The Journal of Spelean History

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN SPELEAN HISTORY ASSOCIATION

Vol:. 29 jqi No. 2 ~ ~~ .

April-June 1995 The Journal of Spelean History

Vol. 29 No.2 April-June 1995

The Assoc/Stlon Spe/ean History on a quarterly basis. Pertinent articles or reprints are welcomed. The American Spelean History Association is Manuscripts should be typed and double­ chartered as a non-profit corporation for the spaced. Submissions of rough drafts for study, dissemination, and interpretation of preliminary editing is encouraged. Illustrations spelean history and related purposes. All require special handling and arrangements persons who are interested in these goals are should be made with the editor in advance. cordially invited to become members. Annual Photos and illustrations will be returned upon membership is $8. Meetings are held in request. conjunction with the annual convention of the National Speleological Society and sometimes Back Issues at West Virginia's Old Timer's Reunion. Most back issues of the Journal are available. Early issues are photocopied. Indices are Qfflcer.s also available for Volumes 1-6 and 13. Send your requests to Fred Grady (address given President: Susan Holler . with the officers). All issues of Volumes 1-7:2 P.O. Box 100 are available on microfiche from : Old Fort, NC 28762 Kraus Reprint Company Vice President: Carolyn E. Cronk Route 100 1595 Blueberry Hills Rd Millwood, New York 10546 Monument, CO 80132 Official Quarterly Publication Secretary-Treasurer: Fred Grady American Spelean History 1202 S. Scott Street #123 Association Arlington, VA 22204 History Section National Speleological Society Trustees production Larry E. Matthews Gary K. Soule Marion O. Smith Jack Speece Editor: Mike Rogers 3900 Papermill Sq Apt. J Knoxville, TN 37909 The .Joucoal of Spelean History Printing: D. C. Grotto . The Association publishes the Journal of Potomac Speleological.Club Press

Front Cover: Photograpllic stat ofAaron Higginbotham, courtesy of Jim Whidby and Byron's Graphic Arts. Photo used with permiSSion of the National Speleological Society, Huntsville, AL 35810. AARON HIGGINBOTHAM AND THE ROCKHOUSE

by Joseph C. Doug/as

Aaron Higginbotham' (1776-1867) is known by most speleologists as the discoverer of Higginbotham Cave in Warren County, Tennessee, around 1810. Higginbotham Cave was . large and soon well known; it became the site of many visits over the ensuing years. Today it is part of a large system of passages and is known by its c~mmercial name, Cumberland Caverns. The folklore concerning Higginbotham's discovery and exploration of the cave which bears his name is well.:.told in several works. 2 What is less well-known, however, is that folklore links Aaron Higginbotham to another cave in Warren County, prior to his 1810 discovery. This cave is called the Rockhouse (TWR 167). The author first heard of the cave and its link with Higginbotham while ridgewalking and exploring caves on the western side of the northern end of Nunley Mountain in 1986. While on several trips to the area, members of the Cathcart family3 related to the author that Aaron Higginbotham had spent his first winter in Warren County living in the Rockhouse. He apparently arrived too late in the year4 to build a cabin by winter, so he and his family5 lived in a small cave with several entrances up on Nunley Mountain. The cave was near a small gap and was suited for habitation, being dry. The following spring he built a cabin in the Collins River valley and moved out of the Rockhouse. This folklore has been preserved in the area but apparently never before recorded. In November of 1991 members of the Barnes family6 on the other (east) side of the mountain essentially repeated the same story concerning Aaron Higginbotham's stay at the Rockhouse, which lends additional credence to the tale. On 21 October 1986 Jeff Noffsinger and the writer hiked from the Cathcart's field up the gap to examine a number of sinkholes marked on the topographic map. After ascertaining that they . were not easily enterable, we hiked up to the contact between the Hartselle formation and the Monteagle Limestone, contouring the mountain and looking for the cave called the Rockhouse. We soon located the cave and examined it, looking particularly for evidence of habitation or suitability for that use. The cave has four entrances opening in a honeycomb fashion in a low Hartselle bluff. The entrances connect just inside to form a dry, room-sized space, with a flat dirt floor. The cave also contains several dry crawls arranged in a typical Hartselle maze. The total length of the cave is perhaps 200 feet. . The surface of the dirt floor and the walls contain no hints that the cave had been used as a habitation site, though the cave was certainly suitable for it, especially if Higginbotham had covered the entrances with cane, brush, or logs in a lean-to fashion, as pioneers who lived in "rockhouses" on the Cumberland Plateau usually did. 7 A man or a small family living briefly in the cave 180 years prior might leave few surface traces, explaining the lack of obvious evidence in the cave. However, the only way to confirm the folklore would be to examine the dirt floor using archaeological methods and techniques. Still, it is quite plausible and probable that Aaron Higginbotham actually did briefly reside in the Rockhouse, around 1807. Higginbotham was a Virginia native who apparently secured a grant from North Carolina calling for lands in Warren County, Tennessee.s He worked as a surveyor most of his life and was quite successful at it. After he surveyed the Chickamauga Path, where he discovered Higginbotham Cave, the trail was referred to as "Higginbotham's Trace" on an early map of the state. The same map also noted a newer road running south from McMinnville which he apparently surveyed, as it is designated "Higginbotham's New Turnpike." It is well-known that

Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 page 43 he served as county surveyor in 1823. He also received land grants as late as the 1840's, possibly as payment for services as a surveyor and route chooser.9 In addition to our image of him as an explorer driven by curiosity ,Aaron Higginbotham's use of the Rockhouse as shelter adds a practical and utilitarian aspect to his interactions with the cave environment. There were wonders .in caves, as he found in 1810, but caves were also resources which made life easier (or even possible). Of course, in the larger scheme of things, his discovery of Higginbotham Cave was.j er more important than his winter in the Rockhouse, though that event does suggest the diver$e ways people used caves in Tennessee during the period . . Still, Aaron Higginbotham will be remembered mostly;.though hopefully not solely, for the discovery of the cave which bears his name, with its miles of passages, big rooms, and speleothems. This cave became locally famous during his long lifetime, so much so that a history of the state, published twenty years after his death, described it as follows:

Near Collins River, seven miles from McMinnville, running into Forest Peak, is Higginbotham Cave, which consists of numerous halls and grottoes, adorned and beautified with incrustations. Some of the chambers are magnificent in their proportions, one extending over an area of seven acres. The cave is of much interest to pleasure seekers.10

Notes

1. Unfortunately, recent authors have misspelled Aaron Higginbotham's name, using an e for the second i. This error appeared in Thomas C. Barr, Caves of Tennessee (Nashville: State of Tennessee, Division of Geology, BulieUn 64, 1961) and was repeated in Larry E. Matthews, Cumberland Caverns (Huntsville, AI.: National Speleological Society, 1989). Virtually all prior records use the spelling adopted in this article. For examples, see 1836 Warren County Tax List, Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSL&A), Nashville, Tenn .; Matthew Rhea, Map of the State of Tennessee (1832), copy on display, TSL&A; Thomas L. Bailey, "Report on the Caves of the Eastern Highland Rim and Cumberland Plateau," Resources of Tennessee vol. VIII, no. 2 (Nashville: State Geological Survey, 1918) pp. 135-6; Most telling, Thomas Jefferson Barnes, the late Warren County historian who provided historical information to Ba-rr and Matthews (through Roy Davis) always used the spelling adopted in this article. Thomas Jefferson Barnes (TJBP), Tennessee Historical Society, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tenn., file 97 pp. 1-17. These papers contain census, tax, and family records.

2. Barr pp. 470-473; Matthews pp. 20;24. In addition to relating the discovery of Higginbotham Cave, these authors give biographical information not repeated in this article. Also see William R. Halliday M.D., DepthS of the Earth: Caves and Cavers of the United States (New York: Harper and Row, 1976) pp. 203, 205-209.

3. The author took trips to the area on 8 March, 23 August, and sometime in Ma-y, all in 1986. The Cathcart family has lived continuously in the area since at least 1850. TJBP, file 30 p. 11.

4. Barr p. 470 states that Aaron Higgenbotham [sic] "came to Warren County about 1807." This information presumably came from Thomas Jefferson Barnes, but it is not recorded in his papers. TJBP, file 97. page 44 Journal ofSpelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 5. Aaron Higginbotham married twice. His first marriage was to Francis Christain and produced four children. Presumably she also lived in the Rockhouse, although this is conjecture. After her death Aaron married Marry Brooks Allen and produced two additional children. T JBP, file 97 p. 8.

6. The Barnes family has lived continuously in the area since at least the 1810's. TJBP, file 7.

7. See Harry M. Caudill, Night Comes to the Cumberlands, A Biography of a Depressed Area (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1963) p. 19. For details of pioneer life on the Cumberland Plateau in Kentucky see pp. 11-31. .

8. [Goodspeed brothers], History of Tennessee from the Earliest Times to the present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Cannon. Coffee. DeKalb. Warren, [and] White Counties (Nashville: Godspeed Publishing Company, 1887) pp. 812-3.

9. Matthew Rhea, Map of the State of Tennessee (1832), copy on display at TSL&A. This interesting map also shows one cave, Big Bone Cave, in what is now Van Buren County; T JBP, file 97 pp. 7-9; See card file for Higginbotham under Land Grants-Tennessee, TSL&A.

10. [Goodspeed brothers], p. 813.

HISTORICAL NOTES ON CAVES ON RODRIGUES ISLAND, INDIAN OCEAN

By William R. Halliday

Several years ago, the island entity of Mauritius focussed attention on a cave at Patates on Rodrigues Island by depicting it on a postage stamp in a tourism series. Rodrigues Island is about 300 miles from Mauritius Island in the Indian Ocean. Close examination of the stamp revealed calcareous speleothems of the type common to tropical limestone caves. Trevor Shaw kindly supplied some information on the cave, and Greg Middleton (Australian speleologist currently stationed on Mauritius) sent me a postcard showing the interior of the cave.

When at the library of the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA recently, I looked for citations on Rodrigues Island in the card catalog. There was just one:

Hooker, J.D. and A. Gunther, editors. An account of the petrological, botanical, and zoological collections made in Kerguelen's Land and Rodrigues during the Transit of Venus Expeditions, carried out by order of Her Majesty's Government in the.years 1874-75. London: printed by George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, printers to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.

This was issued as a special number of the proceedings of the royal society of London; unfortunately I mislaid my citation but the title page bears the date 1879. It's full of references to caves of Rodrigues, especially their content of bones of extinct birds. Introductory Notes on the Collections from Rodrigues begins with a section by Is. Bayley Balfour, entitled I. THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF MAURITIUS. Because data on these caves and their environment is so difficult

Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 page 45 to obtain, paragraphs from this and other sections are worth repetition in full :

"On the south-west, the central volcanic ridge gradually descends, the ravines become less deep and the ground spreads out into a large coralline limestone plain. The demarcation betwixt the limestone and the volcanic rock is very sharp, but isolated patches of limestone are met with on the surface of the volcanic region, in the vicinity of the main mass. The caves from which the bones of the Solitaire and other extinct birds have been obtained occur in this limestone plain. Some of them extend for a great distance through the rock. and are rich in stalactites and stalagmites; others again are mere small holes. The whole plain is riddled with these caves. and on walking over it one constantly passes small apertures and fissures, evidently "blowholes" of some subterranean cavern. Wide and deep hollows 'Iilre also met with, on the floor Qf which large fragments of limestone lie in confused heaps. These are apparently old caves of which the roofs have fallen in, and the continuation of the cavern may be found at either extremity. The floor of these hollows is composed of volcanic soil, often with large masses of volcanic rock on the surface, and commonly clothed richly with vegetation. It is in such places that many of the largest trees on the island are now to be seen. The limestone is not found' along the northern or southern shores, until we near the eastern extremity, where patches occur at the mouths of the valleys, and even at some distance from the shore. One mass I discovered in the valley Riviere de l'Est, more than a mile from the sea. It is not so abundant at this end of the island.

