Year In Review

    I thought I would end the year with a post reviewing some of the highlights of this past year regarding this blog site and some things associated with the release of my book entitled Swift. It has been an exciting year with lots of stories of places and information about the legend.

    Back in January Mike and Ross Steely produced the most recent and up-to-date video regarding the John Swift legend. I was honored to be interviewed on that video and met the boys at the beautiful Cumberland Falls Dupont Lodge for the taping. It was a chance to see my good friend Mike again. I believe the last time I saw Mike was at the Silver Mine Weekend he had arranged in Jellico, Tennessee back in 1992, twenty years ago!

Brochure from 1992 Swift weekend

    Mike invited me to speak at the event a couple of years during the course of the time the event was held.  It was probably the biggest gathering of truly Swift researchers to ever come together in one place. The video is a very nice collection of information and fully explains the Swift legend and the historical background.



    The most viewed two articles this year were "About the Quartz" and "Search for a Peculiar Rock."

Kentucky Agate

 The quartz article was an attempt to explain the many variations of the mineral in Kentucky. The peculiar rock piece focused on some of the many strange rock formations and landmarks found in the Red River Gorge area that are linked to the Swift legend.  The photo on the left is of Kentucky Agate, the official rock of Kentucky and one of the most prized agates in the world. They are only found in about four counties of Kentucky in all the world.

Haystack Rock in Red River Gorge

 The later post was written by Kiowa Scott Muncie that has been featured as my only guest blogger so far. Kiowa is an avid outdoors man and has spent countless hours searching for the hidden Swift treasure.









    In May we made the special offer of the "Aqua clips for online purchases of the book and posted about the strange Red Bird Carvings located in Manchester, Kentucky. The clips are not common in our area but are a great way to carry water or favorite beverage in plastic bottles on your belt on any hike. Once you try them, you'll always take one on your day hike for sure.

In May we featured the Red Bird Rock Carving. The ancient stone carvings or petroglphs are among the most unusual in the state and though some believe them to be forms of different ancient alphabets the question of their origin and time are still an unsolved mystery.




    We promoted our honey in July. We raise honeybees and have several working hives in our apiary. Our honey is noted for its mild, light flavor resulting from the bountiful locust blooms in our area during the spring. We have sold out this year but check with us in the early summer of 2013.  We also have a blog site about our bees located here.

    I have been running this blog for three years and all during that time every single article has been Kentucky related with one exception. In September I published short article called "Walking Thunder." Actually, it was more of a promotion of Ed Whiting and some of the Native Lakota traditional items that Ed makes.

 



    I had a few book signings this year around the state. I had the pleasure to meet some very interesting and nice people. Some had tremendous knowledge of the Swift legend and pioneer Kentucky history.

    So this really has been a good year. I want to thank each of you for visiting my blog throughout the year and especially thank you to all those who purchased a copy of my book. I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday season!

Pinnacle Knob

Pinnacle Knob Fire Tower

  This past autumn included a rare opportunity to visit one of the only restored "fire towers" still standing in Kentucky. Beginning in the late 1930's the US Forest Service and various state governments across the land began constructing observation towers on the highest points around the state. Their sole purpose was to locate and accurately pinpoint wildfires.
  In the heavily forested areas of Kentucky. Wildfires became, and still are, a problem during dry springs and especially the dry fall season with the continuous build up of falling leaf material coupled with the usually dry weather.
  At one time there were as many as 165 fire towers dispersed across the state according to the records.
Most were built in the 1930's and have since been removed or fell into disrepair. They served our state well up until the use of airplanes to provide spotter activities replaced the need for the fire towers.

View east from tower in October

  Located on Cumberland Falls State Park is the only completely restored fire tower in the state today of 165 towers at one time. It was originally constructed in 1937 and was built on the large cabin plan. Basically, there were two kinds of designs of fire towers. The seven foot by seven foot cab design that offered just a small space for the tower man to move about and work the fire finder. This is the most common type of towers one occasionally sees today along remote roads. In the eastern U.S. the far less common fourteen by fourteen foot cabin design are all gone in Kentucky except the Pinnacle Knob tower. A similar tower is Tater Knob located in Bath County in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Though its original construction was drastically altered it was open to the public until arsonists burned it in recent years. It is now closed to the public. The larger cabin style tower provided a place in a remote area the tower man could stay the fire season providing more time to watch for fires and less time walking to and from the tower. Fire towers to be effective must be located on the highest elevation in an area sometimes which are in remote places.

