Swift treasure map and illo of silver ingots
Kentucky / Treasure hunting

Swift’s Silver Mine – lost or merely invented?

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“I suppose there is no part of the mountains of Kentucky that has not had some experience in search for this silver mine. Last summer (1921) I was on the train going from Pineville to Harlan, when someone on the train pointed out to me a large cliff on the opposite side of the river that had recently been partly blown away in the search for the silver of this mine.

Photo caption: Swift's silver mine - Jonathan Swift's deed to Peter Hope, England, for the mine.
Photo caption: Swift’s silver mine – Jonathan Swift’s deed to Peter Hope, England, for the mine.

“It came out in the conversation that some man had come here, probably from the west, and with maps in his possession had located the mine here. He spent much money, time and labor in the futile attempt to disclose it in the cliff.

“James Renfro lived at Cumberland Ford in the early days, 1821 to 1832, and it has been said that the Journal of Swift was left with Mrs. Renfro after the death of her husband.

“The Renfros came from Virginia, but it may be that another Renfro family figured in the possession of the Journal. I think it probable that Swift never left any money here as he claimed, but evidently he came here searching for silver.

“Mr. William Low, of Pineville, in his letter of October 29, 1921, has this to say of Swift’s journal: ‘I asked Mr. Gibson (Frank Gibson, son of J. J. Gibson) about Swift’s journal. Someone told him that there was such a document, but I doubt the fact myself. I never heard of such a document (in fairness to Mr. Low, I might say here that he was not reared in this section but came here as a young man) and I have heard a great deal about Swift’s Silver Mine.

‘This mine has been searched for in every county in eastern Kentucky and personally I very much doubt whether there ever was such a mine, or that any silver was ever obtained from a mine in Kentucky. Years ago it was supposed that this mine, or at any rate a silver mine, had been found on Clear Creek, and a company of native citizens, John I. Partin and others, and some others whose names I have forgotten, secured patents and organized what they called a mining company, but nothing was ever discovered, in the way of silver ore, on this land.

‘I have understood that about Ferndale years ago some persons thought that silver existed and some work was done towards opening a mine at that place, but no silver existed. Since I have been in Bell County, there have been a number of persons here from other places searching for Swift’s Silver Mine because every place where it was thought silver existed was at once claimed to be the place where Swift claimed he found the mine.

Rock Bridge

He made repeated research trips to what he called the “Trans-Allegheny West,” generating interviews, research notes, and correspondence. To these he added hand written reproductions of unpublished journals, extracts from newspapers and other published sources, muster rolls, and transcripts of official documents.

Draper was the first corresponding secretary for the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and lived much of his life in Madison. His manuscript collection was bequeathed to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Swift Silver Mine | Kentucky Life | KET

‘I doubt if ever Swift was in Bell County. There is an old survey located in Letcher County which calls for a survey made by Swift, but so far as I know no silver was ever discovered on Swift’s survey.’

“The mountain people in the past have been good subjects for the creation of this folk-tale, since no mines have been found that we can trace to Swift. They lived for a century far from railroads in a wilderness of mountain country. They made a living, a bare living in many instances, by the hardest of work. People in this condition dream of wealth and luxury.

“The story of Swift fell into fertile soil of their dreaming minds and became fixed there as a fact. After it became fixed, and no mines could be found, then reasons were invented to account for not finding the silver. Hence, dark caves with heaped-up silver guarded by demons, great kettles of silver deep down in the ground protected by a league of devils, and many other stories grew up around this tradition. What better modern folk-tale could we have?”

sources: HISTORY OF BELL COUNTY KENTUCKY VOL 1, by Henry Harvey Fuson, Hobson Book Press, 1947
Draper Manuscript Collection/Wisconsin Historical Society

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33 comments

  1. I found the mine. I’ve been into it; it is on the hill above my grandpa in a place called River Bend below Crum, WV.

    You can see the old rocky underwater bridge they made to cross the river. In the mines you can go into the big opening and it crosses over to the other mines that only have an entrance as big around as a small barrel. You used to be able to squeeze into a little opening, but it has been buried over time by fallen leaves.