The Report of Henry H. Slater, on pages 294 and 295, gives a nice account of the search for bird bones and the caves containing them, in narrative form, but contributeslittie to the knowledge of the caves themselves. Slater's OBSERVATIONS ON THE BONE CAVES OF RODRIGUES, however. contains much valuable information, also worth replication here. This is on paQes 420-422, in the ZOOLOGY section, EXTINCT FAUNA subsection, Part I, entitled The Cave Region of Rodrigues.

"The cave tract in Rodrigues is situated about the S.W. side of the island, and is of a very curious nature. We find there 10 or 12 patches of limestone scattered upon the basalt which forms the island; these patches are of irregular form, and u~ually terminated by an escarpment of various height, from 3 to 10 or 12 feet, which marks their juncture with the basalt. On examination, these patches are found to consist of marine coral upheaved with the basalt.. .. It is in these coralline limestone patches solely that the caves are situated; in Bourbon, on the contrary, the only caves were in the igneous rock itself. and appeared to be the effect of rapid cooling. (Bourbon apparently is an island close to the island of Mauritius. W.R.H .)

"The caves have been, if not originated, at least much enlarged by water, of which many bear abundant traces, and in the rainy season some are evidently the courses of subterranean streams .. ..

"There exists near my camp at the caves a sort of ravine, terminated at each end by a cavern, and having others opening into it. The terminal caves and precipitous sides at once determined me that this has been a vast cavern, the roof of the greater part of which has fallen in; this fall has left a sort of ravine with a level bottom surrounded on all sides by precipices, nearly, if not quite, perpendicular, and having a height of from 30 to 90 feet; the bottom is now covered with earth and is full of large trees, the tops of which rise to the level of the cliffs. Descent can only be effected with ease in two places, where two heaps of limestone blocks rear themselves against the precipices. There is no reason to believe that water ever accumulates in the caverns opening into this "Gorge," and in these caves most of my specimens of any value were found .... Capt. Wharton, of H.M.S. "Shearwater," opened one about a mile and a half W.S.W . of the Gorge. and descended by means of a rope, but nothing was seen but stalactites, nothing like earth on the floor ... The cave-earth was always similar in colour to the reddish-brown earth found on the basaltic parts of the island, but differed from it in being generally mixed with a

page 46 Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 greater or smaller per-centage of coralline sand, formed tram the crumbling of the interior of the cave, or washed in. The earth itself was probably washed into such caves as were liable to the influx of water; into the dry caves it seemed to have blown in in the form of dust, which form it often kept. Mixed with the cave-earth was a large admixture of land snails .... the latter two are now extinct, and only found in the caves .... I never met with any human remains, either bones or implements, in the cave-earth.

"The depth of the bone-earth is very variable; in some caves we find it with a depth of from six inches to three feet; however it varies from four to nine feet in depth. Below about two feet I never found many bones ... .those near or upon the surface .... were usually much decayed. This makes me think that the Solitaire resorted to the caverns in case of fire upon the island, which has been known to have denuded it several times of its trees .... in several cases I found nearly perfect skeletons .... in the bottom of a cleft near the mouth of the cave I found the greater part of the skeletons of a male and female Solitaire .. ..1 could not doubt that they arrived there alive ... . nor were any bones found in the caves at any distance from the mouths.

"Stalagmite of any thickness is uncommon in the caves; in three caves only did it occur in anything like extensive sheets, but it often occurred in small patches of a yard or so in diameter under some long stalactite. But in one long cavern, near a fishing station called Patates, there was evidence of there having been rather an extensive system of stalagmite layers. This cave was nearly a mile in length, and ran downhill, having an elevation of about 200 feet above sea level at one mouth, and not more than 25 at the other; moreover it was clearly occasionally the bed of a stream. In one place in this cave there was an interesting relic in the shape of a sort of column composed of alternate floors of stalagmite and cave-earth It occurred in an anqle of the cave where tne tOI ~e at a stream coming down from the higher mouth would just have missed. It was about 8 feet in height, and there were three or four layers of stalagmite in it. At one period, before the streams began to flow through the cave, this system of alternate layers had existed all over the cavern, but had been broken up by the stream, which would wash out the earth, when the stalagmite would fall in. Evidences of the stream were to be found in the trunks of the trees and beds of leaves, with smooth ripple-marked sand in the floor of the caves."

At least one resort hotel has been constructed on Rodrigues Island in this decade, and package tours are available from European cities. Probably we will be hearing more of its caves in the fairly near future. I may go myself.

Russell H. Gurnee NSS 1907

Members of the American Spelean History Association will sadly miss Russell H. Gurnee, longtime member and trustee. He will be remembered for his writings, explorations, conservation and development of caves. He was a leader in several national and international organizations. We have been most fortunate to have known him.

Journal o( Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 page 47 AN EARLY ENGLISH LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION OF THE CAVE OF ANTIPAROS

--in A Voyage into the Levant, by M. Tournefois London, 1741, Vol. 1.

(submitted by Trevor Shaw)

...We could read only part of the Inscription (in the cave entrance); but it was communicated to us quite intire by a Citizen of the place, who keeps a Copy of it: he assured us, that it had been decypher'd by a more learned Man than us, who pass'd through Antiparos some years since. These are the Contents of the Inscription:

UNDER The Magistracy of Crito came to this place Menander Socarmus Menecrates Antipater Ippomedon Aristeas Philaes Gorgus Diogenes Philocrates Onesimus

Perhaps they are the Names of the Inhabitants of the Island, who in the Magistracy of Q.ri1Q were the first that ventur'd to descend into the Grotto, to take a view of it. Beneath this inscription is a long squarish hole, in which was formerly fix'd a piece of Marble that now lies not far from it, but which is not very ancient, as appears by a figure of the Cross; 'tis a Basso-Relievo done in the time of the Christians, so ill-handled, that you can make nothing of it; and if we may judge by Appearances, it was never thought worth carrying away. On the left hand, at the bottom of a rock cut into an inclining Plain, is to be seen another ~ inscription, more worn than the former. Between the two pillars that are on the right hand, is a little Platform gently sloping, separated from the innermost part of the Cavern by a low Wall: in this place was graved some years ago, at the foot of a Rock that is pretty flat, the following words:

HOC ANTRUM EX NATURAE MIRACULIS RARISSIMUM UNA CUM COMITATU RECESSIBUS EJUSDEM PROFUNDIORIBUS ET ABDITIORIBUS PENETRATIS SUSPICIEBAT ET STATIS SUSPICI NON POSSE EXISTIMABAT CAR. FRAN. OllER DE NOINTEL IMP. GALLIARUM LEGATUS. DIE NAT. CHR. QUO CONSECRATUM FUIT. AN . MDCLXXIII.

page 48 Journal ofSpelean History, 1101. 29 No. 2 You afterward go forward to the bottom of the Cavern by a greater Descent of about twenty paces long: this is the Passage into the Grotto, and this Passage is only a very dark hole, in which you cannot walk upright, nor without the help of Torches. First, you go down a frightful Precipice by means of a Rope, which you take care to fasten at the very Entrance. From the bottom of this Precipice you slide down another much more terrible, the sides very slippery, and deep Abysses on the left hand; they place a ladder aside of these Abysses, and by its means we tremblingly got down a Rock that was perfectly perpendicular. We continu'd to make our way through places somewhat less dangerous; but when we thought ourselves upon sure ground, the most frightful Leap of all stopped us short, and we had infallibly broken .our necks, had we not had notice, and been kept back by our Guides. There is still the remains of a Ladder, which M. de Nointel had placed there: but as it IS now grown rotten, our Guides had taken care to bring another brand-new. To get down here, we were forced to slide on our backs along a great Rock; and without the assistance of another Rope, we had fallen down into horrible Quagmires. When we were come to the bottom of the Ladder, we again rolled for some time over Rocks, sometimes on our backs, sometimes on our bellies, according as we found most ease; and after all these Fatigues, we at length entered into that admirable Grotto, which M. ~ Nointel had just reason to say he could never sufficiently admire. The People that conducted us, reckoned it 150 fathom deep from the cavern to the Altar marked A and as many more from that Altar to the deepest place you can go down into. The bottom of this Grotto on the left hand is very rugged; on the right it is pretty even, and this way it is that you go to the Altar . . From this place the Grotto appears to be about forty fathom high, and fifty broad: the Roof of it is a pretty good Arch, in several places rising out into large round knobs, some bristling with points like the Bolt of Jupiter, others regularly dinted, from which hang Grapes, Festoons, and lances of a surprising length. On the right and left are natural Curtains, that stretch out every way, and form on the sides a sort of channel'd Spires or Towers, for the most part hollow, like so many little Closets all round the Grotto. Among these Cabinets, one large Pavilion (B) is particularly distinguishable; it is formed by Productions that so exactly represent the Roots, Branches, and Heads of Colly-Flowers, that one would think Nature meant by this to shew us how she operates in the Vegetation of Stones. All these Figures are of white Marble, transparent, crystallized, and generally break aslant and in different Beds, like the Judaic Stone. Most of these pieces even are covered with a white Bark, and being stricken upon, will sound like Copper. On the left, a little beyond the Entry (C) of the Grotto, rise three or four Pillars (D) or Columns of Marble, planted like Stumps of Trees on the tuft of a little Rock. The highest of these Stumps is six foot eight inches, and one foot diameter, almost cylindrical, and of equal thickness, except in some places, where it is as it were wavy; it is rounded at the top, and stands in the middle of the others. The first of these Pillars is double, and not above four foot high. There are on the same Rock some other budding Pillars, that look like the stumps of Horns; I examined one which was pretty large, and that probably might be broken in M. de Nointel's time; it exactly represents the Stump of a tree cut down; the middle, which is like the ligneous Body of the Tree, is a brown Marble approaching to an iron-grey, about three inches broad, surrounded by divers Circles of different colours, or rather by so many old Saps, distinguished from each other by six concentric Circles, about two or three inches thick, whose Fibres run from the Center to the Circumference. These stems of Marble must certainly vegetate; for besides that not one single Drop of Water ever falls into this place, it would not be conceivable, if they did, how a few Drops filling from a height of 25 or 30 fathom, could form cylindrical pieces, terminating like round Caps, and always of the same regularity; a Drop of Water would much rather dissipate in the fall; it is certain that none distils through into this Grotto, as it does into common

Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 page 49 subterranean Cavities. All that we could find here of this nature, was some few indented Sheets of Stones, the points of which let fall a pearly Drop of Water very clear and very insipid, which no doubt was formed by the Humidity of the Air, which in such a place must condense into Water, as it does in Apartments lined with Marble. In the furthermost part of the Grotto to the left, appears a Pyramid much more surprising, which ever since M . .de. Nointel caused Mass to be celebrated here in 1673, has been called the Altar (A). This piece stands by itself, quite separate from the rest; it is 24 foot high, somewhat like a Tiara, adorned with several Chapiters fluted lengthwise, and sustained on their feet, of a dazzling whiteness, as is all the rest of the Grotto. This Pyramid is perhaps the finest Plant of Marble that is in the world: the Ornaments with which it is covered, are all in the shape of Colly­ Flowers; that is to say, terminating in large Bunches, mo're masterly described than if a Sculptor had just given them the finishing Touch. Once again I repeat it, 'tis impossible this should be done by the Droppings of Water, as is pretended by those who go about to explain the Formation of Congelations in Grottos. It is much more probable, that these other Congelations we speak of, and which hang downward, or rise out different ways, were produced by our Principle, namely, Vegetation. At the foot of the Altar are two Half-Columns, on which we placed Flambeaux to illuminate the Grotto, that we might view it more narrowly. M . .de. Nointel caused them to be broken off, to serve as a Table for the Celebration of midnight Mass. Upon the Basis of the Pyramid, the following Words were carved by his Order:

HIC IPSE CHRISTUS ADFUIT EJUS NATALI DIE MEDIA NOCTE CE­ LEBRArO MDCLXXIII

In order to go round the Pyramid, you pass under a great Mass or Cabinet of Congelations, the backside of which is hollow like the roof of an Oven: the Door into it is low; but the Drapery of the sides is Tapestry of great beauty, whiter than Alabaster: we broke off some bits of it, and the inside looked like candy'd Lemon-peel. From the top of the Roof, just over the Pyramid, hang Festoons of an extraordinary length, which form as it were the Attic of the Altar. Monsieur the Marquis .de. Nointel, Ambassador of France to the E.Qr:re, passed the three Christmas Holidays in this Grotto, accompanied by above five hundred Persons, as well his own Domestics, as Merchants, Corsairs, or Natives, that were curious to follow him. A hundred large Torches of yellow Wax, and four hundred Lamps that burnt night and day were so well placed, that no Church was ever better illuminated. Men were posted from space to space, in every Precipice from the Altar to the opening (C) of the Cavern, who gave the signal with their Handkerchiefs, when the Body of J.C. was lifted up; at this signal fire was put to 24 Drakes, and to several Patereros that were at the Entrance of the Cavern: the Trumpets, Hautbois, Fifes, and Violins, made the Consecration yet more magnificent. The Ambassador lay in the night almost opposite to the Altar, in a Cabinet seven or eight foot long, naturally cut in one of those large Spires which we mentioned before. On one side of this Spire is a hole that is an Entrance to another Cavern, but no body durst go down into it. They were much perplexed to bring Water from the Village to serve so many People. The Capuchins, that were his Excellency's Chaplains, were not in possession of the Rod of Moses. After much searching they found a Spring to the left of the Ascent; it is a little Cavern, in the hollow of the Rock, that serves as a Receptacle to the Water. M . .de. Nointel was the Man that renewed the Memory of this Grotto. The Natives themselves durst not go down into it before he came to Antiparos; he encouraged them by Largesses. The Corsairs offered to accompany any that would shew them the way: those Gentlemen thought

page 50 Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 nothing difficult that might be a means of making their court to his excellency, who was a passionate Lover of such Curiosities, and especially of any thing antique. Perhaps upon the credit of the Inscription we have inserted above, he imagined some precious Monument might be found there. He carried with him two very skilful Draughts-men, and three or four Masons with Utensils that would loosen and lift away the most lumbersome pieces of Marble. Never did Ambassador return from the Levant with so many fine things: and by good-fortune most of these pieces of Marble are in the hands of M. Baudelot of the Academy Royal of Inscriptions and Medals; they were reserved for a Person of his Merit. I have but one word more to say of the Grotto of Antipater; so they call a little Cavern, into which you enter by a square Window open at the hindermost part of the Cavern, which serves as a Vestibulum to the great Grotto. That of Antipater is all lined with Marble crystalliz'd and fluted; it is a kind of Parlour of the same Floor with its Opening, and would be extremely agreeable to a man that had not been dazzled with the Miracles that are in the large Grotto. The top of the Mountain where these Grottos are, is as it were paved with transparent Crystallizations, like common talc: but which always break into Lozenges or Cubes: and I fancy these Crystallizations are Symptoms of subterranean Grottos. I have seen the like at Candia upon Mt. 1d.a, and at Marseilles at st. Michael Q'Em! Douce. From the Ridges of the Cavern of Antiparos hang some roots of that fine Caper-Tree without Thorns [a], whose Fruit they candy in the Islands. The rest of the Mountain is spread with Cretan thyme, false Dittany, Cedars with Cypress-Tree Leaves, Lentiques, Squills: all these Plants are common over the Islands of Greece, and Antiparos would not be worth visiting, were it not for this charming Grotto.

Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 page 51 WILLOUGHBY SALTPETER CAVE

by Marion 0. Smith

During the evening of April 24, 1989, East Tennessee Grotto member and Jellico resident Roy Price led Patricia Anthony and me to a "new" saltpeter cave in Campbell County, Tennessee. Only four days before Roy had visited the cave, which was located some six miles east of LaFollette on Little Dividing Ridge near Cedar Creek. With the friendly permission of the owner, Mr. Ed Willoughby, then sixty-nine years old, we drove through the pasture practically to the entrance. We then spent 1 :41 hours checking out the cave. The entrance was about twenty feet wide and eight to fifteen feet high and the passage sloped steeply downward about a hundred feet horizontally to a large room. The room had two damp passages parallel to the entrance corridor plus a very steep upslope way to the left, which tended to split. Within the dry portions of this large entrance room were some breakdown boulders and dirt piles representing the remains of eight saltpeter vats. All the wood had rotted away. . Straight from the entrance, past the vat remains, there were two passages leading to a second saltpeter room. One way curved right up a slope and then a short distance toa forty­ seven foot pit which dropped into the room, and the other route was a lower dug out stoop walkway which also led to a passage curving right into the room. The miners used this lower route, and to avoid a short crawl they cut four steps into the clay and used a ladder, now gone, to go over a sort of partition wall at the beginning of the room. The second saltpeter room was about a hundred feet long, twenty-five feet wide, and fifty feet high, with five smoke-covered columns at the beginning. On the floor there were dirt remains of four more vats, and the walls had numerous smudge marks where faggot torches had been used. At the far end was a climbup over breakdown to where a large amount of earth had been removed. There were piled rocks and many mattox marks, plus an eight inch deep "poke" hole in the wall . There were no more saltpeter worked areas, but off to the right (going in) of the second room was a crawl which led to a nine foot climbdown with about a hundred feet of passage. Near and below the climbdown was a short crawl to an eight foot vertical squeeze with air coming out of it. It was tight and no one attempted to negotiate it on our recon trip. Altogether, I thought this was a fairly impressive saltpeter cave, and I estimated it to be 725 feet long and at least ninety feet deep. When we returned to Mr. Willoughby's house to thank him we talked a while. He did not know anything about the saltpeter mining but he did say that his grandfather, John Willoughby, was buried in Baker Ford Cemetery and had been in a Tennessee Union regiment during the Civil War.' During the succeeding months I tried very hard to learn who had mined what we called Willoughby Saltpeter Cave. All my efforts failed. John Willoughby (May 20, 1839-February 26, 1920) was a son of James and Jane Willoughby and before the "unpleasantness" of the 1860s lived near Fincastle in Campbell County's Eighth Civil District. From August 1, 1861, until September 17,1864, he was a private in Company B, 1st Tennessee Infantry, USA. His brother Preston Willoughby (b . .c1838) served in the same company. During the late 1860s both Preston and John moved to the Fifth Civil District near Cedar Creek. Preston seems to have acquired land there first, including, possibly, the saltpeter cave. John married in 1866,

page 52 Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 4T Pit Into P.ssage Below WILLOUGHBY SALTPETER CAVE (!) Campbell County, TN 158.3 TCM29 Passage Doubles Grade 5 Survey Offset 120 Feet Back Under June - August 1993 Itself Twice .Marion O. Smith Cllmbdown } /' Mike Rogers Chris Kerr TVE =158.3 Feet THe = 1407.6 Feet :~ Pinches. Dig

