Swift Map 2

boomer

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Jul 8, 2003
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part 2: if swift was smart he would never put his name near the mine. after one trip they would know how to get there.
why all the carvings? to sale land, to sale maps and it would be a way to send people looking in the wrong direction.
is this swifts map. no idea. there is a map of the beaver creek furnace for making pig iron, that has the same X's on
it. showing where the company store, the furnace, fire clay and limestone are. cold cave branch in the early days
was known has coal cave branch. odd that the ladder could also mean strip mining. cold cave was where they mined
coal.

I was going to finish the first part on the swift map, but a surgery on ankle and this fine cast kind of slowed me down.
One thing about this map as my little gray cells working overtime. But first the map.

1. Anchor: this is out of place, i feel this may be the key. the anchor is used to hold something. but what?
1A. Three creeks come together. the west branch is shaped like the
anchor with two drains like the cross bars. the chain or rope eye
is where the tea kettle rock is.

2. Waterfall: Broken leg falls next to RT. 460. there are two other
journals that have different story lines, but they say that bars,
coins and money molds are hidden near a falls.

3. Wagon Wheel: as we go along RT. 460 on the left is where a sink
is, shaped like an upside down cone.

4. Turkey Tracks: There are 3 creeks that come up from the red river
with three forks each.

5. Caves/Indian Mounds: there are 4 mounds on McCausey ridge or
whats left, 4 small humps. kept walking to many people around.
the caves are on the upper east fork of indian creek. there are
several close together. indian creek comes up from the red river
and was a trail used for hundreds of years. there is one small
section near the end of east fork that you can still find, if its winter.
it is almost 2 to 3 feet deep and just wide enough for a horse to
pass.

6. Bell: just pass the RT. 36 salt-lick turn off on Rt. 1274, second
hollow, suiters branch near end on right, top of ridge. bell shaped
rock. i did not go to top of ridge. but there is a reason for this bell?
6A. look at google earth, you can see the outcrop. i wonder how
they found this. its the middle of nowhere?

7. Halfway Branch: this is an odd one, the branch is to short. this
may mean to go to the end of the branch and go over to a
large hill just to the northwest of the left branch. on the south side
of this hill there is a rockhouse. X may mean this. never got to go
there. i did see a vary old path going up the creek. topo map
showed most of this.

8 and 9. Layers of Limestone: to the right of halfway branch is a drain
that runs straight to a cliff face that is layers of limestone. look at
number 9 and notice that the road runs straight and is long, than
bends to the right. on a good topo map, you can see the drain
runs straight and up on the right is a large rockhouse. this fits.
never did get to go to this rockhouse.

10. 7 Dots: this one is anyone's guess. between clifton creek and
hogshead branch is a narrow ridge that runs north/south and has
small knobs on top. than again it maybe hogshead branch, it
runs straight than bends to the right. there were ancient indians
living on beaver creek and one of their snake mounds is on
clifton creek. they used round rocks for the body. i wonder if this
could be what was seen. the rocks were rolled over the cliff from
above. i saw one pile of those rocks near hogshead branch on
the flats.

11. Needle Eye Rock: this i put on map because there has been talk
about it. its between long branch and main beaver creek. it looks
like a needle stuck in the ground. on topo map its called a natural
arch. someone destroyed a carving that was on floor of needle.

12. X : the location is between meyers fork and ratliff creek on
beaver. the bottom land has changed so much. i have no
idea. unless they where meaning, go up against the ridge or
maybe the caves?

13. Half moon Shaped Ridge: had no other name for it. ridge vary
high. ridge line vary long and narrow on south-side, just like the
drawing. there are caves near top.

14. Long Arrow: it means long way to go. search for arrow.

15. Star: long arm points north. there is a hill that has 5 arms. never went on top.
 

16. X: in april 1793, indians captured 19 women and children of Morgans station.
killed all in cave there. now called murder branch.

17. Some call it a ladder or British flag: The odd thing here is cold cave branch is not shown.
there are 7 drains that flow into cold cave branch, the last 4 or crossed out. the two lines
may be the stream bed with the X crossing at a spot on it. notice the two lines stop at the
last line, may be a cave at the end of the creek sealed over. but what ever, the last four or
crossed out. longbow boat dock is across from cold cave branch.

Spaws creek in red: money molds and mining tools were found there. gold coins were found at
mouth of same,

ORO in red: at the end of ratliff creek, there is a slanted rock with the the word oro and a faded cross
pointing northwest. i wonder if this has anything to do with number 7?

below number 13 are 4 sevens. this area is all farm land now. no idea?
 

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1320

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Thanks for Part 2 Boomer, this map makes much more sense now. Well, I mentioned it early so it's no surprise that I live right smack dab in the middle of all this! I wanted to add a few things as well as ask some questions to get my orientation correct. Anything that I say is based on the premise that I understand the "legend" as Boomer has put forth.

1a. Is this were Long Branch and Clifton Creek converge?

6. The route 1274 exit is now commonly known as the Old Beaver or Cave Run exit. Route 211 is the "new" Salt Lick exit. Regardless, Suiters Branch is less than a mile from Route 1274. Mr. Suiter recently passed and the property was auctioned this year, no idea of the new owner. Mr. Suiter was the inventor of Suiters grass...fwiw...lol.

