_To J. S. Skinner, Esq._
House of Representatives, Feb. 3, 1844.
Dear Sir: Your favor of the 30th ultimo was received a day or two
since, and I now avail myself of the very first opportunity to
answer it. I do so most cheerfully, because, in the first place, I
am happy to have it in my power to gratify in any manner one who has
done so much as yourself to diffuse correct information on subjects
most important to the agriculture of the country; and, secondly,
because I feel a deep interest in the subject to which your
inquiries are directed.
You state that you have directed some attention to the sheep
husbandry of the United States, in the course of which it has
occurred to you that the people of the mountain regions of North
Carolina, and some of the other Southern States, have not availed
themselves sufficiently of their natural advantages for the
production of sheep. Being myself well acquainted with the western
section of North Carolina, I may perhaps be able to give you most of
the information you desire. As you have directed several of your
inquiries to the county of Yancey, (I presume from the fact, well
known to you, that it contains the highest mountains in any of the
United States,) I will, in the first place, turn my attention to
that county. First, as to its elevation. Dr. Mitchell, of our
University, ascertained that the bed of Tow river, the largest
stream in the county, and at a ford near its centre, was about
twenty-two hundred feet above the level of the ocean. Burnsville,
the seat of the court-house, he found to be between 2,800 and 2,900
feet above it. The general level of the county is, of course, much
above this elevation. In fact, a number of the mountain summits rise
above the height of six thousand feet. The climate is delightfully
cool during the summer: there being very few places in the county
where the thermometer rises above 80° on the hottest day. An
intelligent gentleman who passed a summer in the northern part of
the county (rather the more elevated portion of it) informed me that
the thermometer did not rise on the hottest days above 76°.
You ask, in the next place, if the surface of the ground is so much
covered with rocks as to render it unfit for pasture? The reverse is
the fact; no portion of the county that I have passed over is too
rocky for cultivation, and in many sections of the county one may
travel miles without seeing a single stone. It is only about the
tops of the highest mountains that rocky precipices are to be found.
A large portion of the surface of the county is a sort of elevated
table-land, _undulating_, but seldom too broken for cultivation.
Even as one ascends the higher mountains, he will find occasionally
on their sides flats of level land containing several hundred acres
in a body. The top of the Roan (the highest mountain in the county
except the Black) is covered by a prairie for ten miles, which
affords a rich pasture during the greater part of the year. The
ascent to it is so gradual, that persons ride to the top on
horseback from almost any direction. The same may be said of many of
the other mountains. The soil of the county generally is uncommonly
fertile, producing with tolerable cultivation abundant crops. What
seems extraordinary to a stranger is the fact that the soil becomes
richer as he ascends the mountains. The sides of the Roan, the
Black, the Bald, and others, at an elevation of even five or six
thousand feet above the sea, are covered with a deep rich vegetable
mould, so soft, that a horse in dry weather often sinks to the
fetlock. The fact that the soil is frequently more fertile as one
ascends, is, I presume, attributable to the circumstance that the
higher portions are more commonly covered with clouds, and the
vegetable matter being thus kept in a cool moist state while
decaying, is incorporated to a greater degree with the surface of
the earth just as it is usually found that the north side of a hill
is richer than the portion most exposed to the action of the sun’s
rays. The sides of the mountains, the timber being generally large,
with little undergrowth and brushwood, are peculiarly fitted for
pasture grounds, and the vegetation is in many places as luxuriant
as it is in the rich savanna of the low country.
The soil of every part of the county is not only favorable to the
production of grain, but is peculiarly fitted for grasses. Timothy
is supposed to make the largest yield, two tons of hay being easily
produced on an acre, but herds-grass, or red-top, and clover,
succeed equally well; blue-grass has not been much tried, but is
said to do remarkably well. A friend showed me several spears, which
he informed me were produced in the northern part of the county, and
which by measurement were found to exceed seventy inches in length;
oats, rye, potatoes, turnips, &c., are produced in the greatest
abundance.
With respect to the prices of land, I can assure you that large
bodies of uncleared rich land, most of which might be cultivated,
have been sold at prices varying from twenty-five cents to fifty
cents per acre. Any quantity of land favorable for sheep-walks might
be procured in any section of the county, at prices varying from one
to ten dollars per acre.
The few sheep that exist in the county thrive remarkably well, and
are sometimes permitted to run at large during the winter without
being fed, and without suffering. As the number kept by any
individual is not large enough to justify the employment of a
shepherd to take care of them, they are not unfrequently destroyed
by vicious dogs, and more rarely by wolves, which have not yet been
entirely exterminated.
I have been somewhat prolix in my observations on this county,
because some of your inquiries were directed particularly to it, and
because most of what I have said of Yancey is true of the other
counties west of the Blue Ridge. Haywood has about the same
elevation and climate of Yancey. The mountains are rather more
steep, and the valleys somewhat broader; the soil generally not
quite so deep, but very productive, especially in grasses. In some
sections of the county, however, the soil is equal to the best I
have seen.