Cumberland Falls Park Naturalist, Bret Smitley, demonstrates the alidade

  Pinnacle Knob is really a rare historic place and has carefully been restored to its original condition which includes a bed, a stove for cooking and heat, a water cistern with guttering on the cabin to collect the water. The most important item and now very rare was the alidade or fire finder. This was the instrument every "fire watcher" used to help pin point the exact location of the fire. Basically, the alidade was like a giant compass with degrees indicated around the outside rim with the "face" of the compass being a topographical scale map of the entire region within vision of the tower. Two horse hair sights located on each side of the finder allowed the fire watcher to use the device to line up the direction of the fire. Basically the tower man would see a smoke rising in the distance, then sight through the fire finder sights. With the finder turned to the direction to aim the sights at the distant smoke, the fire tower man would then note the degree number setting on the side and call the forest district office and report the sighting degree. Other fire towers in the region would do the same and, of course, each would call in a different degree. In the main office the ranger had a large map board of the whole area and the various fire tower locations. The only thing that needed to be down was to stretch a string from each sighting tower corresponding to the degree setting they reported and the strings will intersect at some point on the map, the location of the fire. A fire crew could be quickly assembled and dispatched to the identified location. Actually, the concept was ingenious.

A "catwalk" completely surrounds the 14' X 14" living quarters

  Like most things new innovations and devices replace the old. So it went with the grand fire towers of Kentucky. By the mid 1970's small aircraft replaced the fire towers as a less expensive way to fire watch. Aircraft had become plentiful and affordable to operate. There were many more pilots as well.  Gradually, most of the towers were taken down and removed, with a few still remaining here there but none officially used for fire watching.
  I read that Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, the land on which the tower is located, opens the tower for visitors and provides on site interpretive information one day each month during the summer season. Park Naturalist, Bret Smitley was on hand this visit to offer great explanations of the use of the equipment  and life in the fire tower during fire season. It is a gorgeous view and especially breathtaking on this October day.  I should mention the mile hike to the tower does have some steep climbing to the top of the rock pinnacle the tower is perched upon. The tower is 40 feet high requiring climbing a series of metal steps to reach the top and the fantastic view of the area including the river below the Cumberland Falls.

Visitors descend the steps of the 40 ' high structure

  If you have the opportunity this year to make the trip to Cumberland Falls and take the hike to the Pinnacle Knob fire tower, I am quite sure you will enjoy the trip and the adventure. This most unique part of Kentucky history has thoughtfully and carefully been restored to its original look and feel. Aside from the unique learning experience, the view is breathtaking. On the day of my visit I met people from North Carolina, Tennessee and all around Kentucky taking advantage of this warm, colorful autumn day to visit the last of its kind fire tower standing in Kentucky.


  My book Swift is still available in print and Kindle versions at either: Booklocker or Amazon.com. It is also available through most bookstores.

Swift's Silver Mine: The Truth Behind the Legend

    If you are new to this blog site and perhaps just starting your research into the legend that has captivated people in several states for more than two hundred years then you should start with this video. Swift's Silver Mine, the Truth Behind the Legend was produced by Ross and Mike Steely and released earlier this year.

Video session at Cumberland Falls DuPont Lodge. Roy Price being interviewed with Ross Steely video taping

    The video gives a good overall background to the legend and variations and consists of interviews with many folks associated with the search today. It is a great starting point and though I linked this video in a previous post I believe it to be worthwhile to mention again here.

Swift People

     By now you know I have fond memories of the Swift legend and lore. Whether it is ever found or ever even existed is not the point to me. The point is basically in two areas and one of the main reasons I choose to write a historical fiction. My aim was to do basically two things. First, I believe this legend of lost mines of silver ore and hidden treasure in counterfeit coins worth millions to be the oldest known, recorded and kept continually "alive" passed down through the generations. It likely predates our countries independence and most certainly predates the formation of the state of Kentucky. Isn't it worth keeping alive for the next upcoming generations? I think so. Secondly, the searchers and dreamers of recent years and today are interesting and amazing people. Those who live in Eastern Kentucky will likely know or have known someone who searched for the lost treasure. I have met many over the years and can easily find hundreds on Facebook, TreasureNet and other online resources. I am listing here some of those folks that have impacted me the most in keeping this story in the back of my mind-always. Some I met in my childhood; some I have only had the pleasure to meet recently. All have an amazing amount of knowledge about both Kentucky history and the variations of the lost silver mine stories. Some here are now gone from us while others are a "new" generation of seekers and buffs that carry the famous legend forward to yet new generations to come.

