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THE JOURNAL OF

Spelean History OFFICIAL PUBLI CATION OF THE SPELEAN HISTORY ASSOC IATION

VOLUME 7 NO1 JAN -MAR 1974

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The Association

The American Spelean History Association is chartered as a non-profit corporation for the study dissemination and interpretation of spelean history and related purposes All persons of high ethical and moral character who are interested in these goals are cordially invited to become members Annual membership is $500 family membership $600 Library subscriptions are $400

The Journal

The Association publishes The Journal of Spelean History on a quarterly basis Pertinent articles or reprints are welcomed As a photo-offset process is often used the editor should be contacted in advance conshycerning the- current type of manuscript preparation desired Submission of rough drafts for preliminary editing is encouraged Illustrations require special handling and arrangements must be made with the editor in advance

Back Issues

Some back issues are available of Volumes 1-6 from Dr WR Halliday 1117 36th Avenue E Seattle Washington 98102 All back issues are available on microfiche for further information contact Kraus Reprint Company Route 100 Mi llwood New York -10546

The Cover

The cover photo was taken in the early 1900s at the edge of Dawn Canyon (Grand Canyon) in Onondaga Cave Missouri Photo courtesy of Dwight Weaver See article on page 7

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THE JOURNAL OF SPELEAN HISTORY

Official quarterly publication of the American Spelean History Association

President Secretary-Treasurer Editor

Dr John F Bridge Peter M Hauer Patricia H Quinlan 45 Short Street Rt 1 Box 247 Box 8 Worthingtont Ohio Hillsboro W Va Mammoth Cave Kentucky

Volume 7 No 1 January-March 1974

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The last great days of Onondaga Cave H D Weaver 7

Call for papers Spelean History Sessiont 1974 Convention

bull bull bull

Historical sketches of Pend Oreil1e County Washington Mrs Ruby Lusher Dingee 11 II II II

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Obituary A T Jackson

Excerpt from Philosphical Transactions Trevor Shaw

Schoolhouse Cave Pete Hauer

Cave inscriptions Pete Hauer

Mammoth Cave Ebenezer Meriam Preface by Harold Meloy

Book notes

Book review M

Colloquy

What cave is this department bull bull bull bull bull bull

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CALL FOR PAPERS

SPELEAN HISTORY SESSION

1974 NSS Convention

All who intend to read papers at the Spelean History Session 1974 NSS Convention should forward the titles and abstracts of their papers to the session chairman no later than 1 JIJly 1974 The Convention will be held August 12 through 16 at Decorah Iowa The Spelean History Session is being arranged by James Hedges 8218 Sherrill Landover Md 20785

Presentations will be limited to 15 minutes plus an additional five minutes for discussion from the floor The early history of commercial caves and mining activities in caves would be especially appropriate subjects as these topics will be examined during convention field trips Papers may be on any theme related to spelean history however Please state what types of audio-visual equipment (if any) will be needed for your presentation

SPELEAN HISTORY FIELD TRIP

1974 NSS Convention

The Iowa portion of the Upper Mississippi Valley cave region includes seven caves which are being or formerly were shown to the public Of the three currently in operation Crystal Lake Cave (near Dubuque) was opened in 1932 Wonder Cave (near Decorah) was opened in 1936 and Spook Cave (near McGregor) was opened in 1954 None of these are particularly noted for their history although each is worth seeing as a scenic attraction The tour at Spook Cave is conducted entirely by electric boat Directions to all three will be included in the Convention Guidebook route log to commercial caves the owners will allow any registered Conventiongoer to join a scheduled tour upon payment of the IIgroup member fee

Remarks on Timmens Cave Iowas first commercial cave (operating in 19l7) will be included in the rout log to caves in the leadmining area The other three abandoned caves (Decorah Ice Glenwood and wompi) will be the subjects of a IIspelean historyll field trip one afternoon during the Convention If enough people sign up in advance for the trip a chartered bus will be used otherwise resort will be had to a car pool A sign-up sheet for the trip will be posted at the registration desk For the convenience of those who may wish to visit the caves at another time a route log to them will be included in the Convention Guidebook

The Decorah Ice Cave was developed by Stanley Scarvie and was shown by him and others from 1931 until 1940 Glen Larson a former manager of the cave lives in Decorah and may be available for interviews The lee Cave now is part of the Decorah park system A detailed history of the cave from its initial discovery about 1850 to the present has been compiled by James Hedges and George Knudson and is being published in Annals of Iowa It is hoped that copies will be available in time for the Convention Normally some ice remains in mid-August but the best display occurs in May and June The Ice

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worth the risk of accident

Cave can be reached on foot or by canoe from Convention headquarters the ex-commercial portion of the cave can be explored in street clothes Flashshylights are necessary

Wompi Cave was developed by Gerlad Mielke and was shown by him from 1937 until 1942 Mielke now operates nearby Spook Cave and may be available for interviews Wompi Cave is entered via a sinkhole 125 feet deep The wooden stairway now is beyond repair we will walk back to the sink however and examine the ruins of the surface facilities Anyone wishing to see the few hundred feet of passage at the base of the sink may do so at another time -shytackle for a 90 foot free drop is necessary plus belay and anchor lines The remains of the stairway are unstable and tend to foul the tackle Descent s not

Glenwood Cave was developed by Stanley Scarvie and was shown by him from 1931 until 1936 Jack Tell ford a former guide now operates the general store in Freeport his wif was raised in a log cabin adjacent to the cave Both may be available for interviews The tour at Glenwood was entirely by boat None- of the commercial facilities remain If the water is low enough (ie if there is any air space at the entrance) field trip participants may wade the entire length of the former tour (a few hundred feet) and visit the passages beyond Wet suits or levis over long johns are recommended the upper level is accessible only by scaling a dome 35 feet high Supplementary transportation will be provided for those who elect to explore the cave

Many of the caves described in the other field trip route logs have historic associations The convention area itself is rich in history Both spelean and local history will be sprinkled generously throughout the Guideshybook If there should be sufficient interest field trips also can be arranged to Scandinavian cultural sites in and around Decorah to the lead mining area around Dubuque and to an undisturbed pioneer village site near Monticello

James Hedges

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THE LAST GREAT DAYS OF ONONDAGA CAVE

by

H Dwight Weaver

Missouri is noted for its multitude of caves No state has more reshycorded or commercial caves Among those that have achieved notable fame is Onondaga Cave located about 80 miles southwest of St Louis along the banks of the Meramec River in Crawford County

Onondaga Cave is without exaggeration one of the great caves of North America It has drawn the acclaim of many as the Mammoth Cave of Missouri While its subterranean mileage does fall far short of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky the astonishing size of the underground chambers in Onondaga Cave find few competitors Huge gargantuan and Gothic are expressions many have used to describe the cavern Widths and heights exceeding 100 feet are plentiful Clusters of stalactites hang ten to twenty feet in length from lofty ceilings stalagmites tower upwards resembling Goliath monuments with girths equal to the California Redwood tree Enormous canopys of flowstone enhance the walls of entire chambers while totem pole stalagmites stand in stately onyx pallisades Rows of these formations can be played as the pipes of a natural organ giving sounds that vibrate deep musical tones Subterranean lakes rivers waterfalls and deep pools are to be found throughout Awesome canyons giant boulders and mighty mountains of clay and earth give the explorer a Lilliputian likeness Even in its microcosm qualities the cave has few equals There is something fantastically unreal about its unparalleled Lilypads which Russell T Neville a famed cave photographer once said were liThe most extraordinary cave formations of his experience Hazel Rowena Powell author teacher and Missouri cave woman has said I consider it one of the outstanding large caves in Missouri In 1925 the Missouri Ozarks Chamber of Commerce applauded the ancient cavern declaring it to be one of the world1s wonders Tom Wallace author linguist world traveler and cave enthusiast said in 1925 I have seen much of the four quarters of the globe but this in its line surpasses all I have ever seen II