7. Halfway branch is a long drain when you walk it and follow it out to the northwest, well over a mile. The rockhouse on the south side does exisit, I've been in it.

8-9. Could this be the Sheltowee Trace (trail)? I have seen the limestone cliffs back there, they are real.

Another for what it's worth, the area between Halfway and Ratliff brances is locally known as "The Sand Pits". To the Northwest of Halfway is the area we call Stone Quarry. Alot of limestone and sand was mined here in years past.

11. Needle eye rock. If the Natural Arch referred to on this map is in Trace Branch, I have been in it. To me, it doesn't resemble a needle stuck in the ground but then again, I have never viewed it from a distance. It is a hole in the cliff face that is barely wide enough for one man to pass thru unemcumbered. Either side of the "hole" is rather spacious, could be considered a rock shelter except that it has a hard floor...no sand. I didn't notice carvings but I wasn't looking for them either, it's a beautiful view in there. This arch is fairly easy to walk to.

12. Could this X represent Beaver Furnance?

13. Just opposite the mouth of Slab Camp (Skidmore) branch and across Beaver Creek is a half moon shaped cliff/rock shelter but the 13 on this map looks to be a little further down Beaver that I have not explored.

16. Murder Cave is about midway into Murder Branch. It is a true cave with several "rooms". I have been inside it to the point where I would have to crawl to continue. Many have made it past the crawling point which opens into another large chamber. The Cave is part of the Daniel Boone Forest and is currently closed because of White Nose Syndrome.

17. Agree that Cold Cave is omitted IF the two branches in the area are Brushy and Long.

Below 13, 4 sevens: The sevens are "sitting" in the Betty Gap Ridge area. This is were the majority of ore came from to feed Beaver Furnance.

I am not familiar with the physical features of Clifton, I have only traveled in there by automobile. I do know that the Sheltowee Trace comes out of Halfway branch, follows route 1274 then turns up into Clifton and follows the creek out to US 460.

A legend exist on the origin name of Halfway branch. Some say that this branch is halfway between the Red and Licking rivers and was a resting place for those making the trip by foot.
 

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boomer

boomer

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1A. at end of clifton creek, tea kettle rock. just before tea kettle the west fork is there. there the branch forks around like an anchor.
7. look at map below.
8-9. below
11. near top of ridge. go up long branch to top of ridge on the right you will see a large rock. the rock was cut to form a lizard head, points down
toward needle. map below
12. could be iron furnace location. this map? something fishy here.
13. look below
16. the iron furnace store was located on murder branch, odd how the swift map and beaver creek furnace or in the same locations?
17. brushy and meyers branch next to cold cave branch.
 

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boomer

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Half Moon Cliff

halfmoon cliff
 

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1320

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OK, got my orientation down now, thanks Boomer. I "cliffed hugged" the Half Moon Cliff two years ago, it is very rugged and thick of Mountain Laurel. This would be an easy area to conceal just about anything. I was looking for antler sheds so there's no telling what I would have found if I were looking for it. There is somewhat of a bench in that area but one slip and it's a fast ride to the bottom. There is one gigantic boulder on a secondary bench below this cliff, 40 feet tall and about 50 feet wide and thick. It has a very uniform rectangular shape. It is a monument of sorts compared to other features in the area.

Needle Eye rock is exactly where I thought it was, thanks for confirmation.

Yes, the Furnace store was at the mouth of Murder Branch, also a mill.

If it helps, I can provide images of many of these things. I am in and around them quite often, I just don't know exactly what to look for on my walks.
 

1320

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The area in and around the Beaver Furnace was settled by loggers from Pennsylvania in the 1700's. Ironically, the area is still known as Scranton today, which is where the loggers were from. Oral history says that Slab Camp was where the loggers built their "shanties", that name still exists today as well.
 

1320

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Oh my, I was looking for a topo map of Cold Cave this morning and "Swift Map 2" was the number 4 hit on Yahoo search....lol. I only looked once!
 

bearduke

Greenie
Sep 16, 2013
13
18
Hi,


Any updates to Swift map 2? Dotted lines appear to be Hogs Branch? Thoughts?

Mark - new swift junkie
 

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boomer

boomer

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yes, hog branch and look at ridge beside branch, notice the the ridge line has 7 small knobs.
 

1320

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Dec 10, 2004
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I've speculated that #17 might not represent marked out branches. It could mean X marks the spot, search these 4 branches. The up and down lines within the X could be additions to say British goods lie within these 4 branches. A ladder wouldn't be out of the question either, it's pretty rough country in that area.

For what it's worth, the map is easier on my brain when I simply turn it upside down.......try that and see if the symbols meaning(s) change....some of them do for me.
 

1320

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Map anamolie

Symbol 8: First two and maybe the third line are drawn with a straight edge as well as the bottom line.....everything in between...not even close
 

bearduke

Greenie
Sep 16, 2013
13
18
Wow, your're right. Is this the North mine? Has anyone looked at this area on foot, curious if any markings, or signs?
 

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