The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-08-26

mineral regions of Obed's River Thh
/. stream is q tributary Of the Cumber
land, and rises in the mountain eoan
ties Of Middle Tennessee; IS about fifty
yards in width, and navigable more
! than half the year for Fat and small
steamboats,, A gentleman who was
with Us in our travel informed US about
forty miles above; where we crossed the
stream it falls over a precipice Of
/ about Sky feet into chasm, and does
not rise to the surface for seven miles.
The former channel Of the river is still
to be seen, It seems to have been 3
deep chasm, formed by some cOnTul-
sion in the earth. When you once
enter this ehasm you cannot get out
except at either end Of it It Is
about forty yards in width, with
precipitous walls from Eve to six
hundred feet high. Huge masses Of
stone have in some places fallen into
the channel and obstFucted the pass
! way. Under these masses Of rock, the
water, when very high, has forced a
passWay. From descriptions given me
Of cataract and chasm, it is certainly
one of the greatest natural euriosities
in AL the world. Obeds river runs
through the eastern part of the county,
and is about fifteen miles from Living
ston. 1t has cut deep down through
the old red sandstone, which is here
composed Of large bluffs Of bituminOus
shale, or black bituminoas rock and
sandstone everything the shale to the
salurian formation, which is visible at
some places, The mountains on the
west bank are from eight hundred to
one thousand feet in height. On the
east side Of the river they become
mountains, in fact, towering up to the
height Of fifteen hundred or more feet.
On the highest ranges Of these noun
tains on the eastern side fine veins
Of coal are found, eight or nine
hundred feet above the level of the
river Itseems the river has forced its
way through these old mountains, cut
ting its way deep down into their bow
els. To stand on the mountain and
look at the course of the river, winding
| through the deep chssms below, cutting
\ a. it were the very mountains asunder,
l We can conceive Of the power and
force Of water.
Along the banks Of the. river and
the small tributary steams, every mile
almost We found flowing springs of
petroleum rising from the water. From
one of them we collected, in few min
utes, bottle Of pure oil, and could have |
gathered gallons Of it Wesaw several
other springs from which gallons of oil
could have been collected. On the
creeks tributary to the Obed we saw |
several flowing springs of pure oil In
approaching these springs you cannot be |
mistaken, as you can smell the oil for |
more than fifty yardA From the de-
scription have had of Oil Creek,
Pennsylvania, the indications were not
so great as on Obed-
From CARROTS farm at the crossing
Of the river TO the West Fork and up
that stream ten miles, every mile there
are springs Of OIL There are strong in
dications Of lead You find it in large
Jumps in the creeks and on the ground,
and have no doubt from information
derived from gentlemen Of very high |
character, the richest lead mines OfOur
country win be developed in the soun-
ty Of Overton. iron and lead sre in |
abundance on the eastern side Of the
river The table land produces well.
The only draw back to the country con-
tiguous to the river for farming pur-
poses, where the lands can be cuitiYst-
ed. isitba milk sick. 4 u exists in sever
al sections Of the county, on this river.
The citizens Of the county have suffer
ed terribly from the dePredAtions of |
Champ Ferguson and other guerrilla |
bands. There is scarcely q horse left |
in the county; most Of the stock
has been driven of and they |
are poor indeed 1t is painful
to boar the ladies speak Of the trials
through which they have passed, We,
of the counties around Nashville, have
felt none Of the horrors Of war, COM
pared with this people. They are true
and loyal to the Government, and have |
been in the eastern part Of the county. !
The Western and southern part adhered
to the South. Hence bitter feud snd |
such strife as ID alone produced BY an
intsFnecine war There Is yet much |
bitterness of feeling. The leaders Of |
The dOmiuant party are disposed TO |
oppress and harrass the Southern men,
that prudence and consolation prop
or TO restore harmony and peace to the
country is not exercised BY those in su-
thority, and it viii require the strong |
arm Of the Governor, backed By the
military, to restore peace TO this coun-
u. Men on both sides viii have 10 be
disarmed Sr bloodshed win result from
the present state Of feeling. AlreAay
many acts Of violence have been com
mitted. i must now close, but win |
write you from Carthage GPfoS.
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