Onondaga Cave is often referred to as second in size and beauty only to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and is considered by most authorities to be one of the ten most beautiful caves in America

It is perhaps befitting that this unique beautiful and historic cave has reached the pinnacle of fame and popularity that it now enjoys for Onondaga Cave may well be enjoying its last great days What has taken nature tens of millions of years to fashion and form may soon be lost to progress if we can call it that

Onondaga Cave lies within an area of many caves along the Meramec River It-is a region of noted scenic beauty Limestone bluffs free-running streams historic landmarks large springs great expanses of woodland and m ch wildlife give it a sanctuary appeal Ul -home to the Meramec State Park and the Huzzah Wildlife Area It has long been a playground for the peopleof metropolitan St Louis and yet despite heavy usage it is still remarkably wilderness-like

Since the 1830ls man has given thought to damming the Meramec River Those in favor of such a project give many reasons including improved navigation on the river flood control power generation water storage and recreational use

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Onondaga the

book Cave The Mammoth Cave of Missouri1 book that material for this paper has been taken

In the 1880ls the U S Army Corps of Engineers made their first feasibility study The first authorization for a dam came in 1938 (The Federal Flood Control Act) but World War II delayed the project It was revived in 1949 and has continued to gain momentum ever since despite rising protests of many conservationists

In 1966 Congress authorized the U S Army Corps of Engineers to construct five mainstream lakes in the region One of these to be located near Sullivan Missouri and downstream not many miles from Onondaga will if created innundate Onondaga Cave and forever destroy its magnificent beauty

The opponents of the project say that the five dams will flood 50000 acres destroy 1 million trees innundate over 100 caves and completely change the ecological system of the basin areas which is the habitat of several threatened species of wildlife

When it is imperative to assemble the history of a great natural wonder because the march of human endeavor is about to destroy it mankind should pause to consider how long before God places man at the bottom of His list of priorities

In view of the imminent destruction of Onondaga Cave I was asked in 1972 to do a study of the caves history This research culminated in a new

It is from the pages of this

Daniel Boone is frequently given credit for the discovery of Onondaga Cave This claim cannot be substantiated and even its legendary basis is vague and seemingly contrived

In 1886 Charles (Charley) Christopher a resident of the cave vicinity discovered Onondaga Cave Verification of this was not difficult as Christopher lived well into the early 1900s and was quite instrumental in the caves initial development and commercialization First attempts at commershycialism were made in the 1890ls by Charley Christopher and John Eaton

Christopher and Eaton were also the first to explore and take photoshygraphs within the cave

The first published report of exploration within the cave appeared in a local newspaper in 1897 The account was long and detailed and provides one of the best early descriptions of the cave prior to the 1920s

From the day of discovery until the late 1890s when Christopher and Eaton first attempted to operate the cave commercially it was known as the Davis Cave a name borrowed from the Davis Gristmill which was located 400 feet below the cave entrance and powered by the caves heavy stream It was Christopher that first dubbed it the IIMammoth Cave of Missouri1I The exact origin of the name Onondaga is uncertain The title was used in legal documents as early as 1906 but the name was not officially adoped until 1908

IDiscovery Enterprises 604 Beck Street Jefferson City Missour 65101 $150 per copy

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In 1902 Christopher and Eaton sold the cave to Eugene Hunt Benoist a St Louis banker Benoist and partners acquired the cave for the purpose of quarrying its beautiful cave onyx deposits an enterprise that came very near to destroying several of the cavels most magnificent formations Circumstances however intervened to save the cavel s speleothems from such desecration The story of this event in the cavels long and turbulent history is strangely i nteres ti ng

Benoist opened Onondaga to the public in 1904 and the cave was shown to thousands of visitors attending the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St Louis This promotion was carried out through the Frisco Railroad Company which offered Worlds Fair visitors scenic trips into the Ozarks via the Frisco lines Onondaga Cave was one stop on the southern trip Leaving the train at the small community of Leasburg people were transported to the cave a distance of about 5 miles by spring wagon surrey and a covered rigging called the Onondaga Cave Bus The latter was a very fashionable carriage pulled by a team of white horses

Promotion of the cave continued via the Frisco lines for more than a decade following the Worlds Fair in 1904 The coming of automobile travel however and the decline of rail vacationing brought about highway promotion that was to lead to the Great Missouri Cave War of the 19301s

The legal history of Onondaga Cave is undoubtedly Missouris most unique cave saga It began in 1897 when a feud developed over a small parcel of land near the cave Christopher acquired patent on acreage that one William Davis owner of the Davis Gristmill considered his by squatters rights William Davis died in 1899 but his hot tempered and quarrelsome wife Atressia carried on the feud until her dying day in the 1940s Her feuding with the cave peoplel as she called them provides a humorous as well as native slice of nostalgia to the story the cave tells

In 1913 Onondaga Cave was purchased by Robert and Mary Bradford In 1930 Dr William H Mook a renowed St Louis skin specialist leased land adjoining the Onondaga Cave property and acting upon secret information he had acquired from a real estate man at Cuba Mo Mook proceeded to dig into Onondaga Cave which ran beneath his leased land To determine where digging would commence Mook conducted a secret survey of Onondaga and proceeded to open a new entrance to the cave before Bradford became aware of it Once the new entrance was created Mook sought a court order to stop Bradford from showing those portions of Onondaga Cave which ran beneath Mook1s property Thus began one of the most unusual court proceedings in Missouri history The first confrontation in court came in 1932 and continued on appeals all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court which handed down its decision in 1935 The landmark case of the Indian Creek Land Company vs Bradford provides a proshyvocative and beguiling piece of history

The Great Cave War of Missouri was staged between Onondaga Cave and Missouri Caverns the latter being the name given to that portion of Onondaga Cave beneath the Mook property Mook proceeded to show his section of Onondaga under the Missouri Caverns name beginning in 1932 The quarrel both physical and legal between the two men as well as their employees is a troublesome story The two caves fought tooth and nail both above and below ground and cappingll became a popular tactic

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Capping is a diversionary technique It has a long and dishonorable history in the function of commerical caves It began during the 1920ls when a host of privately owned caves on the perimeter of Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky fought each other ruthlessly in diverting Mammoth Cave bound traffic to their respective attractions The tactics used by the boldest of cappers often bordered on fraud Through the clever use of whistles red lights signs fake information booths and official looking uniforms the cappers carried on a unique war for several decades There is a bit of irony in the fact that when the Great Cave War of Kentucky was at its peak a similar cave war was being waged in Crawford County Missouri Irony is compounded by the knowledge that the cave war in Kentucky was ignited when one George Morrison opened a New Entrance to a section of Mammoth Cave -- a portion of the huge and famous attraction that ran beneath private property Morrison began to show his secshytion to the great cavern in tough competition with the historic entrance of Mammoth Cave The Mammoth Cave of Kentucky and the Mammoth Cave of Missouri were in similar simultaneous warfare Dr William Mook was Bob Bradford1s George Morrison The two men Bradford and Morrison never met It was

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probably just as well

As a commercial operation Missouri Caverns won its suit against Onondaga however due to other difficulties the cave was closed to the public in the early 1940s Later the properties were consolidated by new owners and the two caves once again united into one Onondaga

Onondaga Cave has survived so much turbulence in its 87 years of history one is inclined to believe that it might survive yet another century But current events are casting long shadows

The flooding or preservation of Onondaga Cave is history yet to come Onondaga Cave faces the innundation threat as a new and even more potent threat to lts existence It has suffered and survived much The question now is will OnlJildaga be damned and dammed

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HISTORICAL SKETCHES of

Pend Oreil1e County Washington

by

Mrs Ruby Lusher Dingee Miner Print Newport Washington

1930

CAVERN NOW STATE PARK

(I have corrected Mrs Dingees spelling of Gardiner to Gardner and her spelling of stalactite No other changes have been made ---Editor]