    I traveled a short way into the other mines and was afraid it would fall in. It also has a 3rd mine that i never entered. Go to River Bend, WV. It’s on the west side of the hill but i think it connects all the way through to the mines on the south side of the hill.

    As you go up the hollow you turn left; you will see a moon-shaped rock that comes out enough to look like it’s a rock house. As you look around the rock you will find big flat rocks on the north side. I think that is the place the coins are hid.

    In the mines you will find all types of old bottles that came from other countries. And in the mines is a small set of rails that they used to cart out the ore.

    This was not a coal mine because there is no coal in or around the mines.

    Go look at this place! It has markings in the stones set in with metal of some sort.
    It’s a must see.

  4. I believe that Swift’s mentioned mines were caches of silver stolen from Spaniards & such by the Shawnee Indians. Swift was melting it down & making counterfeit coins to take back to his native country.

  5. Sure miss all my older kin and friends from the 50’s in the Campton region. Wish I had Taylor and sure did enjoy Earl’s Journey on the James but my interest was the religious angle of the new world which has left me too poor to pursue any tales. We only found lead above Devils Creek never any silver for my efforts. It is not on CNN so it is not Fake News.

  7. My Father as a boy and his friend HL as well as HLs Father went a coon hunting , well as you may know a coon that’s being chased by a passel of Dawgs either has one of two choices climb a tree or get into a hole that’s small enough that a dog can’t fit into . Well this particular ole coon chose the later .
    My Father being a skinny lanky kid and HL , back then they worked like bank mules and ate enough to get by from starving to death . Back to the story , the dogs were barking into a hole in the ground that was partly covered with leaves and such , upon further inspection they noticed it odd that the entrance was square , after even more inspection , now you must take into consideration the only light source other than the God given one being the blue moon of Kentucky was carbide lights . For you that’s not familiar with them well their are a canister that you fill the carbide it’s a solid chalky substance and you ad water or plan ole spit into the canister which than causes a reaction a gas which goes through a tube which then goes to a metal dish shaped shiny object with a flint like a big lighter has attached you strike the flint and the gas coming up through the tube lights a flame in which reflects off the contraption thes fixed to ones hat . Then wahla a minders day light for 1940s in Kentucky . To get back to the hole to further inspect where the coon was hiding out they squeezed down into a room they could stand up in Dad said it was small about eight ft by eight ft then a door that led into another larger room . What was really wild is that there were Indian symbols on the walls and pottery inside . Why they didn’t grab some amazes me but they were hunting something to eat they weren’t archeologists , they assumed and yes it does ! They thought they would come back in the day and then could see better to get the old pots lol . Well they went back again and again and never to this day could never find the entrance they thought would be so easy to find . Dad has told me this story ever since I was a kid , he did say it was on top of the mountain that you could see car lights on big creek side and the enterance was on little creek side just about five yards below the top . I believe I could get close to where they were given they could see both creeks . I don’t know why we never tried to find it I’d sure like to try before I get like Dad to old to try . I do know my Dad is telling the truth .

  8. Me, my brother, and a friend who is now deceased found the mine after many years of search in the mountains around the Big Sandy River. It had been mined out. We found nothing with metal detectors. That was forty years ago. Some mighty fine paw paw trees though!

  9. Well my name is Trent Quinn,
    I found the mines about 6 days ago and can prove it with out a doubt. It’s a remarkable find and it is rich with silver and gold. I’ve got pictures over the old furnace and pictures of the seams where Swift was working. It’s not a myth but it’s a great legend for sure. I can’t wait to share my story with you soon.

  12. Dungannon, Virginia is the place where the mines are located at. It’s bigger than I expected and will take some time to view all that’s here. It’s mind blowing.

  14. I have discovered that Swift buried a lot of stones and rock that is packed with some real fine gold. The rocks and stones are cut into shapes like small dog houses, small doors and some that resembles
    tome stones. They are buried all around each cliff where he had a mine. There’s a lot of silver ore deposits still in the mines today! He had some expert masons that also hid gold and silver in hidden compartments that you can’t see at all. Swift was a clever man!

