North
Carolina, with its magnificent mountains and its swiftly running rivers
and streams, has now for some years come to possess almost as great a
charm for the Northern as it long before had for the Southern tourist.
" The land of the Sky " has become a favorite resort for the traveler,
the invalid, the sportsman, the lover of nature, and the seeker for
rest, from almost every part of the country. For the mineralogist, too,
it has peculiar interest, so great, indeed, that its scenic attractions
have, for such as he, been almost overmatched, not to say overlooked,
in the search for the beautiful crystals that are found in its
mountains, and the variety of rare, minute, and interesting minerals
that occur in the brooks and streams associated with gold. Among these
crystals and sands occur many minerals that have yielded true gems, and
North Carolina has hence become one of the most notable States for gem production in the American Union.
The
finding of these minerals, however, has been in most cases a secondary
or incidental result in the search for and mining of substances more
immediately desired for practical use on a larger scale. These last
have been essentially three, which have developed in succession, and
mark several stages in the mineral production of North Carolina.
These
stages were : (I) The gold-mining, from early in the last century to
the time of the Civil War; (II) the corundum and mica industry, for the
quarter-century following that great struggle; and (III) the
development of the " rare earths," and the monazite sands, in
connection with recent scientific discoveries and appliances, within
the last 10 or 15 years. To these may be added a fourth stage, viz.,
that of systematic mining for the gems themselves at various times,
such as for sapphire at Corundum Hill; for ruby and rhodolite in the
Cowee Valley; for beryls in Mitchell County, and later, for amethyst at
Tessentee Creek, Macon County.
Through
the gold belt of the western Carolinas and Georgia, that metal occurs
widely distributed, but in very variable amounts. At certain points
mining has been conducted with profit, and in some instances nuggets of
impressive size have been obtained. More or less active working has
long been done in the North Carolina gold fields, and the