Not far from the canyon about twelve miles north of Metaline on the west side of the river 1S Gardner1s cave It was thus described by one of an-exploring party from Spokane who visited the cave in 1903

IIArriving at the cavels mouth which is situated on an easy slope on the east side of a pretentious mountain at 930 olclock am the party found that the opening is simply a break in the roof of the cave by which an easy entrance is made with a ladder constructed on the ground The first six hunshydred feet constitutes the most attractive portion of the cave as below that point mud is found on the floor increasing in depth until at the present end the entire cave is coated with an accumulation of natural cement but partially dried and increasing at the rate of one-eighth of an inch per year Early in the spring the water doubtless fills the entire cave at the lower end but gradually passes out through small orifices until at this season it entirely disappears and the air becomes clear and pure By the aid of tools and powder it may be possible to open up chambers still lower down from the present end of the cave as without doubt the subterranean waters finally react the Pend Oreille River a mile away Carefully measured from the entrance to the lower end of the main cave the total length was found to be 780 feet with a total loss in elevation from 2645 to 2420 feet or 225 feet a mean grade of about 34 percent

IIWith Ed Gardner the discoverer in the lead the entire party of seven penetrated the cavern and examined all its side chambers This cave has many features of interest and beauty The first 600 feet is gorgeously draped and festooned with stalactites and- stalagmites in many grotesque forms the former pendant from the ceiling while the latter rise from the floor At two points the main passage way is divided by two huge pillars delicately fluted and of rare color the first of which is about 280 feet from the entrance and the lower one 155 feet farther down while all between along the sides and-ceiling are stalactites of various lengths

At two places along the wall are numerous stalactites which by striking sharply produce clear notes which resemble those of a piano In places the floor is covered with rock forms of white limestone resembling baths in some of which the water still remains clear as a crystal At other places are pillars rising from a few inches to several feet At one side of this chamber is a wonderful formation resembling a frozen waterfall near which is an overhanging canopy with a well-formed seat at the base This is The Throne

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and from it one can see all the principal beauties of this marvelous chamber of wonders The Cathedral to the right and 30 feet below is frescoed and festooned with glistening gems Rising from the floor are several fragile columns on the tops of which the party placed their candles and viewed with pleasure the sublime effect Thirty or more feet from the floor of the main hall and directly before the throne a cluster of crystals resembles a hugh bunch of grapes

liThe gigantic pillar at the upper end of this chamber gives the visitor ample space to pass but when its twin column at the lower end is reached one is mutely but firmly reminded that due obeisance must be made in acknowledgment of the beauties just seen before passage will be granted to the depths below Passage can be obtained here only by prostrating oneself and crawling in after which one passes through a narrow aisle ten feet by four feet wide for about seventy-five feet where another hole s reached through which one must crawl bear-fashion At 720 feet from the entrance the only considerable side passage is found at the right running back at an angle from the main cavern some fifty feet and ending in a circular chamber the entire passage- being about twelve feet high by eight wide

There is ample evidence that Gardner Cave so far as explored by the party constitutes but a small part of the subterranean chambers and passageshyways of the immediate 10ca1ity1I

This cave was named for its discoverer Ed Gardner who found it about 1900 The quarter section on which the entrance is located was later acquired from the government by W H Crawford a pioneer merchant of Metaline In October 1921 de deeded the forty acres surrounding the cave opening to the State Park Board to be made into a state park The park was named Crawford Park and was the first state park to be created in eastern Washington

OBITUARY

A T Jackson (NSS 502) pioneer Texas archeologist and cave explorer died January 27 1974 at Austin Texas Among cavers he was probably best known for his multiple contributions to NSS Bulletin 10 His famed volume on Texas rock art PICTURE WRITINGS OF TEXAS INDIANS was sprinkled with notes on the states spelean history Perhaps least known of his works was his important article on Civil War saltpeter mining which appeared in the November 1950 issue of Hunters Frontier Times

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Philosophical Shaw)

Excerpt from Transactions p 22-28 (courtesy of Trevor

no 407 Jan-Feb 1729 London

(from An Account of some Observations relating to Natural History made in a journey to the Peak in Derbyshire by Mr J Martyn FRS)

liThe Peak in Derbyshire having hitherto been described in scarce any other Light than as a Place composed of Wonders I was not a little desirous to make some enquiry into the Nature of a Place generally esteemed one of the most Surprizing of our own Country

liThe Peak is famous for seven Places which have been dignified by our Ancestors with the Name of Wonders 1 Chatsworth a magnificent Seat of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire 2 Mam-tor 3 Elden-hole 4 the ebbing and flowing Well 5 Buxton-Well 6 Peaks Hole and 7 Pool1s Hole

Elden-hole is a huge perpendicular chasm The Depth of it is not known Mr Cotton tels us that he sounded 884 yards and yet the Plummet dr w But he might easily be deceived unless his Plummet was of a very great weight for otherwise I imagine the Weight of a rope of that Length would be so great as to make the Landing of the Plummet scarce perceivable Be that as it will the Depth of it is sure very considerable and considering that we have no where in England so good an Opportunity of searching the Bowels of the Earth to so great a Depth I wonder no curious Person has ever had the Courage to venture down It is said indeed that a poor Fellow was hired to be let down wi th a Rope abolJt hi s Mi ddl e two hundred Yards and that he was drawn up again out of his Senses and died a few Days later and no Wonder for the poor Wretch having nothing else to reflect on in that dismal Place but the Danger he had put himself into for the Sake of a little Money might probably be frightned out of his Senses Or indeed the very Fatigue itself might put him into that Condition as any one will easily imagine who has been let down but a quarter of the way and drawn up again in that Manner But I conceive that if any intelligent and prudent person was to be let down in a proper Machine he would not be much in danger and his Fatigue would be very inshyconsiderable

liThe ebb ng and flow ng We 11 is far from bei ng regul ar as some have pretended It is very seldom seen by the neighbors themselves and for my Part I waited a good while at it to no Purpose And so I shall pass it over in Silence

Peak1s Hole and Pool1s Hole are two remarkable horizontal Openings under Mountains the one near Castleton the other just by Buxton They seem to me to have owed their Original to the Spring which have their current through them It is easy to imagine that when the Water had forced itls Way through the horizontal Fissures of the Strata and had carried the loose Earth away with it the loose Stone must of Course fall down and that where the Strata had few or no Fissures they remained entire and so formed those very irregular Arches which are so much wondered at in these places Whetherthis be the true Origine of these Caves or not I submit to those who shall hereafter have the Curiosity to examine It seems more probable to me than what others have hitherto proposed The three Rivers as they are commonly called in Peaks Hole are only some Parts of the Cave deeper than the rest and receiving all their water from the Spring which comes from the farther end of the cave The Water which passes through Pool Is-hole is impregnated with Particles of Limestone

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Philosophical Shaw)

and so has incrusted almost the entire Cave in such a Manner that it appears like one solid rock bull bull

Excerpt from Transactions p 223 (courtesy of Trevor

no 480 May-June 1746 London

(in X A Letter from Mr J Durant to the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq FRS concerning a Coal-Mine taking Fire near Newcastle upon Tyne of the blue Well and of a subterraneous Cavern in Weredale lately communicated by the same hand)

III pray Sir pardon my Delay in procrastinating the Performance of my mentiond Promise till a favourable and serene Season when if you shall command it I may be able to give you some account of some subterranean bull

Grottoes or Caverns in Weredale about twenty Miles South-west of this Place (apparently Newcastle upon Tyne) where by a little Hole creeping into the Side of a vast Mountain is entered a spacious cavity chambered with Walls and Pillars of decident lapidescent Waters the Hollowness in some Places being previous farther than any yet has adventured to discover the Darkness of these Caverns requiring the Help of Candles which are often extinguishd by the dropping Water

