Seeing History Through the Eyes of a Child

As a child growing up in a border state, I went to a lot of battlefields. Many of them were minor, but I went to most of the major sites also. The two I remember most were Gettysburg and Antietam.

Seeing the battlefields, now just meadows and forested areas, what I'd learned in school came to life. There is something about these places that is palpable. I could feel that Lincoln was right; I was standing on hallowed ground. Just remembering it sends goosebumps up and down my arms.

Battlefields weren't the only places we visited. We spent a few days in Colonial Williamsburg. I could have spent a few weeks there, but at 12, my ideas for our itinerary were outvoted.

Women in hoop skirts caught my eye, as did the stocks. I saw a candle maker dipping strings into something but didn't have time to ask if it was tallow, bee's wax or bayberry wax.

When our children were growing up, we took them to see other historical sites. We went to Cass, which has a coal burning engine. The engineers let the girls look into the locomotive and have pictures taken with them. We didn't get to go all the way to the top, because a slide during the winter had taken out a good bit of the tracks. However, it was a lot of fun.

We went into an exhibition coal mine in Beckley, WV as well. There were displays throughout the mine showing how the mine had been operated. It was an interesting tour.

On our return trip, we stopped by another type of mine, this one a gold mine. It had an interesting history. It was often flooded, and the miners were trying to find a way to release the water safely. Unfortunately, the water was under very high pressure and it shot out of the tunnel straight across the valley and hit the mountain on the other side at the same height as the mine. Four miners were killed in this catastrophe.

After the mine tour, we all got to "pan for gold." That was a lot of fun. I think we still have the stones we uncovered in our efforts.

I had always wanted to see the Anasazi cliff dweller sites, and managed to squeeze that in also. It turned out that the Hopi's were there that day and doing some of their tribal dances. I was very impressed; I don't think I could do even half of what they did.

Seeing history, especially through the eyes of your children, makes it even more real than what you read in a book. When you can experience it, it makes a lasting impression.