Michael Paul Henson 

    So I write my book based on the best historical evidence of the real people of the time and the activities of modern day treasure hunters. Of course, I speculate my own personal theories throughout the book. We will never know the minds of the early pioneers and why such a story of riches was uncovered or contrived. Either way it absolutely makes for a great story.

    Most of my posts that relate to the Swift treasure and obviously promoting my book deal with various aspects of Kentucky history, places and landmarks. But those people, those wonderful and driven people who were not and are not afraid to follow their dreams if for nothing more than the pure pleasure of the hunt, they are worth mentioning as much or if not more than the story itself. The Swift hunters, as they are often called, study, evaluate, and scrutinize documents, clues and field sites testing their theories. They are not crazy or nuts as some skeptics and disinterested person have been known to say. They are providing the rest of us the service seeing this legend remains alive past our days. I think that is a nice thing and I hope you do too. 

    I would like to devote today's entry to a few that I have had the honor and pleasure to have met or been in contact with over the years. This is by no means an exclusive club. There have been thousands over the years to take up this strange chase or hobby, call it what you want. These are just the few I have encountered and I wanted you to meet them.

    Perhaps to the Swift hunters themselves, the "Dean" as they often refer to him, is Michael Paul Henson. Paul followed after the treasure tale for many years amassing a huge amount of information including about every variation of the "Swift journal" that was around. He published books ( the first books) on the subject and numerous articles for various magazines. Paul was the go to man for nearly every Swift hunter and was known all across the country. Also, Paul was my cousin. His books are still sought out in libraries today by people looking for confirmation and clues to their own search efforts. Since Paul's first books several others have written and published books on the topic and there are more coming out every year. So far as I can tell my book Swift is the only novel written with the Swift tale as subject matter for the fictional account.

Mr. Tipton and his mine workings on the South Fork of the Red River

   My dad and I were driving around the headwaters of South Fork of the Red River and happened upon Mr.   Tipton. He had excavated half the side of a mountain and told us on this visit he was pretty certain he had found the vein of silver ore that John Swift had mined. He certainly had moved a lot of dirt and rock. I can't say for sure whether he did or did not find any silver. He showed us a rock that looked to me to be galena (lead.) It was shiny like silver but I did not think is was the real ore. I never heard anymore whether or not 
     Back in 1992 I had the great pleasure of spending an afternoon with Reverend Charles Allen of Sand Gap, Kentucky.  Sand Gap is located in Jackson County.  I met Mr. Allen at his home and spent most of the day with him hiking back to an area he believed he had discovered the silver ore that Swift and company mined. Charles Allen was not your average silver mine hunter, though he had claimed to have found the workings.  He had carefully identified the correct light houses, various rock landmarks and creeks.  The area he  identified was, indeed like many areas, located under and around one of the many sandstone rock houses that exist all along the escarpment of Eastern Kentucky.  It was an enjoyable day to be sure and and he was remarkably fit. This man, in his 70's, nearly walked me to death that day and I recall having a difficult time keeping up with him. 

Charles Allen, claimed to be descended from Swift and to have found the mine

     Charles Allen was a silver mine hunter to be sure but his special gift; his uniqueness among all the rest of us was his claim to be a descendant of John Swift.  Yes, that's right, Charles Allen claimed to have very accurately traced his ancestry back to John Swift and beyond.

     OK, I know, this sounds like a wild tale and I have no way to confirm other than the paper he gave me that day when I departed, very tired and with samples of iron hematite-no silver on this visit.  Now the serious researcher can easily find that John Swift married a Virginia woman named Ann (Nancy in some accounts) Roberdeau.

  Charles Allen claims  John Swift married a Cherokee woman of the Red Cherokee Tribe living in the area that is now Jackson County, Kentucky.  Without going into a list of genealogy records, Mr. Allen claims that his great, great (I think four greats) grandmother was one Theina Renfrowe.   Theina, Allen insists, was the daughter of John and Dandelion Swift.