  16. Trent Quinn we need to talk I have information on swift mines We have the same interest on swift mines i am from wise county information that I have shows it is here high knob area

  17. Well I would love to talk to you but I think I already found it! I found a lot already and already smelted silver from the ore. I live in Dungannon on dry creek and I’m retired so come see me.

  18. Pingback: Swift's Silver: Weird Appalachian Cases

  19. Trent any updates? Sounds very promising and its been about 5 months since your last post. I am sure you can’t share all details especially if you are actually working it. Let us know even if it didn’t work out. Still great progress regardless. I have found people that get out for real and find stuff will find more and better things the longer they go.

  20. Yes it’s been a while since I got back to you but I’ve learned so much about this area since then. My water sample shows for silver, aluminum, maganeise, barium, magnesium, and more. The red rock here is running with a fault line that over time has weathered and exposed some nice mineral caves. I’ve got the GoPro ready to go so I can bring you some great footage

  22. Well it sure is rich all around here for sure. I’ve located some nice ore that I’ve been testing. Great results!
    I learn something new every day!

  23. Well it all fell into place late yesterday evening after smelting a piece of ore that I found in what I thought was a ore stash. It was the best run that I had so far. I went out again and found four large nice looking quartz positioned over a seam in the branch. I noticed a green and brown rock that was stood up just like the one in the old grave yard on the mountain. That is where I found the stashed ore. I followed the bright colored boulders that someone had marked where the quartz was under the ground. I noticed that the green rock was being concealed so I climbed further. Then there it was a huge green boulder and I then knew it was a special place. The middle mine! Right down the branch is a spectacular sight to see it’s the furnace and like one you will never see. I’m confident that this is the Swift Silver Mines and I’m glad that we can all enjoy this adventure!

  24. Wait till you see what I’ve found and I can’t wait to show you as I peel the dirt and grass back! It’s the turtle with his head peeping out. Yes it happened today on my birthday This one is a big one and I’ve struck a large amount of silver ore here and also the Swift Silver Mines. This is 100 times bigger than what you could imagine.

  25. Well I learn something new every day about what’s here in dungannon. I can’t wait to show you what’s here. So far I’ve found silver, platinum and even some gold. Here’s what I know so far. If you connect the dots between the rock formations then you will realize they are also connected by stone. The anchor is connected to the buffalo with the chief face. Go west and you will intersect another seam at the Cherokee stairs which runs across the creek straight to the out crop. From there you follow the ridge and you will run into the remarkable rocks and yes they are. From the remarkable rock there’s a seam that out crops across the branch that at one time was connected. Over time the creek and the branch cut through the veins and left them exposed. I’m headed to the next rock formation to get some pics. Wish us luck snakes are out.

  26. I’ve located the three crowns carved in a big stone and I’ve located the turtle, and the middle mine. This is a big find and yes, I can’t wait to share all with you Swift fans!

  27. I found the three hash marks, the owl and the middle mine entrance. I’ve turned the treasure find over to the land owners and we should have some pics later. I’ve got to take the night time pics tonight to get the full effect for you all.

  28. I aint far up the road from you Id like to check it out. I dont want anything I dont wanna take pictures I just wanna see with my own eyes

  29. @james powers I fully believe high knob is the place…Id love to get in touch with you and we go take a look im a younger feller so I dont care to put boots on the ground

  30. Well only time will tell but I can tell you it’s looking great for a final finally here in Dungannon VA. It is looking like treasure!

  31. Hi to everyone! I hope you get this wise co. VA! I figured out that the bear rock is where Swift wounded the bear, found the cave and found the rich ore north or the bell! From there the ore runs right through flatwoods to guest river. I’ve got pictures that will help locate with. While you are busy with that I’m here at the middle mine breaking the seal on the void that I’ve located. Wish me luck!

  32. It’s real folks! I finally figured out the middle mine location and I will be breaking the seal real soon! I’ve been using a small inspection cam to enter the void with to help me avoid getting bit by the huge rattle snakes and copperheads! I’m headed to Scott county this week to get a dig permit even though it’s on my property! We are going to do it right and I’m bringing in the proper authorities like I’m supposed to do! Please wish me luck and keep me in your prayers!

  33. The process has began! ETSU has been sent the invitation to study the discovery and the proper authorities have been notified!

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