Cave-in-Rock

“ Louisville, Kentucky, March 17, 1923.
17
The Lair of the Outlaws
Nature has set her own seal of wonder and immortality upon some of her works. The cavern of Cave-in-Rock, on the northern bank of the lower Ohio River, bears such a seal. Lacking the adventitious aids of immensity, depth, and remoteness, it was regarded with religious interest in the vague traditions of the aborigines, and has excited the curiosity, aroused the imagination and stirred the fear of white men since they first discovered it. ”

“ Perrin du Lac, in his Travels through the two Louisianas, writes that he embarked at Pittsburgh, April 22, 1802, “in a pirogue thirty feet long and three feet broad” and that a few weeks later he stopped at the Cave. He says “it is considered one of the greatest natural curiosities in North America.”
The first detailed description of Cave-in-Rock ever printed, as far as now known, appeared in one of the earliest editions of Zadok Cramer’s The Ohio and Mississippi Navigator and was republished in the appendix of Journal of a Tour, 1805, by Thaddeus M. Harris without credit to Cramer. ”

“ It is about two and one-half miles below Ford’s Ferry and a half mile above the village of Cave-in-Rock.19 Its position commands a long view up and down the Ohio River. It has a large and dark tunnel-like opening extending into a gray limestone bluff which is partly hidden by shrubbery and small trees. Whether one sees it while passing in a boat or approaching it from the shore the view invariably stirs the beholder. It has the appearance of a large arched crypt, imbedded in solid rock. It is a “house” built by Nature, and is as solid as Gibraltar. ”

“ Evidences of its former grandeur are nowhere so well retained as in the neighborhood of Cave-in-Rock. The last of the giants of the forests standing on the bluffs and in the bottoms along the river will some day disappear, but Cave-in-Rock will defy time and its changes, and ever stand as a reminder of the days when wilderness was king.
Cave-in-Rock is in Hardin County, Illinois, about twenty miles below Shawneetown and twenty miles above Golconda, or about eighty-five miles below Evansville, Indiana, and fifty miles above Paducah, Kentucky. ”

“ One evening they were seated in this cave by a large blazing fire of turf which cast its lurid light to the high arched roof and illuminated the tall and stately pillars, cut by the hand of nature out of the stony rock, with a cheerful red glare that appeared strange in this desolate land, which no fires had ever before visited, except those fierce flames of death which flash from the heavens when robed in the dreadful majesty of thunder. ”

“ A desolate stillness reigns here; no sound reaches us, either of labor or the steps of passing workmen. A cold stream of water trickles from a cleft rock behind us; we bathe our foreheads in it, and betake ourselves to the ladder again.
From our next resting-place we proceed through a gallery, an exhausted vein, kept open as a passage from one shaft to another. As we turn a corner, we seem to plunge into a rocky cavern; our feet tread on roughly imbedded rocks; the sides of the cave jut out in refuse boulders,—harsh, dark-colored, ashen ”

“ During the last day, I was over in one corner of what we later called ‘The Big Room’, crawling along a ledge of rock. I sat down to rest and just looked around as I sat there. Over on the other side of the ledge, what do you suppose I saw? Staring right back at me was the skull of a man! Fast as I could I brought my torch about, and there was the whole skeleton intact. If I thought some giant could have been living in this cave along with the giant formations, right there seemed to be my proof! ”

“ Climbing over the rough boulders, and then descending into a rocky channel, where the water mounted over our knees, we entered the largest of these singular structures, when a wonderful sight met the gaze. We found ourselves in a cave of some 200 feet in circumference, whose sides of black volcanic rock were sheeted with ice, and festooned with icicles, all grandly and marvellously designed. ”

“ Vivid colors gleamed from wall and column with a pristine freshness suggesting that this part of the cave belonged to a far more distant period than the great rock chamber in which they had stopped to take their luncheon. Finally, they were surrounded at every hand by those spear-like formations, thrust upwards from the floor or depending from the roof, that give to the interiors of most caves their fantastic appearance—the stalactites and stalagmites about whose origin in the workshop of Nature there can be no doubt. ”

