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                                LETTERS
                                  FROM
                        THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS.


                                   BY
                            CHARLES LANMAN,
AUTHOR OF “A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY,” “A SUMMER IN THE WILDERNESS,”
                     AND “ESSAYS FOR SUMMER HOURS.”


                               NEW-YORK:
                     GEO. P. PUTNAM, 155 BROADWAY.
                                 1849.


      Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by
                            GEO. P. PUTNAM,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the
                     Southern District of New-York.


                                   TO
                          JOSEPH GALES, ESQ.,

Mr Dear Sir,—

I have two reasons for embellishing this little volume with your
distinguished and honored name. In the first place, the material of
which it is composed, was originally published in the _National
Intelligencer_; and in the second place, I desire to record the fact,
that for many years past, in all matters appertaining to my pen you have
been to me an invaluable counsellor and friend.

      In love and gratitude,
          Very sincerely yours,
              Charles Lanman.
  Washington, D. C., August, 1849.




                               CONTENTS.


                               LETTER I.
                                                                    PAGE
                                                          Dahlonega,   9

                                LETTER II.
                                                 Trip to Track Rock,  20

                               LETTER III.
                                            Valley of the Nacoochee,  25

                                LETTER IV.
                                                 Cascade of Tuccoah,  31

                                LETTER V.
                                              The Falls of Tallulah,  36

                                LETTER VI.
                                             The Hunter of Tallulah,  47

                               LETTER VII.
                                                     Trail Mountain,  53

                               LETTER VIII.
                                                    Down the Owassa,  58

                                LETTER IX.
                                               Across the Mountains,  65

                                LETTER X.
                                      Notes on the Little Tennessee,  75

                                LETTER XI.
                                                 The Smoky Mountain,  84

                               LETTER XII.
                                          The Cherokees of Carolina,  93

                               LETTER XIII.
                                                   Cherokee Customs, 100

                               LETTER XIV.
                                                Cherokee Characters, 106

                                LETTER XV.
                                                    Hickory Nut Gap, 115

                               LETTER XVI.
                                              Down the French Broad, 122

                               LETTER XVII.
                                             Trip to Black Mountain, 131

                              LETTER XVIII.
                                                The Catawba Country, 139

                               LETTER XIX.
                                     The Mountains and their People, 151

                                LETTER XX.
                                                The Nameless Valley, 157

                               LETTER XXI.
                                             The Valley of Virginia, 166

                                 ADDENDA.
                                 Geology of the Alleghany Mountains, 173
                                    Soil of the Alleghany Mountains, 182
                                Minerals of the Alleghany Mountains, 186
                   Miscellaneous Remarks on the Alleghany Mountains, 192




                 LETTERS FROM THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS.




                               LETTER I.


                                    Dahlonega, Georgia, April, 1848.

The Cherokee word Dah-lon-e-ga signifies _the place of yellow
metal_; and is now applied to a small hamlet at the foot of the
Alleghany Mountains, in Lumpkin county, Georgia, which is reputed to
be the wealthiest gold region in the United States. It is recorded
of De Soto and his followers that, in the sixteenth century, they
explored this entire Southern country in search of gold, and
unquestionable evidences of their work have been discovered in
various sections of the State. Among these testimonials may be
mentioned the remains of an old furnace, and other works for mining,
which have been brought to light by recent explorations. But the
attention of our own people was first directed to this region while
yet the Cherokees were in possession of the land, though the digging
of gold was not made a regular business until after they had been
politely banished by the General Government. As soon as the State of
Georgia had become the rightful possessor of the soil (according to
_law_), much contention and excitement arose among the people as to
who should have the best opportunities for making fortunes; and, to
settle all difficulties, it was decided by the State Legislature
that the country should be surveyed and divided into lots of forty
and one hundred and sixty acres, and distributed to the people by
lottery. For several years subsequent to that period, deeds of wrong
and outrage were practised to a very great extent by profligate
adventurers who flocked to this El Dorado. In the year 1838,
however, the Government established a branch Mint at this place,
since which time a much better state of things has existed in
Dahlonega.

The appearance of this village, though not more than a dozen years