Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-04-25
From the A.heville Expoator.
. GEN. CLINGMAN,s LETTER. :

From the lsbevilIe Expositor.
. GEN. CLINGMAN's LETTER.
AsHrvunn, April a.,'-1s7s'
I = $500 ii reply to your in
.NILE LEY, e Seference to the mica de-
cures ; T tiiis section of the State, and
kos.HSpearance of early operations for
dc same, / can now, before leaving
town, only present you a brief state
ment.
| The old Cherokee Indians, living in
some of the western counties. used to
speak of tradition coming down in
their tribe, that long ago companies of
white men came on mnles from the
south, worked during the summer, and
carried off white metal with them
The remains of some old works in
Cherokee county seem to give counte-
nance to this report, and, at one place
at least, presents the appearance of hay
ing been excavated by persons skilled
in mining. The fact that they were
abandoned before much work was done
would rather imply that they were
mere tests, which had proved unsuc-
cessful.
There are, however, in other 1ocali-
ties, numerous remains of old excava-
tons, some of which are much more
extensive, and which we're done in a
different formation. In the wear 1867,
and in the early part of 1868, I exam
ined several of these localities in the
counties of cleveland and Rutherford
and Burke, on the east side of the Blue
Ridge, and in Mitchell, Yancey and Bun
combe. In most instances the work had
been slight, showing that it had been
done as mere experiment, which had
not proven satisfactory. In several To-
calities, however, it was very manifest
| that the operators had met with such
success as to cause them to extend
their working greatly. In every case
I examined, the outcrop of the veins
was so similar as to leave no doubt but
that the parties had found at certain
! localities come mineral of value to
them, and that wherever they observed
| like Indications they had made tests
Again, from the fact that they never
worked in hard ground-that is, where
the work required blasting-it was ev-
ident that they were not provided with
the means of blasting.
| At every one of the places I exam
ined mica was abundant in veins COM
posed chiefly of felspar and quartz,
the former generally predominating.-
The mica left among the debris was
| generally in small flakes, except at Mr.
Garrett Rays, on the waters of Bo-
Inns Creek, where a number of large
sheets had been left This last men
toned fact seemed to indicate that the
mica itself had not been the object of
the exploration.
The most extensive of all the exca-
vations was that on the land of Mr..
VIM. Silvers, IN Mitchell county, near
i the road from huntsville to Bakers
vile: From the appearances there it
would seem that large number of
miners had been at work for years at
that place. In the excavations, ex-
tending for about 400 yards, they had
at intervals left bars across as if to
prevent the earth at the sides from
| falling in--making thus succession of
! openings fifty OF sixty feet in extent,
| separated by narrow ridges of earth.
Timber which l examined, that had
| grown on the earth thrown out, had
been growing as long as three hundred
years. Near one of the workings, not
far from this place, / also saw q slab
marked by blows of metallic tool.
and which had, from the appearances
about it, been most probably Intended
to mark the locality.
AS the manner i'll which the work
had been done at Mr.. Silvers' resem-
bled that sometimes practiced by the
MeNcans, it seemed possible that
party of Spaniards-about the time
when Cortes was in Mexico. and De
Soto was in Florida-might have
rambled up into this region and, by
employing the Indians as laborers, in
the course of few years have caused
such explorations to be made. On
examining the material about the
place, [ found fragments that had been
thrown out very like in their appear
ance some of the best Mexican silver
ores. Several Western miners. to
whom the specimens were shown in
New York, prior to any assay, express
ed great confidence that they would 90
to two or three hundred dollars in
silver per ton. An assay. however,
seemed to show only three dollars per !
ton. I caused it to be repeated, and had |
the same reply. This would seem to in |
dictate that these were bits discarded be- |
cause too poor, but that the work had !
perhaps been prosecuted for silver. 1 |
caused therefore shaft to be SUM-. !
and two tunnels to be carried entirely
below the old excavations, and become
satisfied that there was no workable
silver ore to be found there. Large
mica of good quality was abundant.
1t seemed certain that this work had
all been done for mica. But the ques-
ton moro difficult TO answer presented
itself, by whom could this work have
been executed9 The Norsemen were
on our coast rs far back as six or seven
centuries ago; they might have pene-
trated into the interior, and by en-
ploving the natives have caused these
works to be executed, and carried the
mica away to be used as window
lights for their huts, as the inhabitants
Of the Arctic regions are said some
times to do. But OH the other hand I
have been informed that mica has ,
been found with other old Indian orna- I
nents and implements in certain caves j
n Tennessee, and perhaps elsewhere.
It does not therefore seem improbable s
hat former race of Indians-possi-
ply the "Moundbuilders, who used
copper tools-made these excavations {
or the purpose of procuring the mica. I I
These veins are found with the gneiss
md mica slate strata, which constitute t
he greater portion Of the rocks of this I
egion. The elements of their compo- T
ition are Identical with those c
# these strata, and even of clay '
late. The difference is wholly in the 1
tructure of the veins, and not in their V
dement's. In the veins the felspar, t
which usually predominates, exists i
pure, the quartz in Jumps or s
arge masses, and the mica in chrystals z
f various sizes, sometimes weighing v
everal hundred pounds. Near the y
urface the felspar, converted by at t
lospheric action into kaolin, presents @
halky looking belts, with quartz lying n
4 Jumps of different sizes, and more f
r less mica scattered around S
As almost all the rocky strata of this t
nd the adjoining counties consist in n
art of mica, persons must expect to t
nd it everywhere. For commercial fl
it is to be sought therefore q
here it exists in plates of some size, p
sufficiently transparent, and is free "
ON such contortions and flaws as q
revent its being split into thin sheets. | a