Swift's silver mine

Swift's silver mine is an alleged silver mine whose existence is part of the folklore of the Appalachian Mountains. The mine was supposedly discovered in 1760 by an Englishman named Jonathan Swift. The uncertainty of its location is part of the folklore of its existence, with locations ascribed to eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia or eastern Tennessee.

The legend of Swift's silver mine is based on accounts given in the journal of an Englishman named Jonathan Swift. Swift claimed to have preceded Daniel Boone into Kentucky, coming to the region in 1760 on a series of mining expeditions. The journal recounts how a wounded bear led Swift to a vein of silver ore in a cave, and how that for the next nine years, he made annual treks back to the site of the mine, carrying out "silver bars and minted coins." An article in an 1886 edition of Harper's Magazine tells how Swift supposedly buried a good deal of the treasure at various locations:

Later, amid numerous obstacles that included Indian attacks, and a mutiny by his crew, Swift walled up the cave and discontinued his mining operation. He left his journal in the possession of a Mrs. Renfro, the widow of one Joseph Renfro of Bean's Station, Tennessee, in whom he was purported to have a romantic interest. Before Swift could return to the mine, he was stricken blind and was unable to locate it again.

Settlers in Wise County, Virginia believed that the mine was located on or around Stone Mountain, and that local Indians knew the location of the mine. According to the settlers, an Indian chief named Benge once said that "if the pale face knew what he knew they could shoe their horses cheaper with silver than with iron." They maintain that a captured settler named Hans G. Frenchman was taken to the mine by the Indians. He marked its location, and later escaped his captors and revealed the location of the mine to Swift. In this version of the story, Swift and Frenchman took only enough silver to buy two horses, and on a return trip, were unable to locate the mine.

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