WAMPUM, Pa. — Keith Roupp has a story to tell, the kind that beckons you to pull up a chair and sit a spell while he tells it.
It all begins with a crystal-clear stream not far from his home in Lawrence County, a 14,000-year-old glacier that no one’s really thought about for 14,000 years, and a young man with an old soul connecting with the land around him.
“Like many young people from around here, I’ve always been an outdoors person – love everything about it. And like many young people, I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of finding a treasure, in particular, gold,” Roupp said. “You see, with gold, you really have to work hard to earn it.”
That’s right. His newfound hobby is prospecting. Through it, Roupp has found not just gold but also an appreciation for how communities and common purpose forge new friends and
experiences.
Over 170 years ago, James W. Marshall found flecks of gold during an inspection of a tailrace waterway of a primitive sawmill. Since then, the adventures and riches of finding that precious metal have beckoned men and women from all socioeconomic backgrounds.
It was not the first gold rush in the country, though. That distinction lies due south of here in North Carolina and dates back to 1799 when a 12-year-old boy found a large gold nugget along a creek that ran through the family farm. The family used it as a doorstop for years, not understanding its value.
Roupp found himself intrigued with the idea of prospecting when his buddy showed him a little vial with about half a gram of gold in it.
“He told me he had found it along on Neshannock Creek, and so, I decided to do a little bit of surveying and look around for things myself,” he said. “The Neshannock is not my favorite spot, even though I can see it from my home.
“I thought I’d try to take my adventure a little bit off the grid, so we came here to the property my uncle owns to check out the creek that runs through it,” he explained.
For Roupp, the adventure is not limited to finding gold. It has also been the wealth of information and education he has accumulated in researching minerals, land and geology, not to mention the bonds of community he has formed over what he calls a hobby.
It is a Thursday morning in October. The air is brisk, with faint traces of a summer still evident in the air. The leaves have begun to turn, and Roupp is leading a group of prospectors, most of them newbies, on an adventure of a lifetime. “The first time I actually found it on my own, I was actually surprised,” he said. “I wasn’t really expecting to find it, and then I started finding little pieces, like little grains of flour, and literally, that’s how small it can get.”
Pennsylvania has long been known for its rich natural resources including iron, coal, oil and shale — resources that have fueled and built this country for centuries. To a lesser extent, the state is also the home of rare gems and minerals, such as pyrite, quartz and garnet — and gold.
“We can thank the ice age glaciers that brought gold and platinum here from what is now modern-day Canada,” Roupp explained.
He is also a throwback to our love of forming associations. He started the Western Pennsylvania Gold Prospecting Facebook group to test the waters and see if people were interested in the hobby.
“It’s now grown to over 200 members who drive as far as three hours to come and hang out with us and pan and find gold,” Roupp said.
Thanks in large part to technology, cultural shifts and the social isolation that technology can create, people for the past generation have lost that internal lust we once universally shared to form associations within our communities. We used to like each other’s company – a lot. Shared values or a common purpose made us better people, better neighbors, better parents, and better sons and daughters.
What they are doing here recreates that sense of community these young people still yearn for.
Roupp said: “We all hang out. We have fun. Some parents have their kids come along. I tell everybody to bring basic prospecting equipment as well as enough food and drink for themselves and be prepared to have a story to tell their kids and grandkids years from now unlike the ones most of your friends will share with theirs.”
Salena Zito is a CNN political analyst, and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner.
