MICA AND THE MICA MINES, 659 



taining the greater amount of metallic bases would naturally 

 separate first. 



The location of the mines has been largely accidental. So far 

 as I have been able to learn, the first one opened was the Sink- 

 hole mine in Mitchell County. The spot was marked by the ex- 

 istence of trenches, many hundred feet long in the aggregate, and 

 in places fully twenty feet deep. Large trees growing on the 

 debris indicated that the workings were very ancient. It was 

 supposed that they had been for silver ; and when the trenches 

 were reopened at the close of the war, the search was for that 

 metal and not for mica. Silver seems to dominate in the Caro- 

 linian dream of mineral wealth, when it is, of all such dreams, 

 the one least likely to be realized. The search for silver being 

 unsuccessful, the mines were again abandoned. The mica that 

 had been thrown out was left on the dump, and soon advertised 

 the real character of the mine. A stock-driver, passing that 

 way, carried a block of it with him to Knoxville, where it 

 attracted the attention of men acquainted with its value. They 

 investigated the matter, emigrated at once to Mitchell County, 

 and began systematic mining for mica. As the mineral was 

 then selling for from eight to eleven dollars a pound, the rewards 

 were considerable, and much enterprise was shown in the devel- 

 opment of the industry. The first-comers had the easy and 

 profitable task of simply preparing and shipping the mica that 

 had been already mined, and they enjoyed the further advan- 

 tage of an undisturbed market. So profitable an enterprise, 

 however, soon attracted others. Many of the hands employed 

 in the mines were also land-owners and naturally concluded, 

 as soon as they had learned something of the business, that 

 it would pay better to work for themselves. They began ex- 

 ploring their own plantations, and as these often contained 

 several hundred or even several thousand acres, the ground for 

 prospecting was extensive. It is a region in which the majority 

 of the people are land-poor. The single-tax project would not be 

 apt to meet with favor there. 



Then, as now, the mountaineers were largely guided in their 

 search by the ancient workings. These were probably made by 

 the aborigines, and were also for the purpose of obtaining mica. 

 The old workers could only penetrate as far as the rock was de- 

 composed, and were obliged to stop as soon as solid ground was 

 reached. The imprint of their stone implements may still be seen 

 in the decomposed stuff at the sides of the opening. What these 

 people used the mica for is still problematical. Large plates of it 

 have been found in the mounds of Eastern Tennessee, and would 

 indicate that it had domestic application, or was used for personal 

 decoration. 