Buncombe and Henderson are rather less elevated—Ashville and
Hendersonville, the county towns, being each about 2,200 feet above
the sea. The climate is much the same, but a very little warmer. The
more broken portions of these counties resemble much the mountainous
parts of Yancey and Haywood, but they contain much more level land.
Indeed the greater portion of Henderson is quite level. It contains
much swamp land, which, when cleared, with very little if any
drainage, produces very fine crops of herds-grass. Portions of Macon
and Cherokee counties are quite as favorable, both as to climate and
soil, as those above described. I would advert particularly to the
valleys of the Nantahalah, Fairfield, and Hamburg, in Macon, and of
Cheoh, in Cherokee. In either of these places, for a comparatively
trifling price, some ten or fifteen miles square could be procured,
all of which would be rich, and the major part sufficiently level
for cultivation, and especially fitted, as their natural meadows
indicate, for the production of grass.
In conclusion, I may say that, as far as my limited knowlege of such
matters authorizes me to speak, I am satisfied that there is no
region that is more favorable to the production of sheep than much
of the country I have described. It is every where healthy and well
watered. I may add, too, that there is water power enough in the
different counties composing my Congressional district, to move more
machinery than human labor can ever place there—enough, certainly,
to move all now existing in the Union. It is also a rich mineral
region. The gold mines are worked now to a considerable extent. The
best ores of iron are found in great abundance in many places;
copper, lead,[1] and other valuable minerals exist. That must one
day become the great manufacturing region of the South. I doubt if
capital could be used more advantageously in any part of the Union
than in that section.
For a number of years past the value of the live stock (as
ascertained from books of the Turnpike Company) that is driven
through Buncombe county is from two to three millions of dollars.
Most of this stock comes from Kentucky and Ohio, and when it has
reached Ashville it has travelled half its journey to the more
distant parts of the Southern market, viz. Charleston and Savannah.
The citizens of my district, therefore, can get their live stock
into the planting States south of us at one half the expense which
those of Kentucky and Ohio are obliged to incur. Not only sheep, but
hogs, horses, mules, and horned cattle can be produced in many
portions of my district as cheaply as in those two States.
Slavery is, as you say, a great _bugbear_, perhaps, at a distance;
but I doubt if any person from the North, who should reside a single
year in that country, whatever might be his opinions in relation to
the institution itself, would find the slightest injury or
inconvenience result to him individually. It is true, however, that
the number of slaves in those counties is very small in proportion
to the whole population.
I have thus, sir, hastily endeavored to comply with your request,
because you state that you would like to have the information at
once. Should you find my sketch of the region a very unsatisfactory
and imperfect one, I hope you will do me the favor to remember that
the desk of a member during a debate is not the most favorable
position for writing an essay.
With very great respect, yours,
T. L. CLINGMAN.
J. S. Skinner, Esq.
_To the Editor of the Highland Messenger._
You published a few weeks since an extract from an article in
Silliman’s Journal, contributed by Prof. Shepard, in which he
described a diamond sent him from this region a few months since. As
that extract excited some interest in the minds of a number of my
friends who are engaged in the mining business, I inclose you a
letter from Prof. Shepard, the publication of which I am sure would
be acceptable to many of your readers. I may remark in explanation,
that within the last few years I have sent Prof. Shepard some
hundreds of specimens of minerals collected in this and some of the
other western counties of the State. In some instances a doubt as to
the character of a particular mineral induced me to take this
course, but more frequently it was done to gratify those of my
acquaintances who wished to have their specimens examined by one in
whose decision there would be absolute acquiescence. I knew too,
that I should by these means be able favorably to make known to the
public the existence in Western North Carolina, of such minerals as
might be valuable in a commercial point of view, or interesting to
the scientific world. The letter which I send you, was received in
reply to an inquiry directed to Prof. Shepard, as to what was his
opinion generally in relation to the minerals of this region, and
what he thought of the propriety of a more careful survey of it than
has hitherto been made. The answer, though merely in reply to my
inquiries, is of such a character that I feel quite sure that its
publication will be alike creditable to the writer and beneficial to
the public. Even should it fail to produce any such impression on
the minds of our legislators as might induce them to direct a
complete geological survey of the State, its publicity may in other
respects prove beneficial.
I have been pleased to observe that the letter of Prof. Mitchell, in
relation to some of the minerals of this region, which appeared in
your paper a year or two since, aroused the attention of a number of
persons to that subject, and has been the means of bringing under my
observation several interesting minerals. By going (whenever leisure
has been afforded me,) to examine such localities as from their
singular appearance or any peculiarity of external character, had
aroused the attention of persons in the neighborhood,—I have induced
many to manifest an interest in such subjects, so that there is in
this region a considerable increase in the number of individuals who
will lay up and preserve for examination singular looking minerals.
