Silver in Virginia

Swiss Silver Mine Story

Swiss Silver mine story

Among the hills of Buchanan, throughout the centuries and generation to generation , a legend has come down to us creating a thrilling and romantic story. this is the story of the great Swiss Silver Mine, the richest mine in the world, and the legend clearly relates it’s location somewhere in Buchanan.

 

The tales the mountianeers tell of the mine are usually different in some respects, and thus to get a complete history of the mine, one must put all the pieces together and believe the most practical of the tales.

 

The history of the Swiss mine begins about 1750. Near the time this country was discovered. A man known only as Swiss discovered the mine that bore his name.He must have had four other men to help with the mining, and among this group was a very young lad. He was the son of Swiss.

 

Today we do not know where the miners came from, but most likely they were from Tazewell County. If this is right, they had to travel a long journey through hostile Indian country to reach the rich mine.

 

The work in the mine was very hard, , but the efforts were well rewarded. The ore was mined and coined into money in the mine. The miners had made furnaces for the melting of the silver. When they had mined a good load of silver they took their departure from the mine and traveled home through the dense forest. They lived in luxury until the load of silver was consumed and then again they would march back to the hidden mine for more of the silver.

 

Very soon their visits to the mine became more numerous and the Indians began to notice their presence. The red men of the hills saw the horses loaded with things from the outside world and this led to an attack on the miners. They escaped the first few onslaughts but gradually it became an all out war, and the miners were held in constant fear of the red men.

 

It took more then just fear from the Indians to keep the men away from the rich mine, and so they kept returning to the mine. On one occasion, the Indians attacked and the miners began their flight to safety. The son of old man Swiss could not keep up with the rest of the miners. They could not leave him behind for the Indians to scalp and they most certainly could not carry him. Thus Swiss raised his long rifle and shot his own son dead. The young man was buried beneath a cliff and on each side of him was placed two barrels of his silver.Silver he had given his life for.

 

Later Swiss became blind and he could never lead his men back to the mine again.He was the only man of the group of miners, that knew the exact location of the mine. The mine was never found again by Swiss. Although, he searched the remainder of his life for it.

 

Swiss died and the rich mine became a legend but there is surely a Swiss Silver Mine.

 

The mine died with Swiss but it was found again only to be lost again in mystery.

 

Near the mouth of the Dismal River is today a very small water hole. The floor of this small pool is composed of quick sand. The water hole is directly connected with the Swiss mine, in this way. Several years after Swiss died, other men found the mine, and they too worked it. One of the miners was passing the mouth of Dismal River, and he rode his horse and two horse loaded with silver,into the hole. The horses began to sink in the quicksand. The rider managed to escape, but the silver and horses sank beneath the water and sand.

 

The mine was lost again and again it was found by a family, Dawsons. Inhabitants of the hills of Buchanan County. This family did not own the mine and thus they had to work it in secret and this was made possible while the darkness covered the face of the earth. The Dawsons died and so did the location of the mine.

 

The mine did not stay lost very long. Rub Cox was the next unfortunate discoverer, but the mine was on Charley Vandyke’s land. He went to Charley and told him of his discovery and he offered to tell him of the location of the mine for half interest in it. Vandyke flatly refused and set to searching for the mine. That same night Cox returned to the mine and filled the mouth and so Vandyke died without ever finding the mystery of the hills.

 

The next man to find the mine was Eligy Matney. He was cow hunting in the forest and came upon the mine and went into it. There before him was the furnaces and the silver ore. He ran down the hill filled with excitement and told of his find, but he never returned. He spent the remainder of his life searching for the mine, no one could return to. He died and before he could return to the fortune of the hills.

 

The next discoverer was also a Matney. He was in the hills hunting and before he knew it he was at the entrance of the long lost treasure of the hills. The mouth of the mine was made of large hewn stones and there were the remains of the materials that Rub Cox had used to cover the entrance of the mine.

 

He went into the mine and there was the silver, all you could ever dream of. He said pieces of the silver lay on the floor and it came out in pieces big as bricks. There was a ghostly sound like a baby and when the discoverer came out of the mine, he fainted and lay on the ground several hours. He came to and went home and once set to work on getting possession of the mine’s location. He had it all arranged but he could not return to the mine. It was a lost treasure and it was not so easy to find and lots harder to return to.