“ A moment later my feet touched a pile of rock on the floor of the cave. It was so dark that I couldn't see anything except the dim outline of the nearest wall.
"How ya' coming?" Andy shouted down at me.
"I made it all right," I replied. "Come on down, and bring that torch that is in the back of the wagon. It's black as night down here." ”

“ It proved to be a flat, uneven plateau of small dimensions, with precipitous walls on every side, except where the trail led downward. Much loose rock was scattered on its surface. Three-quarters of its boundary rose perpendicularly out of the sea. The remainder plunged down into jungle greenery, and the natural clearing that lay between two dense, rank growths on either side. Not far from the center of the table-rock a fair-sized cave, that bore unmistakable signs of former occupancy and fires once ignited on its floor, afforded a highly acceptable shelter, both from the sun and the elements. ”

“ Many are small and of inconsiderable depth—mere holes worn in the rock; while others are of a truly astonishing size, and fatigue the wondering spectator as he wanders through their lofty halls or endless galleries. The famous Cave of Adelsberg in Carniola has been explored to a distance of 1,243 fathoms from the chief entrance; and in the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky no less than 226 avenues branch out to the right and left from the main gallery, so as to form a network of subterranean passages and halls of various dimensions, whose total length has been computed at about 160 miles! ”

“ You walk along this passage now on sand, now on pebbles, now bare rock. All the great white masses are damp; their surfaces are rough with countless crystallized convolutions and minute ripples, between which trickle here and there tiny threads of water. It is to the moisture that the unsullied whiteness is due, and the glistening effect; for wherever stalactite or stalagmite becomes dry, the colour changes to brown, as we saw in the Old Cave. ”

“ Thousands of inverted spires rain down from above, and on the ground the crinkly rock formations resemble pop-corn in color and appearance although not hardly in flavor! This same pop-corn formation is seen in other parts of the Caverns and geologists say this condition resulted after stalagmites had grown to a considerable height, following which the cave was flooded for thousands of years with water, the excess lime from which accumulated in the tiny globules which give the bubbly appearance. ”

“ They soon heard hollow sounds, which, as the harper learned, were earnest words echoing through the large cave in the deepest interior of the rocky cliff on which the old residence of Andrew's ancestors was built. The cave, which was occupied by men, was dimly lighted with a pine torch that was carefully guarded, lest a faint glimmer might stray through some unsuspected crevice in the rock, and being reflected on the waves of the river, might betray their meeting-place. The number of the men was constantly increasing ”

“ A huge rock, about 60 feet high, rises from the sea, with nothing to indicate that it is hollow; but at a considerable depth beneath low-water mark, there is an opening in the rock through which expert divers can enter, and find themselves in a cave about 40 feet wide and 40 in height—the roof forming rude Gothic arches of very rich and varied colour, and the whole incrusted with stalactites. ”

“ The cave is of moderate size, about sixty meters in length and forty-five meters in width, and the average height of the roof is not over four or five meters. A gentle slope leads downwards. Many blocks of rock in the front part had bits of moss growing on them, and some of the mud there was of a dull purple color, as if some dark madder was mixed with it. There was a red streak in the right hand wall, probably caused by iron. I observed no limestone stalactites nor stalagmites in the cave, the main body of which was well lighted throughout by daylight. ”

“ To clamber up the steep slope to it is far from easy. The 190mouth of the cave is so narrow that only one person can enter it at a time; it opens at the foot of a precipice darkened by overhanging trees and flanked by two crags which project like wings on either side. In the face of the rock to the right of the entrance into the cavern are some votive niches with worn inscriptions under them. Within the cave, which may be about a hundred paces deep, water dripping from the roof has formed large stalactites and has hollowed out basins in the floor. ”

