Saturday, February 25, 2012

Tell Me

     Hello folks. I've been thinking about this site lately and the kinds of posts that I include. That got me to thinking about you that visit this site from time to time. I wonder what kinds of things would you like to see. This site is based on visiting unique places,people and the Swift legend as well as my book. And honestly, I want to promote the sale of my book. This is one method but of course, I need lots of visitors some of which may just want to purchase their own book or eBook. I want to keep those who visit the site interested in returning and (this is very important) sharing the site with others. The more visitors to this blog the better the sales of my book.
    You can help me by sharing this blog with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Simply share the link and ask them to check it out. I realize not everyone is interested in the things included in this blog and that is why I am asking you to tell me what you would like to see covered here. You can post that in a comment here on this blog. You also can send your comments and thoughts to me in an email to: swift@edhensonbooks.com.
    I would be happy to try and cover topics of interest. The only requirement that I would ask is that it must relate to Kentucky. No matter where you are in the world Kentucky holds a unique place. It was the fourteenth state, the first to be added to the original thirteen colonies forming the United States only sixteen years after the revolution. The last battle of the revolutionary war was here on Kentucky soil at Blue Licks State Park.
    So, tell me what you would like to see more of, less of or anything between in future blog posts and please, please share this site with those on your Facebook friends and Twitter followers and ask them to share with their friends as well. Thank you for your support and interest.

Ross Steely video taping interviews about the Swift legend with father Mike Steely looking on.
    In the meantime a video production is being produced by Ross Steely about the legend of John Swift. This video when finished will be the most recent and up-to-date coverage and in-depth look into the legend evaluating the facts and lore regarding the 200 year old  legend. Filming is currently underway and we have not heard of a release date at this time. One of the most knowledgeable people of the legend in the southern Kentucky and Tennessee areas, Roy Price, was recently videoed at Cumberland Falls.






Saturday, February 18, 2012

The Red River Gorge-Ground Zero

    Thanks for visiting my blog site. Here you will find among other things, some interesting background about the legend of John Swift's silver mines. Especially in the area of the Red River Gorge which I would consider ground zero for the legend. This is one of the hottest regions for the treasure search. There are other places in Kentucky that provide the potential hiding place of the elusive treasure, if it indeed ever existed. Serious searches have identified many places around the state, Eastern Tennessee, and Western Virginia. Landmarks and clues can be found in all three places. 
    I have written a novel that is based on the famous legend but has some unique historical twists. I invite you to go to my publishers site here and read an except from the book and if you like it purchase your own copy!
Michael Paul Henson
    I am the cousin of the late Michael Paul Henson who searched for the treasure and more importantly wrote extensively about the treasure and treasure hunting in general. He had probably seen most every version of the famous Swift Journal that have passed down through families over the past 200 years. He actually owned copies of many of the various journals. I recall one of the last times I saw him, that he believed the ore deposits were a little farther south than the Red River country. He believed the ore deposits, at least, were somewhere in Jackson County area.  He died before he had the chance to satisfactorily produce the evidence to others. 
    Now you might wonder why I insist the gorge as ground zero. Well, there are a few good clues that have been left by the journals and there have been some rather unusual historical events as well.
   Let's consider the journal. Michael Paul thought through his decades of research that there were more than 43 versions of the journal! And they cover every kind of clue; three streams, buffalo rocks, haystack rocks, lighthouses, turtleback rocks, Indian stairways, leaning rocks, hanging rocks, myrtle thickets, halfmoon rocks and the list goes on. Streams, mountain ranges and certain places are named.  All place the mine workings south of the Ohio River and west of the Allegheny Mountains. 
Wolfe County Courthouse
    Now the history part of the puzzle adds some more unusual mystery. For example the town of Campton, originally thought to be called Camp Town was so named because it was established on the site of what pioneers claimed was Swift's principal campsite when he and his company of men were supposedly in the wilderness mining, smelting and striking counterfeit English Crowns. There is even a historical sign on the court house grounds in Campton today that says as much.
One of the Dehart Arches in RR Gorge
     Swift claims in one version of his journal you can see the sky through the cliff. "We call the place Sky Rock," Swift's journal records. The mines are in the cliff beyond the sky rock. There are many such bridges n the Red River area. The arch shown here is one of the famous Dehart arches at Nada. Standing in this arch looking across the valley massive rock formations with ledges fit the descriptions. Once through this arch there is a box canyon and another true lighthouse across the valley. Here it was reported that Steve Dehart actually dug sand and rock out of the newly forming arch to open it all the way through the cliff providing access to the next valley over. In fact these type rock formations exist all along the exposed sandstone conglomerate outcrop extending north of the Red River country all the way into Tennessee. 

