Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-09-29
NO. ~.

AS VIC barely in;imatcd in our last number
the great f,rrslIodowing designs Of Nature in
furnishing the opportunities for the develop
mcnt OF the resources OF all localities, and
supplying the wants OF nan and demands of
commerce in each succeeding age permit
! us to rccur, and remind your readers that the
great lines Of r,ilwuy, now in operation or
wh>re"cr projected, in the South especially,
but follow the lndinu and pack horse trails,
from the sea ports to the base OF the noun.
talnS, aud wherever attempts arc made to
pass these seeming natural barriers, the samc
paths and trails In. follow the irdentions
made 10y Nature herself. The ancient Jndian
| trail from Charleston to the mountaiD, pissed
| along at many points the same as tie Green
vile & Columbia Railroad, viz, Ninety Six,
Greenwood, IIonca Path, to OLE Fort George,
on the Kcowcc, thence by Oconcc, over the
mountains, to CLAYTON a.d the head springs
| of the little Tennessee At or near Clayton
they divcrgcd dom the Tennessee, and across
| to the IIiw.asce, whilst cross trails went
J southwa.d to An, lsta and Savannah We
left Clayton with all its quiet comforts, on
the lliwassce trail, and commenced the gen
tie ascent of the west branch of the Sticoa
creek. For four miles we had succession
of pleasant valleys and farm houses, until we
commenced the rise of the hills between Sti
Goa and her nciyhhor on the west side We
found the same rich mountain sites, cool wa.
ter and delightful atmosphere but soon VIC
commenced the decent TO other streams and
farms, aud found ourselves on Timson' creek
and going down at more rapid rate. Here
again, the monstrous timber trees surprised
us. Vast numbers of the largest specimens
ofall the kinds useful in agriculture and the
arts, and no one to put them into form and
shape But stop ut a sudden turn of the
road, We came across q man, young and ath.
lctic, irving shingles or boards from o trec--
and such trco. lie had sawn off thrco or
four cuts, 81 inches long, md was irving
away. Now we venture, if he has finished these
blocks, and intends to rive up tho whole tree,
ho is there yet, and will perhaps be there un
til the end OF the year. For that tree would
mako boards enough to-to-- cover the ac
| counts of the city of New York, or the dcf,l.
cations of our Radical officials The stream
grows in volume aud the farms enlarge, until
wo arrive at the Tallulah river On the
bank, just at the crossing, VIC find a merchant
with his solitary store house. We look in
sec Nothcrn shectings and homcspuns,
hardware, spades and shovcls, with handles
from southern ash, and few spinning wheels,
certainly made at home.
The Tallulnh river here is gentle, quiet
murmuring stream, strangely in contrast with
its terrific, boisterous, foaming leaps and dash
es few miles below. We cross mt q bcauti
ful shallow ford, turn up its green banks, and
immediate find Dicks Greek, Of which wo had
hoard before and rather dreaded. In - fcw
miles, on each side of The road, the groat heaps
Of quartz, rock, sand and gravel indicate
search for gold, and farther on, tho muddy
stream, and splashing noise of rockers and
fumes, with tho stream carried in successive
terraces, until it is high up, on tho sides of
tho hill, introduce tho visitor to tho busy
scenes Of tho celebrated gold mino, now being
worked on lease by Col Hanson. Wo hear
the usual marvellous reports of nuggets and
rich yields, but havo no time to experiment.
! or verify, for Dicks Creek hos to bo run out