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By Polly Johnson Related to Emory L. Hamilton on October 7, 1940. The WPA Project papers, The Alderman Library, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. I heard about them Swift Mines when I lived at Prestonsburg, KY. I seed an old man that said he has been hunting for them for two years. He had a map. I was just about seventeen or eighteen years old. I had one child then. We was living on Ad Harris farm. That old man came there and took up to make a crop like we did. He asked if we ever knew anything about Swift s mine. That was the first time I ever heard of it. His name was Marion Henderson. He said he was traveling and by this map to try to find the mines. He said it (the map) represented Cumberland Mountain. I seed the map. It was a paper map, not deer skin. It was one Sunday he asked us about the mines. My husband told him his daddy lived in the Cumberland mountains, but he d never heard about any silver mines there. I don t know where he was from. He said at that time, but I ve forgotten. He said he d been traveling three year. I heard and believe finding gold or silver in the Cumberland mountain. It was sorta down in a hole or something, but when they d put in their hands to get it, there was the awfullest streaks of lightning and thunder ever was. The old man said: "If I s there I d get it." Anyway the ones that found it couldn t tech it - had to leave it alone. Its the truth about this, but its been so fur (deep) hidden in, it d take a man a year to blast it out. This place was in Cumberland Mountain, to the left of Pound Gap. I don t know whether it was rooted up or not when they built the new road through there. Then was before a road was ever built there. I don t know if this was where they found the money or not, but this place was a small hole and cool wind blew out of it all the time. People used to sit there when traveling to cool off. All around it the weeds would quiver like the wind blowing. Snow couldn t lay on around it. What do you reckon it was? It could have been the Swift mine down in there. It might have been a swift stream of water running under the ground there making the weeds blow around the hole. It might have been a good place to make liquor or money either - running water there. |
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