Buffalo Arch in the Big South Fork Area

    There are rock formations and arches in the southern part of the state as well such as the Buffalo arch and many more. There are many who consider the supposedly silver mines and treasure are located much further south than the Gorge area and have just as many landmarks and claims for such existence as those elsewhere. As mentioned before a few other states have strong traditions relating to the Swift legend. Eastern Tennessee, especially in the Jellico Mountain area has provided many possible site locations, if the treasure truly exists.Our good friend Mike Steely, author of Swift's Silver Mine even found a real silver arrowhead in one of the shelters located in that region.  This is a great collection of treasure stories including the Swift legend.
    The Red River Gorge perhaps has been the most famous and most searched area of all the locations. All the land marks are there in this rugged, pristine wilderness. To my knowledge no one has ever made "the" discovery of veins of pure silver ore. Coins and silver items have been found around all the potential areas over the years but no veins of silver. Even though old silver coins and I have heard silver ingots have been found, no one has conclusively produced a silver mine. Swift in his journal devoted a lot of time describing the silver ore locations. There are modern searches still following the elusive clues in the Gorge area hoping to do what no one has been able to do for the past 200 years, discover the lost silver mines of John Swift.




Sunday, February 5, 2012

Joe Ley

    While most of my posts are devoted to the outdoors and nature stuff, especially about the Swift legend and mines, I do have other interests. In fact, like most of you I find about everything on the unusual and different side of Kentucky fascinating. During my travels around the state whether doing research on the Swift book or other upcoming projects I often encounter some really neat places and people. In fact, I really devoted this blog to sharing and creating interest in some off the path, mostly overlooked places. Most of us like to do this I suspect, I'm just a bit more mouthy about it I suppose. This entry is a diversion. All those of you arriving at this page from my web site or some other location, please browse through the archives listed on the right side of this page. There is a lot of information about the Swift story, geology, history and my book is available for purchase from that site. There are also some good links I encourage you to check out.

    If you are into antiques and especially the unusual, then a must is a visit to Joe Ley Antiques in Louisville. Located on East Market Street in Louisville this place is an amazing collection of antiques and somewhat of a museum collection.  I'm not just talking about high end antiques alone. There are plenty of bargains. And this is a place to visit for those who are remodeling and are searching for that yesterday look.
    Many commercials, music videos and other film related activities have used Joe Ley Antiques as a perfect site to enhance their productions. One reason is the large collection of strange and unusual  items such as original carved wooden horses used in carnival rides.



    There is a large collection of vintage toys of every kind and if you can think of it in all probability Joe Ley will have it right there on Market Street. Not every item is for sale though and are just on display for the pure enjoyment.The building itself is quite the marvel with several floors you can spend hours browsing through. If you like antiques and have never included Joe Ley antiques among your visits, do yourself a favor and go see this place.





    Across the street from Joe Ley  is a candy maker that has been in business in Louisville since 1921.   Muth’s Candies has been continuously producing some the finest chocolates and candies found anywhere.  They produce at their store a variety of chocolate creams, malt balls, and just about every nut combination with chocolate you can think of.  Perhaps one the most famous confectioneries are the Modjeska, which according to history was developed by Anton Busath in honor of Helena Modjeska, a famous Polish actress of the time. Later Anton’s son, Edgar ran the candy company but when the store burned in 1947, Edgar asked his good friend, Rudy Muth to use his candy kitchen to make candy. When the Busath store never reopened, Edgar gave the Modjeska candy recipe to his good friend Rudy. You can still enjoy this light southern cream caramel covered marshmallow at Muth’s Candies, located on East Market Street in Louisville.






Swift Interview

    Just a quick update as promised. The Swift interview will air May 21 at 8:00 PM on KET. The last entry on this site covered the intervie...