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History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE

The above photograph was found in an old scrapbook of Elsie A of Franklin ( Pendleton Co W Va ) The

Boggs author of scrapbook is now owned by her daughter Miss Elizabeth Boggs The cave shown is today known as Schoolhouse Cave The following paragraph accompanied the photograph

IIGeorge W and Issac Hammer at the cave in Harman Hills where their Gre at-Grandfather Jacob Harper born in 1744 and his sons mined salt peter which they used in making the gunpowder that they sold at 50 cts pr lb ( See page 215 in Pendleton History ) This picture was taken in August 1903 I was in this cave July 141902 Elsiell

I f the information given is correct it would indicate that Schoolhouse Cave was mined long before the Civil War the commonly attributed mining period It was saltpetre mining that opened the passage leading to the Jumping-Off-Place the beginning of the famed vertical section of cave The trench to the JumpingshyOff-Place still bears clear matock marks from the mining period A pair of vertical posts just inside the entrance has been attributed to an lIaerial tramshyway once used to bring out saltpetre dirt presumably during the Civil War A large hand-hewn trough below the posts collected water for the nearby schoolshyhouse for which the cave was named though it may date back to saltpetre operations This photograph is the earliest known to this author of a West Virginia cave

Pete Hauer March 1974

Original photograph was copied by Robert Thrun ASHA 125

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CAVE INSCRIPTION

Keys Cave s a medium sized maze cave just under Rt 33 near Franklin W Va As numerous inscriptions would testify this cave was popular for touring in the middle and late 19th century One series of scratching is of particular interest to West Virginia history as it is dated 1856 seven years prior to West Virginia statehood Following the date and names in the flourishing script of the time is IISC Semper Tyrannusfl the motto of the

state of Virginia Not the pride of visiting outsiders this inscription was placed when still in Virginia and the names listed are followed by IIFranklin Virginiall For the record the names included AJ Rankin Mag McCoy JD Johnson JB Johnson Joe Carrie Johnson Maggie Johnson and Ino DJ Johnson Two dates are given July 1856 and Aug 12 1856 The accompanying photograph reading I1Carrie Johnson Ino DJ Johnson Franklin Virginial1 was made by Robert Thrun ASHA 125

Peter Hauer March 1974

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MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface

For almost a hundred years Mammoth Cave historians and writers have searched for the original publication referred to but not identified on page 25 of the little book entitled IIRambles in Mammoth Cave During the Year 1844 by a Visitor (Morton amp Griswold Louisville 1845) wherein the anonymous author states III will extract from the recently published narrative of a highly scientific gentleman of New York himself one of the early visitors to the Cave1I and then follows the detailed and off-quoted description of the 111813 mummy 11

In their efforts to learn more about the early history of the cave subsequent authors and historians have searched for the above mentioned IIrecently published narrative In the late 1860s Dr William S Forwood

while gathering historical materials for his book looked fDr but could not locate the elusive publication

Prof Frederick W Putnam in the 1870s examined all written records he could locate about the 1813 mummy and although he found the 1815 and 1817 articles in the IIMedical Repository and the letters by Mitchill Farnham and Wilkins published in 1820 by the American Antiquarian Society he did not find the recently published narrative 1I He indicated that it was probably written by Mr Meriam of Brooklyn NY II

In his books about the cave beginning in 1882 Hovey mentions the articles that Putnam had located and he as well as Binkerd Call and others continued the search for the recently published narrative probably written by Meriam but without success

This historically important narrativell has been identified by the New York Public Library Written by Ebenezer Meriam it was published February 21 1844 on pages 317-324 and 328 of the New York Municipal Gazette

Harold Meloy Shelbyville Indiana December 1962

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

EBENEZER MERIAM Meteorologist born in Concord Mass June 20 1794 died in Brooklyn New York March 19 1864

He removed in early manhood to Kentucky where he engaged in the manshyufacture of saltpetre and other mineral products of the Mammoth Cave and subsequently was a dry-goods merchant in Zanesville Ohio

About 1838 he settled in New York City where he acquired wealth in the manufacture of soap and candles He then devoted himself to meteorological

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research and was the originator of the theory of cycles of atmospherical phenomena upon which he published articles that attracted the attention of scientists at home and abroad

He began in 1841 at his own expense the publication of The Municipal Gazette a scientific paper and was a contributor to the scientific columns of most of the New York City journals and to a statistical almanac (1858) also printing many pamphlets He spent all his fortune in the cause of science and benevolence

--From Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography (New York D Appleton amp Co 1900) v 4 page 304

Mammoth Cave

The entrance to thjs vast subterranean territory is in the county of Edmonson State of Kentucky on the southerly side of Green River and distant therefrom about four hundred yards

The entrance is North latitude 37deg 10 West longitude from Washington City 9deg 151 The entrance to this nether territory is 94 miles from Nashville in Tenn 125 miles from Lexington and 99 miles from Louisville Ky The nearest places of note are distant as follows Dripping Springs 9 miles Bear Wallow 12 miles Bells Tavern 7 miles Mumfordsville 15 miles The mouth of the cave s about north east from the Dripping Springs and about north west from Pruits Knob

The Mammoth Cave extends under a range of Knobs which border what is called the Green River or Kentucky Barrens -- Formerly these Barrens were destitute of timber but were covered with grass and flowers which grew spontaneous and with great luxuriance Since that section of the State has become thickly settled the fires which every year overrun the surface consuming the dry grass ampc have been prevented and now the surface is covered with a young growth of timber consisting of oak hickory and chesnut It was the custom in former times for settlers who had located themselves upon the barrens as early n the fall season as that the grass began to get dry to burn over a small district around their plantations in order to keep of the fire when the barrens should g t enveloped in one general conflagration It sometimes happenshyed that the Barrens become ignited at an earlier period than usual and in such cases settlers were obliged to set what are called the back fires -- burning over small districts so that when the great body of flames come sweeping over the Barrens with a roar of wind increased by the augmentation of heat and flame that a boundary should there be set to it as the flames would be thus deprived of food to feed upon A fire on the barrens I once witnessed It was a beautishyful moonlight evening I was travelling on horseback on one section of these highland prairies the fire in its spread out-stripped that of the horse on which I was riding but as its track was some distance from me and the wind in my favor I felt no apprehension from its effects Fires of this description are frequently caused by persons who are flitting and who encamp for the night building fires for the purpose of cooking and which are spread by the wind The term flitting is used in this country to denote persons moving from one section of the country to another It sometimes happens that fires are set for the purpose of driving deer -into what are called the IIdeer runs where the hunters station themselves to shoot them down as they pass The Barrens were

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a great resort for deer rabbits ampc It seldom happens that fires are set by persons for the mere sport of seeing a bonfire which in such a country would be

-malicious mischief Crimes are rare in countries where the products of nature are more than adequate to the wants of man The Barrens are a limestone formation and the soil when brought under cultivation is found to be very productive

The best of tobacco is grown upon the barrens and some cotton It is somewhat singular that this section of country should at once produce such a profuse growth of oak hickory and chesnut and I know no other way to account for it than to refer back to the Mosaic account of the commencement of vegetation in which the sacred historian states that the primitive seeds were of themselves in the earth The Knobs are a range of hills which border the waters of Green River on the one side and the barrens on the other and are a sort of a winrow made on the subsidence of waters of the great deluge I have been thus particushylar in describing the surface around the entrance to the cave before taking the reader below the surface