 

Today somewhere in the hills on Little Garden a small creek in Buchanan County, is the treasure of the hills The Swiss Silver Mine

 

 

This story is from a book called Tales from the Hills, copied exactly like written in the book. The name of the story is Swiss Silver Mine.

Swiss Silver Mine Story




This is a story , I had heard as a teenager and read the book Arthur ‘’Smiley’’ Ratliff Jr. ,had written. The book was Tales of the Hills, in my research, 1940?, is the only year listed when first published.
Virgie Love , who was the Grundy Senior High School Librarian, recommended the book to an avid book reader (me). I am not sure which year, I read the book, could have been from 1977 to 1979.

I had almost forgotten about the story and book, until doing my own research about the Swift Silver Mine, supposedly located in the Breaks Interstate Park, located in both Buchanan/ Dickenson Counties Virginia. This could possibly be connected to the Legend/Lore of the Swift Silver Mine.

I have verified this story by three people in Buchanan County,.

1. Ancil Childress, Pastor of Rowe Pentecostal Holiness Church at Rowe Va. Ancil is very knowledgeable about Buchanan County History. He is 88 yrs of age, and lived in Buchanan County , all of his life. His great grandfather CharleyVandyke, owned the land in Little Garden, where the Swiss Silver Mine, is/was supposedly located.The mine is/was supposedly located in a left fork section of Little Garden.

2. Lee White, a resident of Garden Creek , most of his life. His family was also familiar with the story, Lola White Stiltner. He also indepently verified the story, that Ancil Childress had related to me. His family had also lived in the Little Garden, section of Garden Creek.

3. Brian Shortridge , who works at the Buchanan County Public Library. He told me, his father had related the story to him. Brian Shortridge , also does a good job of locating Cemeteries and posting them in the Virginia Mountaineer Newspaper, in Buchanan County and surrounding areas.
Elijah Matney ( Eligy) Birth 1845- residence in 1910 Garden Creek,Va.

Name: Elijah Matney Birthplace: Virginia Relationship to Head of Household: Self Residence: Garden, Buchanan, Virginia Marital Status: Married Race : White Gender: Male Immigration Year: Father’s Birthplace: Virginia Mother’s Birthplace: Virginia Family Number: 15 Page Number: 1 Household Gender Age Elijah Matney M 65y Spouse Causby J Matney F 49y Child Jennie Matney F 25y Child Julia Matney F 22y Child Mary Matney F 16y Child Lydia Matney F 13y Vicie Vandyke F 74y
Charley Vandyke received a land grant for 202 acres on Little Garden on August 31,1849. Which became part of Buchanan County in 1858.
Arthur M. “Smiley” Ratliff
Author profile
born
June 18, 1924 in Grundy, VA, The United States
died
October 31, 2007
genre
Biographies & Memoirs, Religion & Spirituality, Bullsh*t
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ARTHUR M. (SMILEY) RATLIFF, JR., age 83, of Tazewell, Virginia, died Wednesday, October 31, 2007, in a Kingsport Hospital. A Buchanan County native, he was born June 18, 1924, the son of the late Arthur M. Ratliff, Sr., and Ida Woosley Ratliff, and was the last surviving member of his immediate family. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers and four sisters.

He is survived by two daughters, Cathy Gibson and Kim Bowman, and five grandchildren: William Cody Ratcliffe Miller; Rebecca Paige Gibson; Anne Eyre Bowman; Adam Shoresworth Ratcliffe Bowman; and Grayden Bowman.

Mr. Ratliff was a life-long resident of Grundy located in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. He loved his State of Virginia and the county of Buch…more ARTHUR M. (SMILEY) RATLIFF, JR., age 83, of Tazewell, Virginia, died Wednesday, October 31, 2007, in a Kingsport Hospital. A Buchanan County native, he was born June 18, 1924, the son of the late Arthur M. Ratliff, Sr., and Ida Woosley Ratliff, and was the last surviving

via fredrife.info