Others are deterred from so doing, lest they should be laughed at by
their neighbors as unsuccessful _hunters of mines_. Doubtless they
deserve ridicule, who, so ignorant of mineralogy as not to be able
to distinguish the most valuable metallic ores from the most common
and worthless rocks, nevertheless spend their whole time in
travelling about the country under the guidance of _mineral rods_ or
dreams, in search of mines. But, almost every one may without
serious loss of time and with trifling inconvenience to himself,
preserve for future examination specimens of the different mineral
substances he meets with in his rambles. He ought to remember that
by so doing he may have it in his power to add to the knowledge,
wealth and happiness of his countrymen. Partially separated as this
region of country is by its present physical condition from the
commercial world, it is of the first consequence to its inhabitants
that all its resources should be developed. Opening valuable mines,
besides diverting labor now unprofitably, because excessively,
applied to agriculture, would attract capital from abroad and
furnish a good home market to the farmer.
Should the proposed Railroad from Columbia to Greenville, S. C., be
completed. I am of opinion that the manganese and chrome ores in
this and some of the adjoining counties would be profitably
exported. Though the veins of sulphate of baryta in the northern
part of this county, contain pure white varieties suitable to form
an adulterant in the manufacture of the white lead of commerce, yet
for want of a navigable stream, it is not probable that they will
ever be turned to account in that way. They have, however, at some
points, a metallic appearance at the surface, they lie at right
angles to the general direction of the veins of the country, go down
vertically, and being associated abundantly with several varieties
of iron pyrites, oxides of iron, fluor spar and quartz, and
containing traces of copper and lead, will doubtless at no very
distant day, be explored to a greater or less extent. There is not a
single county west of the Blue Ridge, that does not contain in
abundance rich iron ores. In some instances these deposits are
adjacent to excellent water power and lime-stone, and are surrounded
by heavily timbered cheap lands. The sparry carbonate of iron, or
_steel ore_, of which a specimen some years since, fell under the
observation of Prof. Mitchell, though he was not able to ascertain
the locality from which it came, is abundant at a place rather
inaccessible in the present condition of the country. It is not
probable that in our day the beautiful statuary marble of Cherokee,
both white and flesh-colored, will be turned to much account for
want of the means of getting it into those markets where it is
needed. Besides the minerals referred to in Prof. Shepard’s letter,
some of the ores of copper exist in the western part of this State.
I have the carbonate, (green malachite,) the black oxide, and some
of the sulphurets. Whether, however, these, as well as the ores of
lead and zinc, (both the carbonate and sulphuret exist here,) are in
sufficient abundance to be valuable, cannot be ascertained without
further examination than has yet been made.
Many persons are deterred from making any search, and are
discouraged because valuable ores are not easily discovered on the
surface of this country. This is not usually the case any where.
Gold, it is true, because it always exists in the metallic state,
and because it resists the action of the elements better than any
other substance, remains unchanged, while the _gangue_, or mineral
containing it crumbles to pieces and disappears, and hence it is
easily found about the surface by the most careless observer. Such,
however, is not generally the case with metallic ores. On the
contrary, many of the best ores would, if exposed to the action of
the elements, in progress of time be decomposed, or so changed from
the appearances which they usually present when seen in cabinets,
that none but a practised eye would detect them at the surface. In
the counties west of the Blue Ridge, there has been as yet no
exploration to any depth beneath the surface of the ground, with
perhaps the single exception of the old excavations in the county of
Cherokee. According to the most commonly received Indian tradition,
they were excavated more than a century ago, by a company of
Spaniards from Florida. They are said to have worked there for two
or three summers, to have obtained a white metal, and prospered
greatly in their mining operations, until the Cherokees, finding
that if it became generally known that there were valuable mines in
their country, the cupidity of the white men would expel them from
it, determined in solemn council to destroy the whole party, and
that in obedience to that decree no one of the adventurous strangers
was allowed to return to the country whence they came. Though this
story accords very well with the Indian laws which condemned to
death those who disclosed the existence of mines to white men, yet I
do not regard it as entitled to much credit. At the only one of
these localities which I have examined, besides some other favorable
indications, there is on the surface of the ground in great
abundance that red oxide of iron, which from its being found in
Germany above the most abundant deposites of the ores of lead and
silver, has been called by the Germans the _Iron Hat_. Also
something resembling that iron ore rich in silver, which the
Spaniards called pacos, is observable there. It seems more probable,
therefore, that some of those companies of enterprising Spaniards,
that a century or two since were traversing the continent in search
of gold and silver mines, struck by these appearances, sunk the
shafts in question and soon abandoned them as unproductive. But
which of these is the more probable conjecture, cannot perhaps be
determined, until some one shall be found adventurous enough to
re-open those old shafts. I am, however, keeping your readers too
long from the interesting letter of Prof. Shepard.