220 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [kth.ans.ID 



of yoquoyal], that which in ours consumes the time of n\i\- cliildren for at least two 

 years." 



Although in theory the written Cherokee word has one letter for each syllaljle, the 

 rule does not always hold good in practice, owing to the frequent elision of vowel 

 sounds. Thus the word for "soul" is written with four letters as a-da-tiAn-ta , but 

 pronounced in three syllables, udanla. In the same way tM-luu-i-yn-sti ("like 

 tobacco," the cardinal flower) is pronounced tmlii/ndl. There are also, as in other 

 languages, a number of minute sound \ariations not indicated in the written word, 

 so that it is necessary to have heard the language spoken in order to read with cor- 

 rect pronunciation. The old Upper dialect is the standard to which the aljihabet 

 has been adapted. There is no provision for the r of the Lower or the sh of the 

 Middle dialect, each speaker usually making his own dialectic change in the reading. 

 The letters of a word are not connected, and there is no difference between the written 

 and the printed character. Anthoritii'K: Gallatin, Synop.sis of the Indian Tribes, in 

 Trans. Am. Antiq. Soc., ii, 1836; Phillips, Sequoyah, in Harper's Magazine, Septem- 

 ber, 1S70; Pilling, Bibliography of Iroquoian Languages (article on Guess and i)late 

 of syllabary), 1888; author's personal information. 



(41) Southern gold fields (p. 116): Almost every valuable mineral and crystal 

 known to the manufacturer or the lapidary is found in the southern Alleghenies, 

 although, so far as present knowledge goes, but few of these occur in paying (juanti- 

 ties. It is probable, however, that this estimate may change with improved methods 

 and enlarged railroad facilities. Leaving out of account the earlier operations by the 

 Spanish, French, and English adventurers, of which mention has already been made, 

 the first authentic account of gold finding in any of the states south of Mason and 

 Dixon's line within what may be called the American period appears to lie that 

 given by .Jefferson, writing in 1781, of a lump of ore found in Virginia, which yielded 

 seventeen pennyweights <:if gold. This was probably not the earliest, however, as 

 we find doubtful references to gold discoveries in both Carolinas before the Revolu- 

 tion. The first mint returns of gold were made from North Carcjlina in 1793, and 

 from South Carolina in 1829, although gold is certainly known to have been found in 

 the latter state some years earlier. The earliest gold records for the other sotithern 

 states are, approximately, Georgia (near Dahlonega), 1815-1820; Alabama, 1830; 

 Tennessee (Coco creek, Monroe county), 1831; Maryland (Montgomery county), 

 1849. Systematic tracing of gold belts southward from North Carolina began in 1829, 

 and speedily resulted in the forcible eviction of the Cherokee from the gold-bearing 

 region. Most of the precious metal was procured from placers or alluvial deposits 

 bj' a simple process of digging and washing. Very little quartz mining has yet been 

 attempte<l, and that usually by the crudest methods. In fact, for a long period gold 

 working was followed as a sort of side issue to farming between crop seasons. In 

 North Carolina prospectors obtained permission from the owners of the land to wash 

 or dig on shares, varying from one-fourth to one-half, and the proprietor was accus- 

 tomed to put his slaves to work in the same way along the creek bottoms after the 

 crops had been safely gathered. " The dust became a considerable medium of circu- 

 lation, and miners were accustomed to carry about with them quills rilleii with gold, 

 and a ])air of small hand scales, on which they weighed out gold at regular rates; for 

 instance, 'M grains <.>f gold was the customary equivalent of a pint of whisky." For 

 a number of years, about 1830 and later, a man named Bechtler coined gold (.)n his 

 own account in North Carolina, and these coins, with ^Mexican silver, are said to have 

 constituted the chief currency over a large region. A regular mint was established 

 at Dahlonega in 1838 and maintained for some years. From 1804 to 1827 all the gold 

 produced in the United States came from North Carolina, although the total amounted 

 to l)ut §110,000. The discovery of the rich deposits in California checked mining 

 operations in the south, and the civil war brought about an almost complete suspen- 



