Our case grew more and more lamentable as the way was now much worse than ever and the Creek was impassable by horses, and the mountains higher and worse than ever, on all accounts, and lying in larger cliffs on the river. Monday, the 8th of March, we being so extremely straited for provisions, the best hunters of every company set out very early this morning, and after traveling about two miles down the Creek, we parted, and turned into the mountains, and hunted all day without success; and this day those who conducted the horses along were put to very great straits, for they were obliged to leave the Creek, and cross two large mountains, going up the last of which three of the horses tired and could go no further, and before they left the creek one of them fell down a cliff about the distance of twenty feet or such a matter, into the Creek; but falling on his load, he was through it preserved, so that he was recovered, and carried his load all day. In the evening, as we were going down a small creek, which made more low grounds than usual, one of the volunteers being foremost met with a gang of elks, and killed two of them a very seasonable relief to us all, for one of them was divided among the companies, but not equally, for Capt. Smith took half of it, saving the backbone, and the meat was chiefly cut off of it. Capt. Preston with Capt. Breckinridge and myself shared the small matter that we had which came to two pounds per man, but near half of it was bone; and we are now suffering very much for want of provisions, and a great part of the men that we have here, have fallen this day on a resolution to go back, for we can see nothing before us but inevitable destruction.

CHAPTER IX

SWIFT'S SILVER MINES

I

PRELIMINARY

Whether John Swift discovered or even visited any silver mineswhether he at any time worked mines discovered by himself or other persons in what is now the State of Kentucky-may never be certainly known. But it would seem that there can exist little doubt that John Swift and his associates were among the very first of English-speaking people to visit and remain for any considerable length of time in that region embraced in Eastern Kentucky. There seems to be sufficient evidence upon which to base the conclusion that they threaded the sunless mazes of the primeval wilderness in pursuit of some definite object; and this object was of enough importance to cause them to make annual journeys into the unexplored valleys between the Ohio River and the Cumberland Mountains for a period covering ten years.

That there is at this time lying concealed in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas, treasures aggregating an immense sum, left in the rude wilds of that unexplored land by Swift and his men, has been the unshaken conviction of many people there for more than four generations.

In early times the belief in the existence of these mines was widespread. Their supposed locations were set down in the maps of that day. On the map in the first edition of Imlay's America, published in London by J. Debret, February 1, 1793, we find these mines marked as lying about the head waters of the Kentucky and Big Sandy rivers.

But the important question is not whether these mines had any existence in fact, but whether Eastern Kentucky was visited and explored during the ten years from 1760 to 1770 by Swift and his companions. There is good reason to believe that Swift and his associates visited Eastern Kentucky, as is affirmed in Swift's Journal. The fact does not rest solely on either the Journal or tradition, nor on any combination of the two. It is based to some extent at least on statements of some of the best and most careful historical writers of the time.

It is remarkable how the search for the precious metal engrossed the first settlers of America as well as the adventurers and explorers. The early Virginians prosecuted this search to the neglect of other matters. They sent a shipload of shining sand to England in the full belief that it was gold. We are told that all other matters were subordinated to this search. One historian informs us that "The successful establishment of a colony was of much less importance than the searching for mines of gold or explorations westward by navigable rivers. In the summer of the following year Captain John Smith explored the Chesapeake Bay to the Susquehanna, entering into all the rivers and inlets as far as he could sail, of all of which he constructed an admirable map. In the fall of the same year Captain Newport returned from a visit to England with a private commission 'not to return without a lump of gold, a certainty of the South Sea, or one of the lost colony of Sir Walter Raleigh.'”

In his Journal Swift attributes the discovery of these mines to the Spaniards, as he does also the lead mines of Western Virginia. This view is supported by the following memorandum:

"Sir William Berkely, Governor of Virginia, was informed by the Indians, in 1748, 'that within five days' journey to the Westward and by South there is a great high mountain, and at the foot thereof great Rivers that run into a great Sea; and that there are men that come hither in ships (but not the same that ours be), they wear apparel and have reed caps on their heads, and ride on Beastes like our horses, but have much longer ears, and other circumstances they declare for the certainty of these things.' These rivers doubtless were those now known as the Kanawha, Kentucky, Cumberland and Tennessee, whose waters flow from the western slope of the Allegheny Mountains to the Ohio and Mississippi and into the Gulf of Mexico, long before frequented by Spaniards."