130 $ Saltpeter Vat (Pile)

'(i:'} 135 i<: '~ .... : 35 . ~. :.. ; : ...... ~ . '" Nm .~.::\:j@ ·.~I; . .( r!c: •:": .:. :'. : "t' \ ~1 \ !.:. .' I \'L '4 ' 7" -- \ . ..., ~,' o- 20 --100 Feet ~ '-"oJ(" Entrance Sink 10 40 Meters o O.tum o All numbers are In feet.

92 -,:, c. Mike Rogers 4194

61 Inked by Brent Aulenbach became the father of eleven children, and made his living by farming and doing "a little carpentering. "2 Since neither Willoughby brother had anything to do with mining the cave, a list of pre-war residents of the Cedar Creek vicinity was compared with lists of Confederate Nitre contractors who delivered saltpeter in East Tennessee and extreme southwestern Virginia. Fifth District residents included: H. C., John, and Alvin Kincaid, Solomon Johnson, Mitchell Barker, Alexander M. and James P. Irvin, William C. Jones, John M. Russell, S.L. Redwine, Noah Sexton, Thomas, John, and William H. Chapman, Payton Miller, William Evans, Douglass M. and John Sharp, William Lumpkins, Michael Powers, and James J. Marus. There was no direct correlation with the Nitre contractor list. The nearest possibilities were Anderson, Kincaid & Co. and Miller & Moody, who delivered to Knoxville respectively 55 (March 1863) and 561 pounds (March-August 1863), and William P. Evans, who delivered 76 pounds (May-July 1863) to Rose Hill, Lee County, Virginia. 3 After a cursory scan of some of the early Campbell County deeds I gave up the search. I honestly do not know by whom or when Willoughby Saltpeter Cave was mined, whether it was by early settlers or by Civil War contractors. After a lapse of four years, I convinced Mike Rogers that we should map the cave. This we did in three trips, June 30, July 15, and August 29, 1993, when respectively 460.2, 296.8, and 650.6 feet, for a total of 1407.6 feet, and a depth of 158.3 feet were obtained. Only Mike and I participated in the first two trips, when Mike did everything except set the stations. On the last trip Chris Kerr joined us and relieved Mike of instrument reading duties. Our sojourns were routine and the only "excitement" was on August 29 when Mike slipped down the tight eight-foot vertical squeeze below the nine foot climb off the second saltpeter room. He immediately found a ledge overlooking a pit-like fifteen foot climb. Only a handful of people had been to the ledge and as far as Mike could tell, no one had climbed to the stream passage below. Chris and I hammered a long time on the vertical squeeze and in due course we joined Mike and finished the project by surveying 203 feet of virgin cave, which ended in a siphon.4

Sources

1. Diary of Marion O. Smith. 2. Pension Records, John Willoughby, Record Group 15, National Archives; 1860 Census, Tenn., Campbell, 8th Civil Dist., 82; (1870), 5th Civil District, 11; Compiled Service Records, John Willoughby and Preston Willoughby, Record Group 94, National Archives; Campbell County Deeds, Book R, pp. 630-31, and Book T, pp. 75-76 and 230. 3. 1860 Census, Tenn., Campbell, 5th Civil Dist., 41-43; Anderson, Kincaid & Co., Miller & Moody, and William P. Evans files , Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms, Record Group 109, National Archives. 4. Diary of Marion O. Smith.

page 54 Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 CAVE ACCIDENTS BEFORE 1900 c

by Angelo I. George

Cave exploration is not without some danger that in many ways is related to the skill of the explorer. Most of the pre-1900 cave accidents revolve around the loss of light. There are no examples of people actually getting "lost" in caves. In most cases, cavers usually get lost only in the mind of the rescue party or the newspaper press. There are four tragic accidents of death and several involve an encounter with foul air in caves. 'Several of the accidents are obvious hoaxes. Most of the accidents occurred in mineral exploitation caves or caves opened to tourism. Robert Montgomery Bird (1837, p. 434-435) gives us a hint of even more cave accidents during the saltpeter mining era (1808-1815) than heretofore known. He says:

cave hunting, in fact became a kind of mania, beginning with speculation, and ending with hair-brained young men, who dared from the love of adventure the risks that others ran for profit. As might be expected, this passion was not always indulged without accident; and several caves in Kentucky and Tennessee obtained a mournful celebrity as the scenes of painful suffering and disaster.... Accidents, not attended with loss of life, were of frequent occurrence; and as for frights, they were lumped together in report, in the style of a constable's inventory, as too tedious to mention.

The cave guides at Mammoth Cave would recite horror stories of people getting lost in Mammoth Cave or killed in nearby caves. The stories served two functions: (1) it entertained their charges; and (2) kept the party together from individually straying down side passages. Grateful acknowledgment is extended to Mr. Marion O. Smith, Mr. Thomas J. Metzgar, and William R. Halliday, M. D., for fruitful insight and original accounts. I am especially grateful to Dr. Trevor R. Shaw, the dean of European spelean history for his enquiry into American cave accidents prior to the year 1900. Over thirty cave accidents have been abstracted from a cursory examination of the literature. This is by far not a complete inventory. The most recent cave name followed by its synonym is used in these accident report.

