The Fiddletown Journal: Stories of the Mother Lode (Paperback)

by Edward L. Allum (Author)
Key Phrases: high banker, scouting trip, River Rat, Pack Mule, Gold Rush (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 79 pages
• Publisher: Robert D. Reed Publishers (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885003722
• ISBN-13: 978-1885003720
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,778,677 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Management tips for the gold panning hobbyist, December 30, 2006

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (12/06)




Five men organize a small company to search for gold. Each man invests a small sum of money to get the C.S.O. up and running. Regular board meetings are scheduled to discuss and vote on equipment purchases, planned explorations, and to review the results of their latest outing.

Edward L. Allum, in journal form, has written these delightful stories which follow the paths of the miners of the 1849 gold rush. He details (with maps) the small mining towns in the historical mother lode country of California.

Allum makes fun of his group as they establish a pattern of weekly meeting in the club house, early morning departures, breakfast eateries, casinos, and diners. In detail he tells of the struggles of setting equipment and of panning for the gold. Adventures in Fiddletown, French Camp, Lake Topaz, Bagby, Candy Rock, Colfax, Bear River, and Colombia, each provide unique struggles, and lessons for the team members of the C. S. O.

Allum subtly introduces proven organization and management skills as a part of the C.S.O. board and relates these to their mining adventures. It's also an example of how important this is when faced with trials, and hardship.

In the Annual Report of C.S.O. the following observation is recorded: "Many companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to motivate and teach their executive management teams, through survival courses, to trust in their team members, knowing they won't let you down. If the C.S.O. finds no other gold, the real gold is in the friendships that have been formed, which will be everlasting."

"The Fiddletown Journal" has given me the yen to study Allum's maps, to fill the gas tank, to visit the small mining towns he has mentioned and to find the restaurants, and shops introduced in the journal.

This is an inspirational and informational book for the history enthusiast and the gold panning hobbyist.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Management Skills turned to Gold, April 21, 2002

By	"none4me" (Rogers City, MI USA) - See all my reviews

Fiddletown tickled my funny bone and perked up my retired management skills. Oh Yeah! All those skills I had left behind can be applied to a new hobby as did this Author and his friends when they took on GOLD PANNING in California. The detailed research is exceptionally applied in the actually and true maps and techniques for finding the Mother Lode in California.

Those who love history and being a part of walking through it will throughly enjoy this factual book.

Those who desire to start a hobby with friends will learn all the techniques for getting started on a shoestring, using all those management skills you once put in mothballs. It can be applied to any hobby.

I truly enjoyed the adventure of these men. It was a great and inspiring read