_The entrance to the Cave is at the foot of a knob by a gradual descent of about seventy feet At the bottom of this descent which is so easy that oxen pass down it without trouble is the opening to the greatest known Cavern The opening is in the solid rock and is about 10 feet wide and about eight feet high In winter a strong current of air rushes into the Cave and during the hot summer weather the current of air changes and rushes out of the Cave equally strong This change of current of air is owing to the temperature of the atmosphere upon the Earth1s surface When the weather is warm the surface atmosphere air is more rarified than the air of the Cave and then the current blows out of the Cave but when the atmosphere outside becomes cold the air in the Cave is more rarified and then a change takes place and wind blows into the Cave At the mouth of the Cave there is water dripping from above and it is to this cause that I attribute the present entrance to the Cave being made This spot is not the original inlet to the Cave for it is evident on a careful examination that the roof of the Cave broke in at this place and that one end ofmiddotthe roof fell while the other maintained its position like one end of a wooden floor settling down while the other kept its place and it is this slope which forms the visitorsl path into the subterraneous chambers Near the mouth of the Cave is a pit of water of some fifty or sixty feet deep made by the continued wear from falling water for centuries After passing the front thirty or forty feet the Cave gradually widens to the width of from thirty to fifty feet and increases in height to about sixteen or twenty feet The sides and roof are of solid rock and the floor which is of the same solid material is overlaid by a strata of sand and earth to the depth of from three to six feet This dirt has been the accumulation of time Much of the surface of the walls have a thick white incrustation like a thick coat of whitewash and some of these surfaces are black and some a mixture of black and white yet each color was distinct and separate no amalgamation visible The Cave is dark perfectly dark and here silence reigns in all the majesty of Nature1s grandeur shrouded with the curtains of the blackest darkness The atmosphere within these nether chambers is perfectly dry and the temperature that of 59 degrees of Farenhei S sGale There is a peculiar sensation experienced by visitors after entering the Cave and breathing its atmosphere for a few minutes whether it has its origin mentally or physically or both I am unable to determine I have exshyperienced this feeling on every visit within the Cave although these visits

corrected on page 328 of Meriams article continued in our next issue

7 1 19

were very numerous and many of them protracted There are various evidences of the dryness of the atmosphere in the Cave which illustrate the uniform ty of this peculiar quality of the air at long periods of time Of these I wl11 mention three The Cave was extensively worked for Saltpetre from 1810 to 1814 during which time oxen were used in the Cave for transporting the earth to the Hoppers for lixiviation These oxen were fed on corn and corn blades The corn cobs now remain in the Cave about a mile from the mouth in a state of perfect preservation Wooden Conduits (logs bored) were used for conshyveying water from the mouth of the Cave to the Hoppers to lixiviate the Earth and the same mode of conveyance was resorted to to convey the nitrate solution from the Hoppers to the mouth of the Cave from whence it was raised by pumps into the iron pans in which the chrystilization was affected These logs after thirty years exposure to the atmosphere of the Cave are perfectly sound and dry In excavating the earth in the Cave for the purpose of lixiviation pieces of cane torches were found embedded in the dirt in great abundance and in a perfect state of preservation Combustion goes on well in the Cave lamps burn free and the light given by this means is as to proportionate yield greater than in surface atmospheric air

On my first visit to the Mammoth Cave in 1813 I saw a relic of ancient times which required a minute description This description is from a memoshyrandum made in the Cave at that time

In the digging of Saltpetre earth in the Short Cave some little distance from the Mammoth Cave a flat rock was met with by the workmen a little below the surface of the earth in the Cave and about a quarter of a mile from the Caves mouth this stone was raised was about four feet wide and as many long beneath it was a square excavation about three feet deep and as many in length and width In this small nether subterranean chamber sat in solemn silence one of the human species a female with her wardrobe and ornaments placed at her side The body was in a state of perfect preservation and sitting erect The arms were folded up and the hands were laid across the bosom around the two wrists was wound a small cord designed probably to keep them in the posture in which they were first placed Around the body and next thereto was wrapped two deer skins These skins appeared to have been dressed in some mode different from what is now practised by any people of whome I have any knowledge The hair of the skins was cut off very near the surface The skins were ornamented with the imprints of vines and leaves which were sketched with a substance perfectly white Outside of these two skins was a large square sheet which was either wove or knit This fabric was the inner bark of a tree which I judged from appearance to be that of the Linn tree In its texture and appearance it resembled the South Sea Island Cloth or Matting this sheet enveloped the whole body and the head The hair on the head was cut off within an eighth of an inth of the skin exc pt near the neck where it was an inch long The color of the hair was dark red the teeth were white and perfect I disshycovered no blemish upon the body except a wound between two ribs near the back bone one of the eyes had also been injured The finger and toe nails were perfect and quite long The features were regular I measured the length of one of the bones of the arm with a string from the elbow to the wrist joint and they equalled my own in length viz ten and a half inches From the examination of the whole frame I judged the figure to be that of a very tall female say five feet ten inches in height The body at the time it was first discovered weighed but fourteen pounds and was perfectly dry an exshyposure to the atmosphere on being moved to the Mammoth Cave it gained in weight by absorbing dampness four pounds Many persons have expressed

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surprise that a human body of great size should weigh so little as many human skeletons of nothing but bone exceed this weight Recently some experiments have been made in Paris which have demonstrated the fact of the human body being reduced to ten pounds by being exposed to a heated atmosphere for a long period of time The color of the skin was dark not black the flesh was hard and dry upon the bones At the side of the body lay a pair of moccasins a knapsack and an indispensable or reticule I will describe these in the order in which I have named them The moccasins were made of wove or knit bark like the wrapper I have described Around the top there was a border to add strength and perhaps as an ornament These were of middling size denoting feet of small size The shape of the moccasins differ but little from the deer

kfn moccasins worn by Northern Indians The knapsack was of wove or knit bark with a deep strong border around the top and was about the size of knapsacks used by soldiers The workmanship of it was neat and such as would do credit as a fabric to a manufacturer of the present day The reticule was also made of knit or wove bark The shape was much like a horseman1s valise opening its whole length on the top On the sides of the opening and a few inches from it were two rows of loops one rowan each side Two cords were fastened to one end of he reticule at the top which passed through the loop on one side and then on the other side the whole length by which it was laced up and secured The edges of the top of the reticule were strengthened with deep fancy borders The articles contained in the knapsack and reticule were quite numerous and are as follows one head cap made of wove or knot bark without any border and of the shape of the plainest night cap seven head dresses made of the quills of large birds and put together somewhat in the same way that feather fans are made except that the pipes of the quills are not drawn to a point but are spread out in straight lines with the top This was done by perforating the pipe of the quill in two places and running two cords through these holes arid then winding around the quills and the cord fine thread to fasten each quill in the place designed for it These cords extended some length beyond the quills on each side so that on placing the feathers erect on the head the cords could be tied together at the back of the head This would enable the wearer to present a beautiful display of feathers standing erect and extending a distance above the head and entirely surrounding it These were most splendid head dresses and would be a magnificent ornament to the head of a female at the present day Several hundred strings of beads these consisted of a very hard brown seed smaller than hemp seed in each of whicha small hole had been made and through this hole a small three corded thread similar in appearance and texture to siene twine these were tied up in bunches like a merchant ties up coral beads when he exposes them for sale The red hoofs of fawns on a string supposed for to be worn around the neck as a necklace those hoofs were about twenty in number and may have been emblematic of Innocence the claw of an Eagle with a hole made in it through which a cord was passed so that it could be worn pendent from the neck the jaw of a Bear designed to be worn in the same manner as the Eagles claw and supplied with a cord to suspend it around the neck two rattlesnake skins one of these had fourteen rattles upon it these were neatly folded up some vegetable colors done up in leaves a small bunch of deer sinews resembling cat gut in appearance several bunches of thread and twine two and three threaded some of which was nearly white seven needles some of these were of horn and some were of bone they were smooth and appeared to have been much used These needles had each a knob or whirl on the top and at the other end were brought to a point like a large sail needle They had no eyelits to receive a thread The top of one of these needles was handsomely scalloped a hand-piece made of deer-skin with a hole through it for the thumb and designed probably to