Woodland 445 B.C. Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. The mummified American Indian, Lost John was found on Mummy Ledge on June 7, 1935. He was a selenite miner about 45 years old, who was crushed to death by a six ton boulder (Robbins, 1974, p. 139; Munson et aI., 1989, p. 129). The Indian had under mined a large boulder in search of selenite. During the process, the boulder teetered over and crushed him to death. Lost John has the distinction of being the first known casualty in an American cave.

Adena 10 B.C. to 30 A.D. Salts Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. The mummified American Indian, Little AI (a.k.a. Little Alice) died in a side passage off of Mummy Valley. He was 9 years old when he expired (Robbins, 1974, p. 140, 142). Robbins (1974, p. 144) said "that the burial of Little AI was the most recent prehistoric activity in the cave. He "died rather suddenly from an internal hemorrhage resulting from a fall or blow to the thoracic area." The body was recovered in 1875. This was not an Indian burial, rather after the accident, Little AI was prepped for burial by his Indian companions and laid to rest on a ledge off of Mummy Valley. . c. 1760 Wolfs Den Cave, Windham County, Connecticut.

Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 page 55 Israel Putnam and hunting party chased a wolf into a small pit like cave near Pomfret. Putnam tied a rope about his legs and then crawled downward into the cave. By kicking his feet, a signal would be transmitted along the rope back to the surface party with instructions to haul him out of the hole. Misread signals caused the surface party to pull him out on two false occasions. He experienced brushed elbows and knees. The final extraction confirmed his wolf kill. (Humphreys, 1788; Perry, 1946, p. 28-31).

Winter (7) 1798 Great Saltpetre Cave, Rockcastle County, Kentucky. John Baker discovers the great cave on Crooked Creek. Enters with wife and two or three children. Used hand held wood splinter torch. Wife carries extra fuel supply. Goes about 400-500 yards into the cave from the north entrance (then the o'nly one known), drops his torch, there by extinguishing the flame. For two days and two nights they remained in darkness with no other provisions. Mrs. Baker groped her way out of the cave by feeling wet muddy foot prints left by the exploring party. All emerged safely (Brown, 1809, p. 237).

1801 Cave, St. Louis County, Missouri. L. R. Lorimer (1828) recalled a secret solo hallucinatory cave trip he experienced as a young married adult. While in the cave, he wants to collect a rock formation. He achieved this by taking another rock and used it as a battering ram. This activity initiated a rock fall that sealed his exit way to the entrance. After what seemed like three days, he suffered cold, fatigued, and practically had given up all hope. Then a rain storm commenced. The inwash from the storm poured through the break above the roof collapse. This process opened up into a sinkhole on the surface. In the morning he could see the sun shining through the fresh opening. The article is written in a melodramatic style and reads as a work of fiction or hoax.

Pre-January 21,1810. Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. The Sick Room received its name because the first explorer "first felt a nausea and general debility, which was succeeded by violent puking ...we supposed the existence of mephitic gas ... " (Anon., 1810). Exploration and tourism generally avoided this passage in the cave.

Summer 1811(7) Longs (Wrights, Grand Avenue) Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. A saltpeter speculator, Mr. Wright in the company of an inexperienced miner explored Longs Cave. Deep into the cave, their only candle burned low and then went out. Their main supply had been left at the cave entrance. They proceeded to grope their way in the wrong direction down a side passage flanked by deep pits. By throwing stones ahead of their travel, the pits could possibly be circumvented. Wright in the lead, fell head long into one of the deeper shafts. The miner called to Wright, but there was no answer. The miner (who already suspected they were traveling in the wrong direction) turned in the opposite direction and made it out of the cave. This was a cleaver feat, especially since the pit is located over 1350 feet from the entrance, opens into a huge trunk passage with at least two major side passages. He made it back to Mammoth Cave to summoned a rescue party. Wrights dead body was recovered from a 50-60 feet deep pit (Farnham, 1820, p. 359; Bird, 1837, p. 436-437). pre 1814 Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. A black slave saltpeter miner in the lower reaches of Gothic Avenue (Haunted Chambers) is missed by his companions. He tries to make his way out, only to stumble and fall, there by extinguishing his light. He starts to hallucinate that there were devils in the cave bent on tormenting him. His very rescuers were perceived to be these very devils (Bird, 1837, p. 539­ 530). The passage became known as the Haunted Chambers and only later change to Gothic Avenue about 1845. From 1810 (Anon.) until Bird (1837), the Haunted Chambers received its name from the echo produced in several parts of the avenue. The lost slave in the "haunted" avenue may be a manufactured story by Mammoth Cave management.

page 56 Journal of Spelean History. Vol. 29 No. 2 Pre August 6, 1823 Hinman's Hole, Massachusetts. A deep pit was discovered and on three separate descents foul air was encountered at 14,20, and 30 feet below the lip. C. W. Smith made the deepest penetration; his candle would not burn at the 30 foot level and had difficulty in breathing. The air got better at greater depths (Anon. 1823). Carbon dioxide levels probably were in the 3% range or greater.

December 1828 Half Moon Mountain Cave, Gallatin County, Illinois. An exploration party of sixteen from the Saline Salt Works explored a nearby cave. Deep in the cave they encountered a foul air environment that put their candle out. A hasty retreat was made. "The effect on the man who held the candle, was a giddiness of the head, with sickness and plucking; but on an immediate application of cold water, he soon recovered." They were about 3/4 of a mile from the entrance. They encountered on the way out, two of their party sitting in total darkness. They had let their candle fall and could not relight it (S.C.C., 1830). Carbon dioxide levels were probably in the 5% range or higher. n.d., pre 1833 Grand Caverns (Amens, Weyer's, Weir's, Grottoes of the Shenandoah), Augusta County, Virginia. A French gentleman (M. Suntag) and the cave guide (Mr. Mohler) candle went out while in the cave. The guide knew the cave well enough that he .escorted the Frenchman out of the cave to the light of day. Theywere 500 feet from the entrance at a place that would be commemorated as The Frenchman's Hill or Suntag's Hill (Cooke, 1840, p. 45; Suntag in Anon., 1849). '