II

EARLY TRADITION OF THESE MINES

Legends and traditions of Swift's Silver Mines exist in Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolinas. Traditions concerning them or some other silver mines that were worked by the early explorers and Indians exist in Georgia and Alabama.

James Adair was among the first Indian traders with the Cherokees. When the English were first exploring the head waters of the Holston and Clinch rivers he was carrying on a profitable trade with the Overhill Cherokees. He writes in his book that:

"Within twenty miles of Fort Louden there is a great plenty of whetstones for razors, of red, white and black colours. The silver mines are so rich, that by digging about ten yards deep, some desperate vagabonds found at sundry times, so much rich ore as to enable them to counterfeit dollars to a great amount, a horse load of which was detected, in passing for the purchase of negroes at Augusta."

And the following is from Ramsey's Tennessee:

"A tradition still continues of the existence of the silver mines mentioned thus by Adair. It is derived from hunters and traders who have seen the locality and assisted in smelting the metal. After the whites had settled near and began to encroach upon the Overhill towns, their inhabitants began to withhold all knowledge of the mines from the traders, apprehending that their cupidity for the precious metals would lead to an appropriation of the mines, and the ultimate expulsion of the natives from the country. The Mr. De Lozier, of Sevier County, testified to the existence and richness of mines of silver, one of which he worked at, in the very section of the Cherokee country described by Adair."

As it is the design to give here all the information which it has been possible to obtain on the subject of Swift's Silver Mines, official documents must not be neglected. Some geologists seem to be of the opinion. that no silver ore exists, and that none ever did exist, in the region where Swift is said to have found it in such quantities.1

1 The Geological Survey of Kentucky, in its Preliminary Report on the Geology of the Upper Kentucky River, gives this discouraging information:

"Considerable time and means having been spent in desultory and unavailing search for silver in various localities of this region, as well as elsewhere in this coal field, it is desirable to state that as yet no indication of any deposit of silver ore worth exploitation has ever been discovered in the Appalachian coal fields; and also that no true vein of any kind has been found in the eastern field of the State, excepting the one here described under the caption of iron ore. From these facts, after such investigation in this field as has been made, it may be assumed as reasonably certain that no paying quantity of silver ore will be found

III

WHAT HISTORICAL WORKS SAY

Many references to Swift's Silver Mines have appeared in authentic historical works of the states in which the traditions concerning them exist. They are mentioned in Collins' History of Kentucky, in connection with Bell, Carter, Laurel, Floyd and Wolfe counties.

The mention made under the head of Floyd County is very brief and is as follows:

"The first white visitors upon the territory of what is now Floyd County were probably one or more parties who came to Eastern Kentucky at different dates before the Revolutionary War in search of Swift's Silver Mine, and worked it."

There was knowledge of these mines before Swift brought information of them into the frontier settlements of Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. It is true that he brought the most definite knowledge of them which had been conveyed from the wilderness of the Ohio Va!ley at that time. But a vague form of this knowledge had been current on the frontiers for many years prior to Swift's first journey, in 1760. The surviving soldiers returned from the campaign in which the unfortunate Braddock lost his life with this knowledge much increased, and they were eager to plunge into the wilds in search of the mines.

Under the head of Wolfe County, Collins has a more extended notice of these mines. It is as follows:

"Swift's Silver Mine is too beautiful and fanciful to be confined to those counties (Bell and Carter), but must needs have a local habitation also in Wolfe County-on Lower Devil Creek, six miles in an air line from Compton, the county seat (which is thirty miles from Mount Sterling). Swift's name is carved on both rocks and trees-by whom it is not known.

"In February, 1871, three Cherokee Indians (two men and a squaw) came from the Indian Territory to Irvine, Estill County, Kentucky: thence about fifteen miles east to the farm of Jacob Crabtree. One of the men, who claimed to be a young chief, was educated, talked English, and was well informed about minerals. The object of their journey was quite mysterious-except that it seemed to have connection with the timeout-of-mind tradition about Swift's Silver Mine; indeed, the Indians said they were within half a day's journey of that mine. Leaving the squaw at Crabtree's, the Indians followed up Little Sinking Creek to its source, crossed over onto Big Sinking Creek, and after riding some miles hitched their horses; then warning the whites who out of curiosity were following at a little distance that they would turn back if followed further, disappeared in a thick undergrowth. Late in the evening they returned to Crabtree's bearing upon their horses two buckskin sacks or bags heavily laden. By their sacks one of the Indians kept watch all night with a revolver in his hand, and in the morning the three departed on the return road toward Irvine. The whites went immediately to the neighborhood visited by the Indians, but did not succeed in finding any mineral but iron ore.