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protect the hand in the use of the needle the same as thimbles are now used two whistles about eight inches long made of cane with a joint about one third the length over the joint is an opening extending to each side of the tube of the whistle these openings were about three fourths of an inch long and a quarter of an inch wide and had each a flat reed placed in the opening These whistles were tied together with a cord wound around both

I have been thus minute in describing the mute witness from the days of other times and the articles which were deposited within her earthen house Of the race of people to whom she belonged when living we know nothing and as to conjecture the reader who gathers from these pages this account can judge of the matter as well as those who saw the remnant of mortality in the subtershyranean chambers in which she was entombed The cause of the preservation of her body dress and ornaments are no mystery The dry atmosphere of the cave with the nitrate of lime with which the earth that covers the bottom of these nether palaces is so highly impregnated preserves animal flesh and it will neither putrify or decompose when confined to its unchanging action Heat and moisture are both absent in the cave and it is these two agents acting toshygether whi h produce both animal and vegetable decomposition and putrefaction

In the ornaments ampc of this mute witness of ages gone we have record of olden time which in the absence of a written record we may draw some conclusions from In the various articles which constituted her ornaments there were no metalic substances In the make of her dress there is no evishydence of the use of any other machinery than the bone and horn needles The beads are of a substance of the use of which for such purposes we have no account among people of whom we have any written record She had no warlike arms By what process the hair upon her head was cut short or by what process the deer skins were shorn we have no means of conjecture These articles afford us the same means of judging of the nation of which she belonged and of their advances in the arts that future generations will have in the exhumation of a tenant of one of our modern tombs with the funeral shroud ampc in a state of like preservation with this difference that with the present inhabitants of this section of the globe but few articles of ornament are deposited with the body The features of this ancient member of the human family much reshysembled those of a tall handsome American woman The forehead was high and the head well formed

I have already travelled over several pages of paper and have proceeded not one mile in this Cavern of gigantic dimensions I will proceed in the cave The Saltpetre hoppers are placed at a distance from the mouth of the cave which we reckoned to be one mile The Cave at this place is large and branches off in different directions -- The Saltpetre hoppers are constructed in the same manner as ash leaches are made and the earth is lixiviated with water precisely in the same way that ashes are leached to make pot and pearl ash The fluid which is obtained by lixiviation of the earth is mixed with fixed alkilies and evaporated to the chrystalizing point and thus Saltpetre is obtained The dirt yields from 3 to 5 lbs of nitrate of lime to the bushel requiring a large proportion of fixed alkali to produce the required chrystalzation and when left in the cave becomes reimpregnated in three years When saltpetre bore a high price immense quantities were manufactured at the mammoth cave but the return of peace brought the saltpetre from the East Indies in competition with the American and drove that of the produce of our country entirely from the market An idea may be formed of the great extent of the manufacture of saltpetre at this cave from the fact that the contract for the supply of fixed alkali alone

22

for the cave for the year 1814 was twenty thousand dollars In the excavations of the earth for the supply of the vats immense quantities of remains of cane torches and old moccasins were found imbedded in the dirt There was also found imbedded in earth near the mouth of the cave a human jaw bone of gigantic size The inside of this bone would pass over the outside of that of an ordinary sized man The workmen employed in the cave were blacks and were sometimes to the number of 70 They worked by artificial light from iron lamps in which lard was burned The stranger visiter on passing up the cave and coming in sight of this sable group with their burning lamps displaying their white shining ivory teeth and glistening eyes would feel a sensation that the reader can as easily imagine as I can describe During the whole time this cave was wrought in for saltpetre there was no case of sickness among the numerous workmen They all enjoyed excellent and uninterrupted health and prefered this employment to that of labor outside

No wild animals have ever been known to enter the cave Bats are numerous in some of its extensive apartments in winter and so numerous that it is a wonder where they all come from or how they all find their way to this great h ad quarters These bats hang in clusters like bees in swarming and sometimes manifest displeasure by a twitering noise when a human being invades their apartments with a lighted taper There are some crickets in the cave such as are seen about kitchen fire-places in the fall season of the year These are of a light flesh color Some few rats and mice are occasionally seen in the cave These comprise all of the animated creation which now inhabit this nether territory In the River of the cave which I shall hereafter notice are fish of three species one of which are destitute of the organs of sight On passing the Saltpetre hoppers the visitor ascends what is called the mountain an ascent of about 20 or 30 feet and at the top finds himself at the west end of the IIHaunted Room1I There is in the name of this apartment someshything to excite curiosity in the stranger visiter and this is increased when looking forward in this magnificent apartment his light reaches one object after another about the height of a human being the heads of which have become coated with the smoke of the lamps of the workmen and this increased by the peculiar appearance which the feeble light produces upon the surface of the most distant which are half enveloped in darkness These objects when first seen look like groupes of men standing before you but on a closer inspection are found to be figures formed by the operation of water percolating slowly through the rock which forms the roof making what are called stalagmites The comshymencement and progress of these formations are illustrated in the formation of icickles from the eaves of houses The water in falling from the eaves when it reaches the ground congeals and if the supply of the fluid continues to fall the lower concretion will meet the upper and that which is pendant will form a pillar The haunted room is about half a mile in length and contains great numbers of stalactites and stalagmites and other concretations One of these is called the bell It is a hollow stalactite of large size which is pendant from the upper ceiling or roof and is shaped much like a hornets nest When this stone is struck the sound from it may be heard in distant parts of the room Hence its name Another large concretion is a stone much in the shape of an arm chair This is a ponderous stonE of great compactness It is a soltd-shypiece of fluor spar It was called Wilkins armchair in honor of Charles Wilkins Esq one of the former proprietors of the cave -- Mr Wilkins is a brother of the Hon William Wilkins American Minister to the Russian Court In some parts of the haunted room there is much echo from sound a voice or sound is reverberated and this first gave the apartment the startling name This room is from 50 to 100 feet wide and from 10 to 16 feet high Its walls

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pure

are covered with white incrustations The visitor after passing the numerous concretions arrives at a place called the sand-hill1I down which he descends a gradual slope about forty feet and at the foot of this hill on his left is an opening of about six feet wide and twenty feet high through the solid rock in a winding way leads him to the IIPond Room so called This opening is a wonder a great curiosity The indented surface of the wall on one side is in a corresponding shape with the projection of the wall exactly opposite and have to the accurate and careful observer the appearance of having been once united together On one side is to be seen a column with its swells and its mouldings and on the other side exactly opposite to it is to be seen inshydentations of the same shape and form in the rock and one would suppose that this had been the mould in which the pillar was cast but on looking upward to the roof it is seen that its form is that of an arch Here then is the action of some methodical arrangement in the very rocks although enveloped in thick darkness This passage is about thirty yards long and before reaching the pond room a deep pit is passed on the right A stranger without a guide would not be a safe traveller through this narrow way On arriving in the pond room the visitor takes to the left and travels the northern portion of the room This part of the room is parallel with the haunted room but its lower surface is about 50-feet lower than that of the haunted room On the middle of the floor of the room is to be seen a pile of black looking stones which look like large cobble stones covered over with a dingy concretion having somewhat the appearance of Blacksmiths cinders To this place some visitors gave the name of Vulcans Workshop1I A little distance further on in the same direction is a small pond of clear water as transparent as air This pond is about three feet in diameter and nearly circular The bottom is smooth rock and the water when examined by torch light appears to be about two inches deep A gentleman from Massachusetts in company with some visitors attempted to jump across this pond and not being able to accomplish the undertaking by a few inches was exceedingly alarmed in finding himself knee deep in water The depth of the water was thus deceptive from the great transparency of the fluid This water may be termed It has been in a state of perfect quietude probably for centuries so that all earthy particles held in suspension have become precipitated to the bottom by time and now coats the surface of the rock which forms this subterranean basin The pond room is in this section of it about 12 to 14 feet high and 30 or 40 feet wide The floor sides roof ampc are solid rock and without any earthy covering on the lower surface The visitor retracing his steps back to the narrow passage through which he entered this apartment arrives at the commencement of that part of the pond room which lies to the right of the passage Here in a short distance he hears the sound of falling water and soon beholds a body of water falling through a circular opening in the ceiling into a pit of great depth in the floor This body of water is about the size of a barrel and fills the aperture through which it falls It is a splendid water fall but has but few charms to the eye of a visitor - in this vast subterranean apartment Returning the way I came I retraced my steps until I again saw the light of day Just before reaching the mouth of the cave and when I passed entirely without and began to ascend the hill into the surface air I experienced a singular feeling About the center of my body and entirely around it seemed to be affected so much as to be distinctly felt I cannot describe the sensation - it was not in the least painful or unpleasant but it was singular and peculiar in the extreme and I have heard the same remark made by others but I have never heard it accounted for During this visit I travelled about seven miles in the cave going and returning according to the distances noted by the guide The cave as I before observed is perfectly dark The guide carried two torches myself and companions each carried one

