Danny,

Thank you.  I found the coinbase, the 0 position tx_id in the blockchain. So as I understand your explanation is there is an unassigned tx quantity that has an originating address, and no destination address. This sum is then claimed by the miners and divided per the rules of the pool.

What I am still not clear about is that is it possible to go back and access the information in the chain to see the path of the fees in the block chain, or does the inclusion of the fee in the coinbase wipe its history?