Mike Steely, author of books and articles about the legend

    Anyone these days should not go searching for any treasure in Kentucky, Tennessee or Virginia without taking along a copy of Mike Steely's great book, Swift's Silver Mines and Related Appalachian Treasures. Mike published this work back in 1995 and to this day is one of the best collections of treasure stories of the region to be published and one can still get copies from Amazon.com and other online sources.
    Mike also worked with others in the community of Jellico, Tennessee to put together a weekend devoted exclusively to the John Swift Silver Mine. It was not a festival, but rather an event that brought Swift searchers together in one place to share ideas. Sadly, the event is no more.
     During this past winter Mike and his son were in the process of filming the documentary      

Roy Price, well known researcher in the Jellico/Pine Mountain area

at Cumberland Falls State Park. Mike had invited Roy Price to be filmed telling about some of the early history and Swift information he had around Southern Kentucky and Northeastern Tennessee. This was the first time I had met Roy Price even though I was acquainted with some of his research and experience on the subject of Swift. I listened to Roy speak about the early history of the Falls area and realized Roy was a treasure of knowledge about the Swift legend. Now days I follow Roy's posts and adventures into the cliff country of Tennessee. 

Timithoy Belcher, historian and Swift  researcher in the Breaks area on Pine Mountain

    If you are ever near the Breaks in Pike County, specifically Elkhorn City and there is an event that Timithoy Belcher is attending and speaking, go see him. Tim is quite amazing in all the knowledge and information he has on the Swift legend as well as other lost treasures in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. I met Tim at a book signing in Elkhorn City a few months ago and had a most learned and enjoyable experience ever on the subject of treasure. The fact of the matter, Tim pointed out to me that more mysterious treasures have been found along the Pine Mountain than in any other area of the state.

Albertson Search Party 1960 searching in RR Gorge 

    Back in the sixties there were Swift hunters  from Virginia under the leadership of Eddie Albertson searching heavily in the Red River Gorge. This particular group spent several seasons and tremendous expense exploring the region on the headwaters of Chimney Top Creek in Wolf County, Kentucky. In fact they discovered what they claimed to be one of the furnaces prepared to smelt the silver ore. Present day Silver Mine Arch near the Koomer Ridge Campground takes its name from the fact it was discovered near the supposed silver smelting furnace was discovered.

Kiowa Scott Muncie searches in the Red River Gorge 

      One of the new generation Swift lore and treasure hunters is Kiowa Scott Muncie. Kiowa's primary search area is the Red River Gorge. He actively explores the cliff country, retracing every landmark and clue that is available. Kiowa has even posted some very interesting articles on this very blog site and I must say has come up with some pretty unique twists and ideas on the possible location of the mines. He also has a Facebook page devoted to the silver mine legend.
    There are many more of you out there and some of you I am friends with on Facebook. I do apologize for not listing you here and this listing by no means is an attempt to represent anything other than some of those hunters, researchers and dreamers I have had the good fortune to come into contact with over the years.
     If you have questions or wish to make contact with any of these fine people, just leave a comment below and I will be happy to forward to them. Perhaps you can share and learn from them or if this is all new to you  then join in the search and help us keep the legend alive!

  

Indian Stairway Video

    Back in 2011 I shot a short video (59 seconds) of my daughter and friend negotiating the famous Indian Stairway of the Red River Gorge. In all the versions of the Swift journals describing the terrain and landmarks, an Indian stair steps or stairway is mentioned. The site of this unusual, obviously man-made cliff access, is in the heart of some of the most breath taking landscapes anywhere. In Swift's journals the steps are supposedly near at least one of his hidden "mines."

    With that in mind, take a look at this climb "down" the stair steps. The music is a bit "cheesy" for the grand efforts going on but it was one of the first videos I made with my movie maker program and, well, the excitement of editing a complete video, overcame me. 

    Check out my book Swift which can be purchased in paper back or Kindle here.

Was John Swift a Pirate?