7 1 24

These torches we held so near the floor as to have a light to our path which should be a lamp to our feet In this visit I had an opportunity of learning something of the laws which govern light and also sound On entering apartments the roof of which were high we were obliged to wait some minutes before the light from our lamps would illuminate the apartment sufficiently for us to see the roof Sound is not increased by being confined but depends much on the state and temperature of the atmosphere I remarked that the atmosphere in this Cave is pure and respiration is easy The atmosphere of the Cave remains unchanged throughout the year and at 59 degrees of Farenheit In summer weather this is called cool in winter weather it would be denominated warm and comfortable Thus it is that our judgment misleads us in forming opinions of heat and cold unless we have recourse to some standard scale of measurement less liable to err than our own feelings

I have traversed various sections of the Cave frequent and often at all hours of the day and of the night and during all kinds of weather fair and foul In the distant parts of the Cave night and day and rain and sunshyshine are all alike -There all is dry weather and all is nights darkness I will speak generally of it when I have first given particular details I have not been at the Cave since the manufacture of Saltpetre was suspended there near the close of the war At that time I furnished the carbonated alkalies with which the Saltpetre fluids were chrystalized My knowledge of the Cave is extensive and from personal observation made at various times although more than a quarter of a century ago yet notwithstanding the lapse of time my recollection of this woundrous place is quite distinct In the early part of 1838 the land called the Mammoth Cave tract containing 1610 acres running about one mile on Green river was sold by Hyman Gratz Esq of Philadelphia one of the former proprietors to F Gorin Esq of Glasgow Kentucky This tract embraces the mouth of the Mammoth Cave and with it the title to the Cave or to its entrance passes Mr Gorin erected a large Hotel at the Cave capable of accomodating thirty or forty persons In a letter which I received from that gentleman dated Glasgow July 18th 1839 he remarks that within a short time new discoveries of numerous apartments have been made in the Cave which are in the aggregate greater in extent than all the Cave previously known A river of great extent had been discovered and also a dome of great height Mr Gorin has since disposed of the Cave tract ampc to Dr John Croghan of Locust Grove near Louisville Kentucky I have received from a scientific gentleman of high standing several lengthy letters in reference to the Cave as now known and the particulars of various discoveries recently made in it which I will give in detail and in chronological order My correspondent in his letter to me of

liThe discoveri June 24th 1841 remarks es made in the Mammoth Cave the 1 ast two years are in the estimation of many better worth seeing than all the Cave as previously known They consist of numerous branches and avenues domes of great size and beauty Until recently no person had explored the Cave in which the Bottomless Pit is situated beyond the Pit now the most extensive and interesting part of the Cave (as now known) is beyond the Pit For this discovery we are indebted to a gentleman of Georgetown Kentucky named Stevenson He ascertained that the Pit was nothing but a chasm of great depth extending across the Cave and therefore got a ladder of sufficient length to reach across On this ladder this daring man the guide and some two or three others crossed this deep and frightful chasm and on reaching the opposite bank found themselves in a cave of considerable size which after exploring it to the distance of about two miles brought them to their utter astonishment and delight to the celebrated river of the Cave unknown until the last two years In order to gratify the numerous visitors with a view of

257 1

this deeply interesting section of the Cave the proprietor has had a large and strong bridge with suitable railways created over the Bottomless pit Rocks have been removed so as to render walking pleasant in the different avenues stairsteps have been placed where required boats are in readiness for those who feel inclined to take aquatic excursions and Bengal lights can be had by such as wish to witness the sublime spectacle which is exhibited by an illumination of the various domes The river is three miles from the mouth of the Cave where you first strike it it is not very wide but of a considershyable depth It is in this river that fish without eyes have been found It was the opinion of Professor Davidson of Transylvania University (who wrote a pamphlet concerning the Cave ) that these fish had eyes and were blinded by light or in other words that the apparent want of eyes arose from the sudden stimulus of light This is not the case A professor of the Louisville Institute anatomized the head of one of these fish and says there is no indication of there being such an organ The improvements within the Cave commence about half a mile from the mouth in that branch known as the great Bat Room but now as Audubons Avenue named by the proprietor after his old friend the celebrated Ornithologist There are two regular guides at the Cave The est guide is Stephen he has made many discoveries and although he has acted as a guide for a number of years he takes great pleasure in accompanying visitors and penetrating its most remote ramifications No later than November last he when acting as cicerone for a German gentleman made one of the most interesting discoveries of the Cave This visiter was quite an enthusiast in respect to the Cave and as anxious to make discoveries as Stephen was to gratify him They penetrated the Cave to within half a mile of the river when Stephen pointed out to him an opening not exceeding four feet square they entered this and after going a short distance found themselves in a Cave of considerable size which seemed to take a direction in the course of the Caverns mouth After walking about one mile in this branch their progress was suddenly arrested by an abrupt indeed perpendicular descent of the rock on which they stood All beyond above and below was perfect darkness At a distance they heard the fall of water but no idea had they of the space before of the depth below or of the height above them They returned and reported the character of thei r di scovery No attempt was made to descend this precipice for a month when some gentlemen from the adjoining County determined on making the effort A strong rope was obtained and upon reaching the spot the guide consented to be let down into this dark and unshyexplored region

[TO be continued in our next issue]

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Sharpe1s 14 1851) Living Age 30)

24

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BOOK NOTES

Morton Oren F A HISTORY OF PENDLETON COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA Genealogical Publishing Co Inc 1974

This book is listed in the Winter 1974 issue of a flyer published by the Genealogical Publishing Co Inc 521-523 St Paul Place Baltimore Maryland 21202 and selling for $1600 A quote from the flyer After dwelling at some length on the history of Pendleton from its origins as part of Augusta County Virginia it brings its full weight to bear on family histories -shy

hundreds of them with references to more than 15000 related individuals each meticulously developed from the public records at Richmond and at the county seats of Augusta and Rockingham with some accent on personal accounts and family traditions As a rule the entire adult posterity of each pioneer and sub-pioneer ancestor is traced in a perfectly lucid and fluid progression1I

--WRH

Visit to Howe1s Cavell -- an 1851 account Northwestern Caver Nov-Dec 1973

The trip taken by these men led by Howe was an interesting trip with all the excitement of hurrying to get out of the cave before being trapped by rising water It is written with the flair and drama of the 19th century style

The article first appeared in the Knickerbocker in March 1851 reshyappeared in England1s Magazine (Vol back to the US in Littelmiddots (Vol with comments from the NY Evening Post and now in the Northwestern Caver in the November and December 1973 issues

