucki was the most comprehensive study on the area I have yet found. I enjoyed perusing the book Silver, Sinners, and Saints, but the fact that I couldn’t check it out of the library hindered my use of it for this project. I was interested because my grandparents retired to Silver Reef. I had the opportunity to spend a few summers there in my youth and it stills hold a place in my heart. I am glad to have had this opportunity.

Attached is a copy of the lesson plan along with the Power Point presentation.