Rumors have circulated for many generations about the existence of silver mine on lower Peckerwood Creek, a tributary of Tusquittee Creek. A story goes that Ira Moore, a settler in 1838, talked to an old Cherokee Native who was walking and heading to Fort Hembree for the westward deportation. Ira was plowing with oxen in a field at the foot of a ridge, where he had heard that silver mine was supposedly located. He struck up a conversation with the Native as he walked by and asked where the rumored silver mine actually was. Pointing, the old Cherokee said, “On that ridge, but White Man will never find it.” Years later Ira’s son,Virgle Moore, recalled seeing a silver smelting site in Stamey Cove at the end of a footpath about a half mile from the alleged mine site. As he recalled, the area was located in a thicket and contained remnants of a stone furnace and deteriorated wooden raceways (flumes) near a small stream.
As a youth, Carl Moore remembers when his Uncle Virgle told a visiting Holiness preacher the story about the possible location of a silver mine. The preacher, after visiting and praying at the supposed site, claimed that God revealed to him not only where the silver mine was located, but also a mica mine. Then he told others and started soliciting partners for a fee, of course, in helping to explore the site. He promised that all who joined the effort would share in the wealth. But, what really happened─the only one who shared in the wealth was the preacher, who skipped town with all monies he had collected! Even today, Johnny Mull, who owns the alleged area where the mines are supposed to be, has been smitten by this legend. He hopes to use sophisticated electronic equipment in a helicopter to specifically locate the silver mine.
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