The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-23
KENTUoKY's LOST SILVER MINE.
Counterfeit Dollars That Recall the
Story Of the Rich Deposits of Ore.


Story of the Rich Deposits of Ore.
A special to the Cincinnati Enquirer
says: The arrest here we terday of George
w. Williams aud James II. Clark by
United Stat s officers on the charge of deal-
ing in aud manufacturing counterfeit silver
dollars which have in their comp sition a
laI &c percentage of silver has awakened a
discussion as to whether or not the IS WIFI
dollar, which pa sses current in this state
and is made of pure silver, is not a counter
felt. The bogus money manufactured by
Williams u Clark was skiilfully although
rudely made, and readily passed current, as
the percentage Of silver in its composition
made it almost impossible to detect its
baseness by ordinary test.
AS far back as. the days Of Daniel Boone
and Simon kenton it was known that some
where in the mountains of Kentucky there
was large and rich mine of silver. The
Indians knew of the existence of this mine
and converted the ore into ornaments for
their persons. even casting it into bullets,
whicu we're fired with deadly m at the
hardy pioneers on the dark and bloody
ground" Shortly after the settl ament of
Kentons station, Ga Limestone creek, above
Moysvllle, two adventurous men, named
CastIeman and Swift, penetrated TO the re-
mote mountain region that acts as a water
shed to the Kentucky, Licking, Little
Sandy and Big Sandy rivers, aud for
several years lived on amiable terms with
the Indians, who at that time held unds-
puted domain oyer the forests aud noun
tains. Swift was something of a doctor,
and he had family in old Virginia
Castleman was also married man, and his
descendants are to be found at this day in
kentucky-men Of honor aud probity-one
of whom, Gen. John B. Castleman Of Louis
VILE. having been adjutant general of the
state.
Swift. exercising his powers as a nedi-
cine man to relieve the sufferings of a sick
Indian chieftain, was rewarded with the
| secret OF the rich silver mine, and he and
Castleman carried away from the place
when they returned to civilization several
tons Of the precious metal loaded on the
backs of ponies. They were on friendly
terms with tue Indians and from time to
| time returned for fresh supplies of silver
Finally Castleman died, and ne left as q
legacy to his descendants no information
as TO the location OF the mine After his
death Swift made several trips to the rich
ore bed. on two or more occasions accom-
panied by his eldest son. He was eventually
killed in a fight with a small band Of
indians that were on the warpath The
son knew the secret of the mine and he
visited it, took the large quantities of the
ore and, being au enterpri ing man. melted
N%@C ,,
which, inUrinsically, are worth ona-third
more than the dollars issued by the govern
ment.
These coins are crudely made. On the
diverse side is the eifigy OF an Indian and
the words Zone doilarn On the reverse
side is the legend Liberty and the words
Estate of Kentucky enci cling q bear
rampant. There Is no telling how many of
these coins Swift put in circulation, but
they are still to be found among the noun
taineers. and the "Swiftn money passes
current whenever presented.
When Swift died the secret of the mine
persisted with him, but among his effects
was found rudely drawn map which fixed
the location of the precious deposit Guided
by this map many searches have been made
for the mine, the "entrause to whiten," ac-
cording to the directions appended 70 the
map, sis moste carefully and adroytly con-
csalled from human observayshion. The
mine is supposed to be located In Wolf
county, but its exact location remains a
mysterE, less the clever counterfeiters
arrested yesterday at this place have dis
cJvered it.