     According to the legend of John Swift, in his own words, claimed he was a captain of a ship and owned a company of sailing ships. He says he was a successful business man transporting merchandise from both England and the seas around Cuba. Though he never claimed to be a pirate there are some modern day Swift researches that believe he may well have been a one.
    In one version of the supposed journal Swift wrote down himself he gives a brief description that he and some others in his company sailed to Cuba. Now Swift worked off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts and though the so called golden age of pirates was several decades before this time, piracy on the high seas has never stopped even until this day. Swift never actually states under which flag he sailed but it would likely have been the British or Colonial flag. His venture to Cuba also meant that he was comfortable sailing into Spanish waters. The British and Spanish, though hostilities had been resolved between the two nations, still moved in their separate domains. The Spanish having taken control of South America and the British moving to take North America. Britain by Swift's time had become enemies with France. This resulted in the French and Indian alliances trying to hold back the westward expansion of the British via colonial expansion.

    Though this is a much simplified description of the times, Swift claims to have lived actually during these times. These were also the beginning times of the American revolution. In fact, John Swift says by his account to have found out about the rich silver mines from befriending a French prisoner captured by the troops under the command of British General Braddock. Daniel Boone and John Finley both were in this army as wagon team masters. At this moment of our history colonist and British troops fought a common enemy, the French and Indians.

    It has always been an amazing concept that one day a French man is a POW to the British and in a few years this same man is leading the American born British citizen to silver mines. And beyond that, instead of smelting the silver into ingots and moving the silver out, Swift devises a scheme to counterfeit the newly smelted silver into coins. He says the coins were English Crowns created under the skillful hands of former mint worker Seth Montgomery who joined Swift on his adventure. The idea, of course, was that British money was the money for the colonies. 
    Strangely enough, most of the larger treasure discoveries of the Appalachia country actually turn out to be Spanish silver coins, the ones like found on so many ship wrecks of the Spanish ships that ferried the riches from Columbia and Peru. Some of the finds have be quite impressive. These coins were the type most commonly captured by pirate ships marauding the American coastline all the way to the Florida Keys.
    Bill Gibson of Elkhorn City, Kentucky made an astonishing discovery several years ago. While searching, following clues and by pure chance Bill stumbled upon a cache of buried coins somewhere on the Pine Mountain in that region of the state. The coins are not British counterfeits. They are Spanish pieces of eight and some think they are counterfeit. Whether they are or not, the fact that real coins of silver were discovered hidden in a rock shelter/cave somewhere in the very region that Swift says he was during the mid 1700's is truly amazing. 
    One thing we all seem to forget about in the drama and excitement in following the Swift legend is that Swift and his party of men were certainly committing a high crime. So one can logically conclude that perhaps Swift, if he really existed, was not a very truthful person and capable of other crimes beside this obvious one. Perhaps Swift and his company of men acquired their silver from Spanish ships and simply escaped into the mountains to hide their plunder and not be hanged. Of course, we will probably never know about this and perhaps I and others are simply over extending our imagination regarding the Swift lore. One thing is for sure, Bill Gibson found buried treasure and those silver coins never got there by themselves!
    If you are new to this blog site, I invite you to take a look around in the archives of previous posts located over here on the right side this page. You will find lots of great information and photographs. The subjects are varied and not all Swift related but are uniquely  Kentucky. 

    And if you would like to read my novel based on the Swift legend you can get your copy here. It's a fun and adventurous romp through history and modern day Kentucky. 

    

Walking Thunder

 

   I am writing this entry on behalf of my friend Ed Whiting of the Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota.Ed, also known as Walking Thunder, is a Dakota and craftsman of the traditional items of the Dakota people of the plains. I had the good fortune to meet and become acquainted with Ed and his lovely wife, Bea who is a Lakota Native American. Ed is a true Dakota that has great talent and great insight. Utilizing his skills passed down through his ancestors I was surprised a couple of Christmas's ago with an amazing handcrafted bow complete with quiver and arrows. He carefully crafted the bow from  Osage Orange wood, while the arrows are made from cherry saplings, with bone points. The quiver is made of Buffalo hide and the sheath for the bow is made of tanned Elk hide. Ed makes a few items to sell occasionally by special order. This is a supplemental income for him as they, like most reservation people live in an area with little opportunities for employment.