Centuries liThe Wonders of the Worldll gists It contains pages on caves

--PHQ

Anonymous THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD comprising Man Quadrupeds Birds Fishes Trees Plants Mountains Caves Volcanoes Rivers Cities Remarkable Edifices Ruins Antiquities ampc ampc With several hundred illustrative embellishments 544 p uncertain date but pre-1877

Of the numerous lIwonderll books popular in the 19th and early 20th is of particular interest to speleoloshywith 14 illustrations ranging from the

Nahum Ward account and map of Mammoth Cave (and inset of the Scudder mummy) to Proteus anguineus Surtsheillir Cave Iceland (with the name misspelled) and IISybils Cave Hoboken New Jersey1I The cave section was clearly written by someone with an unusual interest in caves and knowledge thereof

To date I bavaobtained copies of two printings with identical texts The dated one is 1877 by Lee and Shepard Boston This printing contains an extra frontispiece and illustrated pre-title page It bears the spine gilt inscription Wonders of the world - illustrated The covers bear a black geometric design on brown leather

The other printing appears to be older (judging by the lesser wear on the plates) but bears no date It too was published in Boston by The John

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His

list should Russell Norton

stationery stamps Carlsbad One

Adams Lee Publishing Co 10 Milk Street Old South Block The front cover bears in silver Wonders of the world - illustrated The cover is in red cloth with a florid montage on front and spine The spine is inscribed in silver Wonders of the world in nature and art illustrated

The book is important not only for its unusually extensive compilation but also for the distinct possibility that it may have significantly influenced Horace C Hovey in writing Celebrated American Caverns Any information on this book and its author would be appreciated

--WRH

BOOK REVIEW

Walsh Frank K and William R Halliday 1971 Te-Cum-Tom Enterprises iv 27 p illus and map

Thi5 excellent booklet by Oregon Caves historian Frank K Walsh and internationally known spelean author William R Halliday fills a long felt need for a short compact descriptive history of Oregon Caves

Profusely illustrated with old half-forgotten photographs and with a centerfold map of the cave showing explorations to 1966 the booklet traces the history of the cave from its discovery in 1874 by Elijah J Davidson to recent explorations and discoveries by members of the National Speleological Society under the leadership of Dr Halliday

This publication is a welcome addition to any cavers library and may be purchased by sending $100 + lOcent postage to Te-Cum-Tom Enterprises 2618 Sand Creek Road Grants Pass Oregon 97526

Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY

Back issues Russell Norton is looking for Vol 1 1 and Vol 2 3 4 address is Dept of Biology Yale University New Haven Conn

06570

List of cave books for trade or sale Anyone interested in obtaining such a contact at the address above

1949 These promote El Paso and contain 2 views of nearbyCavern view is the Ray V Davis famed Totem Pole picture

The other view is of the entrance A few sets in original envelopes are available for trading from Tom Meador Box 3216 San Angelo Texas 76901

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Carlsbad

Regi)n Ethnology BuTTetin 116

history of Information wanted In June 927 Mrs Laura Robins completed a book on the

Cavern Mrs Robins wrote the book while teaching the 1926-1927 term of a private school at the cavern Probably among her pupils was Jim White Jr The book was to be privately printed cloth bound contained about 11 chapters and 200 pages Information on the existance of copies would be appreciated Contact Tom Meador address above

Jim Quinlan (Box 8 Mammoth Cave Ky 42259) seeks stereo views He has many duplicates including Waldack views of Mammoth in

at a very favorable rate of exchange

Stereo views of any caves 1866 that he offers

WHAT CAVE IS THIS DEPARTMENT

Relative to the identity of Giants Cave west of Salt Lake City Utah (JSH 4(1) 15 1971) described in JSH 5(2) 49 1972 as being identified by Jim Quinlan as Clintons Cave It may well be Clintons Cave but this name is new to him He had written to the former editor to the effect that

1 The cave entrance s depicted in a Keystone stereo view 6859-Giants Cave Garfield Beach Great Salt Lake Utah USA The text on the back s irrelevant and concerns caves in general

2 The cave was described and illustrated in maps photographs and drawing by JH Steward (Ancient Caves of the Great Salt Lake

1937 as Bureau of American p-T06

Black Rock Cave

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The Association

The American Spelean History Association is chartered as a non-profit corporation for the study dissemination and interpretation of spelean history and related purposes All persons of high ethical and moral character who are interested in these goals are cordially invited to become members Annual membership is $500 family membership $600 Library subscriptions are $400

The Journal

The Association publishes The Journal of Spelean History on a quarterly basis Pertinent articles or reprints are welcomed As a photo-offset process is often used the editor should be contacted in advance conshycerning the- current type of manuscript preparation desired Submission of rough drafts for preliminary editing is encouraged Illustrations require special handling and arrangements must be made with the editor in advance

Back Issues

Some back issues are available of Volumes 1-6 from Dr WR Halliday 1117 36th Avenue E Seattle Washington 98102 All back issues are available on microfiche for further information contact Kraus Reprint Company Route 100 Mi llwood New York -10546

The Cover

The cover photo was taken in the early 1900s at the edge of Dawn Canyon (Grand Canyon) in Onondaga Cave Missouri Photo courtesy of Dwight Weaver See article on page 7

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TABLE OF CONTENTS






Book notes

Book review M

Colloquy


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CALL FOR PAPERS


1974 NSS Convention




1974 NSS Convention




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James Hedges

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by

H Dwight Weaver







7 1 7

Onondaga the














71 8







7 1 9


bull





7 1 10



by


1930







117 1





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

______ ____ _

12

13

16

17

27

28

28

29






5



bull bull bull


TABLE OF CONTENTS






Book notes

Book review M

Colloquy


7 1 3

15

7 1

CALL FOR PAPERS


1974 NSS Convention




1974 NSS Convention




5






James Hedges

71 6


by

H Dwight Weaver







7 1 7

Onondaga the














71 8







7 1 9


bull





7 1 10



by


1930







117 1





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

7 1

CALL FOR PAPERS


1974 NSS Convention




1974 NSS Convention




5






James Hedges

71 6


by

H Dwight Weaver







7 1 7

Onondaga the














71 8







7 1 9


bull





7 1 10



by


1930







117 1





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29






James Hedges

71 6


by

H Dwight Weaver







7 1 7

Onondaga the














71 8







7 1 9


bull





7 1 10



by


1930







117 1





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29


by

H Dwight Weaver







7 1 7

Onondaga the














71 8







7 1 9


bull





7 1 10



by


1930







117 1





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

Onondaga the














71 8







7 1 9


bull





7 1 10



by


1930







117 1





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29







7 1 9


bull





7 1 10



by


1930







117 1





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29


bull





7 1 10



by


1930







117 1





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29



by


1930







117 1





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29





OBITUARY


7 1 12

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

Philosophical Shaw)









7 1 13

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

Philosophical Shaw)







7 1 14

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

History

SCHOOLHOUSE CAVE







7 1 15

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

CAVE INSCRIPTION




71 16

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

MAMMOTH CAVE

Ebenezer Meriam

1844

Preface








ABOUT THE AUTHOR




71




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29




Mammoth Cave




7 1 18






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29






7 1 19




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29




71 20



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29



71 21

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

71





22



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29



7 1 23

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

pure


7 1 24




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29




257 1



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29



7 1 26


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29


24

27

BOOK NOTES




--WRH





--PHQ






7 1

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

His





--WRH

BOOK REVIEW





Harold Meloy

COLLOQUY


06570




7 1 28

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

Carlsbad












Black Rock Cave

71 29

JOURNAL OF Spelean History OFFICIAL PUBLI CATION OF THE …caves.org/section/asha/issues/025.pdf ·...

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Transcript of JOURNAL OF Spelean History OFFICIAL PUBLI CATION OF THE …caves.org/section/asha/issues/025.pdf ·...