Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-06-08
COLO MINING IN. GEORGIA.
Tons of prec,ou. .,re s.,a to r.. Ax.u
able-value of Some Old Mines.

some tlnle ago u prominent geOlO-
gtst, on being approached on the SUBJ
ject. spoke Of the possibilities of the
production of Georgia gold very high.
". 1.-The gold in Georgia." said he,
lis in a perfectly accessible region,
winch makes 1t twice as valuable as
gold that might be taken out of Cali.
fornia or the Black Hills. A mime of
enormous richness is of little value il
1t IS in an impenetrable region. The
gold country of Georgia is in u per-
feet network Of railways. and the
metal al he found very near the
surface, thus making 1t easily reached
by the miner. The water courses
that pour DOVE the hills give the
best possible power, labor is cheap
and easily p%rocurable, and it is neces-
sary to transport the ore but q short
distance. In California It was fire..
Quently necessary to haul it t1fty or
a hundred miles. The value OF gold
is controlled to a great extent by the
cost of its production, and the ore in
North Georgia, being partially de-
composed, is worked with great fa.
cility. 1t looks as ii nature had con.
spired to put the enormous amount
OF gold in the hills of Georgia into
the M .ner's hands"
1t has been estimated that the gold
belt Of Georgia is about 100 miles in
breadth. The richest sections in This
belt have been found to be in the
counties OF Cherokee, Lumpkin.
White, and Dawson.
"A prominent Atlanta capitalist re-
Gently told a writer for the Atlanta
Constitution some pretty good stories
about the mines and seems to have
their whole history at his fingers
ends "There have been traditions
handed down for generations among
the Cherokee Indians, who once in
habited the northwest portion of
Georgia." he began, assuming a re-
Elective mood. .'in regard to the vast
quantities of gold stored away in the
Red Hills Of Northern Georgia. There
was an old chief named Cheynago-
wah, who could tell wonderful stories
about the richness of Cherokee gold.
The present location of the Cherokee
mills was n of the camps of the
Spanish invaders, who. under the
leadership Of De Soto, invaded
Georgia on their way to the Missis.
sippi, and atterward ON their return
to Spain related wonderful stories
about the immense richness Of the
ore to he found on the new conti-
nent The historic Etowah River
runs through this country, and the
old chief used to talk a great deal
about the superiority of the ore to be
found on the banks of a little creek
that emptied into the Etowah. The
little creek was Of such Importance
that it had several different names,
none of which were at all suitable.
They called it the Rio Creek
blanket Creek and the natives
would frequently combine the two,
and unite on Rio Blanket These
names were all derived from a Span
ish source, and the proper appella-
t on vas doubtless Rio Blanquetta.'
The Spanfards struck a trail along
the Etowah, and, keeping the much
named stream in sight, proceeded
through the very heart of the gold
country and passed over the sites of
the famous Franklin, PascO, and
Strickland mines There was an old
mine near these famous ones which
was formerly worked to 100 feet te-
low the water level and in its time
yielded 500 per ton. This mine was
situated on the little Blanket Creek"
A wel.-known mining specialist in
talking OF late discove. les recently,
said: ut seems to be decidedly in
the range Of probabilities that tons
of the precious ore can be taken out
Of the existing mines or newly opened
veins, il the proper machinery is
used and the shafts are sunk deep
enough. 1t is a question of interna.
t.Onal Importance where we mag re.
plenish the fast-dec easing supply Of
the precious metal when the mines
now being worked fail. 1 do not
think that government aid would be
misplaced in opening up these valu-
able lands. but whether or not any
action is taken by our Government,
the wonderful resources of the
Georgia hills cannot long remain un-
developed"
Cynical Men.