Ed and Bea Whiting with my daughter Allison on the right

   Here are a few examples of some of the traditional crafted items that are unique to the plains people. If you would be interested in having something made by Ed, I am sure he would be willing to work with you to produce the item for you.  With that said, it could be awhile before Ed can do any work for you now. He has been in the hospital for many months trying to recover from a serious surgical mishap earlier. This has been both exhaustive and costly on him and Bea. They have endured a great hardship for that last few months.

    These are some scanned photos of a variety of authentic Dakota items that Ed handcrafts himself. Forgive the pictures details as I had little time to scan the items to my computer.  Items vary from drums, bow and arrows and many other beautiful handcrafted items. Each one is one of a kind and assuming Ed returns to his normal routine he would be able to make any of these items upon request. Hopefully, I can send you an enlarged photo should you be interested. Just contact me at my email address of eh648@yahoo.com.

    Ed  spends many of his summers on his farm providing camps for young people who wish to learn the ways and traditions of the Lakota and Dakota peoples. He has missed last year and this year is not shaping up to well either as Ed recovers from the many surgeries he has bravely undergone.

    I know this; Walking Thunder is a wise and talent man that truly represents the best in all people. If you ever plan a trip to South Dakota and would like to visit Ed, let me know I will let him know you're coming and give you directions. In the meantime, take a look at these items and if you are interested why not get Ed to make you something truly amazing.

Primitive Skills

Hand, coiled pottery-without a wheel

    I haven't been in the habit of posting or promoting special events on this site. For one thing, there are so many great events across the state it truly is hard to pick an event to rate above the many. Like most of you I have my favorite subjects and enjoy most festivals that I get the chance to attend.
    I do have an exception to my very general and not so strict rule. In one of my favorite places, the Red River Gorge, at the mouth of Gladie Creek on the Red River on September is the annual Living Archaeology Weekend. The event is held on the grounds of the US Forest Service Visitor Center and is At the annual primitive crafts weekend held each year at the Visitor Center area on Gladie Creek in the Red River Gorge visitors can really see some amazing skills and crafts. I found it very interesting of all the different types of primitive and pioneer crafts that are demonstrated and exhibited. This is an annual event I am adding to my list to attend this year. Here are a few that caught my eye when visiting a previous event.

Add caption

    Many different types of wares are both made and sold right on the spot. Some of the items are downright unusual and all take a lot of practice and skill to master. One such example is the pottery maker shown above. This is pottery without the benefit of a potters wheel.  The same method employed by peoples for thousands of years until the pottery wheel was invented.

Primitive drills using chipped flint would drill through rock!

     One item being demonstrated was of particular interest to the kids. Primitive drills made from a sharpened piece of flint attached to a straight stick used with a string of leather or sinew would easily drill through wood and stone-just like a modern electric drill. This type of drill was around and used by Natives for centuries. I had never actually seen one used and here at this event kids were using them quite effectively.
                                                                           

Baskets of excellent quality

Demonstration of the Cherokee thistle dart

Flint knappers chipped away

The quality of the chipped stone tools was excellent

This point was made from quartz from North Carolina

Leggings for dances and ceremonies were made

Tanning and hide preparation

Nearly every exhibit had demonstrations going on continuously

Medicinal plants anyone? They had them.

One of my favorites was the on going construction of this cattail  shelter  constructed with  bent saplings and cattail
mattes.

    This years event is coming up September 22 and will be held at the Gladie Visitor Center in the heart of the Red River Gorge. 

    Demonstrations are on going all day long the days of the event. Some exhibitors do sale some items that they demonstrate or are making right there on site. 









    There were baskets made from willow bark. All sizes and shapes and the bark had been dyed using natural dye substances to produce different colored materials to be woven together.









     The Cherokee people from North Carolina were making thistle darts. The ripened thistle head from a bloom produces a light fluffy cotton like fiber. These fibers are woven around a sharpened slender stick. The fiber expands to loosely fill the cane dart gun and can be blown several yards with deadly accuracy.






    Of course one of my favorites are the flint knappers.

This and That

    I'll be taking a break on this blog post this Labor Day Weekend but will be back on a regular bi-monthly schedule starting September 16th. We hope that you enjoy the blog posts and photographs we gather from around our beautiful state. There are so many things to see and do and it is the upcoming fall festival season.  Practically every weekend from now until Thanksgiving communities are having their annual festivals. These are a lot of fun and some are quite unusual. Here is a link to give a preview of upcoming events.