“ When they had encountered Tall and Big Foot, of one of the man-eating hordes, their numbers enabled them to overcome these powerful enemies, who joined the band and fed Laughing Boy his first taste of roasted human flesh. These men also taught the Cave People the wonderful power hidden away in the flint pit, which they had discovered; how two pieces of this strange rock could call forth the protecting fire when struck sharply together, and how thin pieces of this same rock made wonderful knives with which to hack and slay the enemy. ”

“ Returning to the main passage, the tourist descends 41 steps, and enters the Shawl Cave, a magnificent chamber, the roof of which slopes at an angle of about 43 degrees. Into one side the "formation" of carbonate of lime has floated like lava in volumes, and presents the appearance of a suddenly congealed cascade. All the adjacent rocks are covered with fine sheets of formation, white and coloured, and hanging in graceful folds. On a far-off wall is more formation of a similar kind, projecting from a perpendicular rock, and variegated with superb tracery and colouring. ”

“ A flatboat had come down the river and its passengers, not realizing they were near the famous rendezvous of outlaws, landed about a quarter of a mile above the Cave at the foot of a small bluff, later known as Cedar Point. Among the travelers on board were a young man and his sweetheart who, while their companions were making some repairs to the boat, strolled to the top of the cliff and there sat down upon a rock. ”

“ The entrance to the cave is through a hole77 about two feet high by three in width, into which we went feet first and wiggled slowly down an incline covered with broken rock, for a distance of fifteen feet, where a standing depth is reached. A flat, straight, level ceiling extends over the whole cave without any perceptible variation, and this is bordered around its entire length and breadth with a heavy cornice of dripstone, made very ornamental by the forms it assumes, and the multitude of depending stalactites that fall as a fringe around the walls. ”

“ On the face of the cliff yawn two deep and dark caverns, to reach which at low water a ledge of rudest steps has been cut diagonally on the perpendicular face of the rock. The descent by this rock-ladder is no puerile feat. We are halfway down, and are checked by a block having fallen from the ledge. There was no turning, so there we lay on the side looking down over the perpendicular 200 feet on the black rocks in the cave. ”

“ Beyond this is the difficult pitch. High up, a huge mass of rock protruding from the right wall breaks the continuity of the chimney and forms a cave. Away outwards, at about the level of the cave, is a shallow groove with no bottom; the difficulty is to get into this. And a very serious difficulty it is. Fortunately a small stone is tightly jammed inside the cave, and the leader’s rope can be passed behind it. ”

“ The cave must, therefore, be viewed as a place of sepulture for a neolithic people, whose implements abound in the neighbourhood, and not as having been inhabited by a race of cannibals.
The bodies had been interred in the crouching posture, with their thighs bent, their heads resting on their arms, and their faces turned towards the valley. They rested side by side in two small holes, which had been dug in the deposit containing the bones of the animals, and the skeletons were cemented to the rock by stalagmite, and surrounded by large stones. ”

“ The floor is of ornate formation. The next chamber is called the "Coral Cave." It is difficult of access. The way for about 100 yards varies from only two to four feet from floor to ceiling. Nearly at the end is a hole about 12 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep, containing fossil bones. From floor to roof the formation is grand. There are a few fine stalagmites, but the chief beauty is in the stalactitic growth. Many of the stalactites hang from the lowest shelving rock to the floor, and form an alabaster palisade. ”

“ There were ledges and shelves of rock projecting here and there from the sides of the cave, and upon these were laid the weapons and implements of the household, so that, excepting an occasional bone upon the earthen floor, or, perhaps, a spattering of red, where some animal had been cut up for roasting, the place was very neat indeed. The fact that the smoke from the fire could, when the wind was right, ascend easily through the roof made the residence one of the finest within a large district of the country. ”

“ The superior stratum of rock is of so hard and tenacious a quality that it holds together with very few piers to support it. When a citizen wants to enlarge his premises, he merely digs deeper into the hill; he has no ground-rent to pay. Some caves open a hundred feet wide without a support.
[Illustration: GRIOTEAUX. A hamlet under overhanging rocks and with chambers excavated in the rock. Above is a cave used as a place of refuge, and notches that indicate where was a gallery reached by a rope or ladder.] ”