"Two caves, known as the Ashy and the Bone (or Pot) caves, are about a mile apart, on lower Devil Creek. In the latter, on a visit in in it, though it is beyond dispute that occasional silver-bearing ore has been found in exceedingly small quantities. The rugged conglomerate cliffs, which have attracted the most search, are not more likely to contain silver than other smoother surfaces. The legends of Swift and his concealed silver mines and treasures, current in the mountains from Pennsylvania to Georgia and North Carolina, may be left to those who wish to believe them. It should be known, however, that the North American Indians had no knowledge of mining or metallurgy."

1871, were found (27) twenty-seven pots or crucibles, about (12) one and one-half feet across and same depth, in three rows of nine each, and each pot of about a barrel capacity. The road to it, although unused for many years, was plainly perceptible-being worn down four or five feet deep, and with trees apparently one hundred to one hundred and twentyfive years old growing in it. A large deposit of sulphur, in ore or rocks, and deposits of iron and bismuth are found near, but with no road leading to them."

Collins speaks incidentally of Swift's Silver Mines in connection with the murder of Col. James Harrod, under the head of Mercer County. Colonel Harrod was the founder of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, which, says Collins, "has the honor of being the first settled place in the State of Kentucky." In many respects Colonel Harrod was a remarkable man, and Kentucky has reason to be proud of his memory. His murder was deeply deplored. Collins says:

"Dr. Christopher Graham (still living, June, 1873, at the ripe age of 87) settled at Harrodsburg in 1819, and was the family physician of Gen. James Ray, Mrs. Ann Harrod (widow of Col. James Harrod), and others of the earliest pioneers of Kentucky, and acquainted with Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton and other prominent contemporaries. From their lips he took down in writing many incidents of pioneer adventure, some of them wonderful and others of most thrilling interest. In a series of letters to the author, in the summer and fall of 1871, Dr. Graham communicated a number of these incidents, several of which are given herein to the public:

"Mrs. Harrod told Dr. Graham that her husband was murdered by a man named Bridges, with whom he had a lawsuit about property. They had not spoken together for some time. Bridges left for a few weeks, professing to go in search of Swift's Silver Mines-which many have hunted for even down to the present day. On his return, Bridges approached Harrod and said, 'Colonel, I have found Swift's mine, and though we have been at outs, I have confidence in you and prefer you as a partner to any man in Kentucky, and you have the means to work the mine.' When Colonel Harrod told this to his wife, she earnestly opposed his going, and insisted it was a plan to murder him. This suggestion only made him more determined, and he replied that 'he was not afraid of any living man.' She prevailed upon him to let a third man into the secret and take him along. They reached the Three Forks of the Kentucky River, where Bridges said the mine was, stationed a camp, and each started out for game-Harrod taking the bank of the river, Bridges. a few hundred yards from him, and the third man kept close by. In a very short time this man heard the report of a gun exactly where he thought Col. Harrod might be, and supposing he had killed a deer, returned to camp. There he found Bridges, who professed to be very much alarmed; he said he had seen fresh Indian 'sign' and felt assured that Col. Harrod was killed. Despite the protestations of this third man, Bridges started back, and he, rather than be left alone, followed shortly after. Bridges took some furs and skins to Lexington, where a hatter had opened a shop. To him he sold his furs, and also a pair of silver sleeve-buttons with the letter H engraved upon them. These buttons being sent to Mrs. Harrod, she at once recognized them and said her husband had worn them off, upon his linen hunting-shirt. A party of men started immediately for the Three Forks, and found the bones of Colonel Harrod-picked bare by the beasts of the forests, but recognized the hunting-shirt with the buttons gone. Bridges, said Mrs. Harrod, in relating the sad story, took the alarm, left the country, and never returned. The exact date of his murder is not given. but it was probably in July, 1793. The records of the Harrodsburg Trustees show that on August

Vol. I-12