    If you enjoy reading my blogs and have suggestions or ideas of places and people, please tell me in the comment section below. I promise I will get back to you and keep in mind all comments must be approved before they are actually posted. So, if you don't want you comment posted,  but would like to contact me, well, the comment section is the best way. 

 My book is still available from  this secure link.  

   Kiowa Scott Muncie who guest posts on this site will have a new article with photographs in the days ahead. He has an amazing collection of rock carving photos. You can visit his Facebook page here.

Coming up in the next blog post will be devoted to a very unusual special event held annually in the Red River Gorge and the heart of Swift country!  Coming September 16! Also, I will be signing books Friday, August 31 at the Salyersville Public Library from 10-2. If you are in the area stop by and say hello.

We called it the Light House

     There are so many version of the Swift Journal containing many landmarks that it can be downright confusing sometimes. Over the years, sifting through many variations there are few landmarks that seem common to all the different versions. One notable is the famous 'light house.'  Swift in describing one of the areas of his 'mines' claims to look  across the valley to cliff with a hole in it. "The slope across the hills west there is a big rock that looks like a buffalo rock. We cut our names on it: Swift,  Monday, Greser,Jefferson and others. You can stand on top of this hill above buffalo rock and look west through the hole in the top of the cliff and see the sky beyond. We called it the 'lighthouse.' Not far from the drying ground west we carved turkey tracks under a cliff pointing backwards to the mine." *

    The Red River Gorge country is famous for the numerous natural arch formations in the sandstone cliffs of the region. Of the hundreds in the area, two are more famous than all the rest and probably more visited each year than all the rest. One, of course is the famous Natural Bridge located near Slade, Ky. The second most notable arch is the beautiful Sky Bridge located on a ridge that overlooks the confluence of "Swift" Creek and the North Fork of the Red River.

    Yes, right there in the heart of the Swift country overlooking the very creek that is named for the legendary character are the landmarks described in his journals which tell of the amazing riches that supposedly still remain hidden somewhere in the wilds. No wonder this area became ground zero for the search decades ago. Since that time the search has expanded to other regions of the state and even to other states.  All have similar clues and landmarks.

   The  whole region of the Red River country is truly remarkable and certainly lends itself to all kinds of possibilities of discovery.

From the unofficial entrance to the gorge area, the Nada Tunnel, to the magnificence of the majestic Sky Bridge the landscape is wondrous.

    On this visit to Sky Bridge I discovered among the many names and symbols carved on the soft sandstone rock yet another turkey track pointing directly up the Swift Creek valley. With no way of knowing the age of the carving there is little evidence of anything other than someone at sometime took the time to carve a turkey track without any other information. Was it a traditional symbol pointing the way to something? The opposite direction from the Swift Creek side lies a huge rock cliff line with ledges, overhangs and boulders just like Swift described. Could the Sky Bridge be that light house, Swift mentioned?  Remember, it is on Swift Creek that the famous Rock Bridge is located which has another turkey track carved on the top of that bridge as well.  And Swift mentions a rock bridge that spanned a creek and he and his companions passed by that unusual formation headed for their precious mines.

    Aside from the search for the hidden treasure, the  Nada Tunnel itself is a marvel. Built in a mere nine months in 1910-11 it was built for the sole purpose of hauling the valuable timber from the remote gorge region by locomotive. Drilled by hand and steam drills the rock was blasted away with dynamite. One man was killed during the construction.  The tunnel provided a quick way to transport the timber wealth to the then largest sawmill in the world located at Clay City, Kentucky.

    On every trip I make into the Red River Gorge, it is always a thrill to drive through the Nada Tunnel passing by the cool spring that to this day furnishes fresh, mountain water to many folks in the immediate area. The spring has been there as long as I can remember and always tests as safe, pure water. 

    The mines may never be found. They may not even exist. But then again, there have been some discoveries of silver coins in various parts of the region. So whether these discoveries are connected to the Swift treasure or not will probably never be known. We do know that there in fact are 'light houses' located in the search zone.

*From a copy of Swift's Journal sent to C. E.Henson March 5 , 1962. The following handwritten note was written  in the margin: "Mr. Henson here's a copy of Swift's journal. I will contact you when I get to Louisville next trip – I want to see "settlers of SW Virginia." The note was signed by O.S. Green.