Spring 1833 Grand Caverns (Amens, Weyer's, Weir's, Grottoes of the Shenandoah), Augusta County, Virginia. Robert L. Cooke, his brother and cave guide explored a pit off of Congress Hall called the Infernal Regions. The pit received its name "for many years it has been supposed to contain fixed air, so that visitors avoid it." The exploration party descended about 29 feet to a ledge where the effects of carbon dioxide started to take its toll on the group. Their candles started to burn dimly and four of them went out. They "experienced no difficulty in breathing, or any other indication of the presence of this much dreaded gas." And "when we emerged from the pit into which we had first entered, our candles again shone brightly." Cooke (1840, p. 45). Carbon dioxide levels in the 3% range. n.d., pre 1835 Grand Caverns (Amens, Weyer's, Weir's, Grottoes of the Shenandoah), Augusta County, Virginia. A man by the name of Patterson upon hearing of the exploits of the Frenchman in the cave of darkness, wanted to duplicate the adventure. He proceeded alone from the Ball Room toward the entrance without light. Ascending the steps at the end of the room, he slipped and fell "into an aperture, where he lay unhurt." His friends returned when he did not show up at the entrance. They rescued him from the area that would become known as Patterson's Grave (Cooke, 1840, p. 45).

1838 Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. Charles F. Harvey (nephew of Franklin Gorin, owner of the cave) was "lost" for 39 hours. He went down a cave passage and experienced light failure, and there he remained. A large search party was assembled from locals in the vicinity of the cave. When they found him, "he was almost wild" (Shackleford, n.d., p. 5). The passage today is now known as Harvey Way. Substance connected with this event added to guide patter on the lore of the cave. Especially horror stories of people getting "lost" and going "mad" in the cave.

1847-48(7) Grand Caverns (Amens, Weyer's, Weir's, Grottoes of the Shenandoah), Augusta

Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No, 2 page 57 County, Virginia. One third of a mile into the cave, the guide would extinguished their torches and thereby give his charges the experience of perpetual night. The guide had axillary matches in which to relight the torches. Wet matches prevented the relighting of their lights. Several ladies and gentlemen remained in total darkness for an hour or more until the guide returned with fresh torches (Anon., 1849). Apparently, the extinguishing of the lights was a common entertainment trick preformed by the management in this commercial cave.

November 7,1848 Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. Mary Loving Bliss of Buffalo, New York, on herwedding trip is killed by a rock fall in Mammoth Cave (Dolbee, 1948).

December 1848 Penn's Cave, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Two lovers while exploring Penn's Cave experienced light failure. They were unable to relight their torches and remained in the cave for three days. Their hungry horses were discovered at the cave entrance by a passing farmer who reasoned someone may be in the cave (Folson, 1956, p. 198). This account may be more folklore than a real event.

Winter pre 1851 Wyandotte Cave, Crawford County, Indiana. Three brothers by the name of Kesner and a neighbor boy by the name of Byerly entered the Old Cave on Sunday morning. While there their candles went out. They had left their auxiliary candles in their coat pockets deposited near the cave entrance. At 3 o'clock Monday morning, "old man Kesner" went to George Sibert's house to enquire about his sons. By 4 o'clock, Sibert and Kesner had found the stranded explorers in the cave. The boys were "about starved to death." The boys though they had been in the cave for three days. Actually they had been in the cave for only eighteen hours (Rothrock, 1915).

September 1858 Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. William C. Prentice was being pulled out of the Maelstrom when the rope caught fire from the friction produced over the beam used to support the rope. The fire was put out with water from a bottle. This was a serious moment, for Prentice was 100 feet from the floor and 90 feet from the top where the fire occurred (Anon., 1858).

Spring(?) 1856 General A. W. G. Davis's farm, Greenbrier County, West Virginia. A young man was plowing a field when a catastrophic sinkhole opened up and he and his horse fell 150 feet into a cave stream. The horse was killed. For 48-hours he wandered down stream in pitch blackness, pushed through a 30 foot long full syphon into more air filled cave. He . finally reached the spring cave entrance at a distance of 6 miles from where the sinkhole had opened (Anon., 1870). Story has a high degree of improbability.

1862 Bell's Tavern Cave, Barren County, Kentucky. During the Civil War, Cyrus C. Hodges injured in cave by rock fall while looking for water. Was taken to a hospital in Louisville for recuperation. He was discharged for this disability from the Union Army on July 16, 1862.

Pre April 8, 1866 Dead Man's Cave, Crawford County, Indiana. Lyman E. Knapp was lowered into a pit where he was bitten by a bat on the face. Upon extraction he nearly fainted. In going through a small orifice, portly E. R. Hawn, M.D., became stuck for three hours. Going back to their boat on Blue River for a crowbar, their lamps began to run low on oil. It began to look grini for all involved. The party panicked and left Knapp and the stuck doctor in the cave. Knapp could not get out because the doctor blocked the way. The cavers returned to Leavenworth for tools, lamps, oil and a larger rescue party. In the mean time,

page 58 Journal of Spelean History. Vol. 29 No. 2 Knapp had found a sinkhole exit to the surface after being in the cave for 56 hours. He was found wandering in the woods by a hunter. The where about of Dr. Hawn was unknown (Anon. 1866a). Apparently Hawn made it out alive because we next see the rotund fellow at the Wyandotte Cave 4th of July lawn and cave party.

Pre 1866 Bear Cave, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. "A number of years ago a lady from Pittsburg lost herself in this cave, and being unable to regain the course to the mouth, perished; her whitened bones were found a few years afterward by an exploring party .... She had probably entered the cave unguided, and thus unthinkingly subjected herself to an awful death by starvation." (Anon., 1866b). Thomas J. Metzgar (personal oral communication, 5 September 1992) could find no conformation for the "whitened bones" in the cave. He thought the story is a concocted romantic hoax. After all, bleached white bones is a terrestrial phenomena and not one in a dark cave, away from sun light.

April 5, 1873 Hannibal Cave, Marion County. Missouri. Five boys explore one of the complex maze caves recently opened up during quarry operations. They ran out of string to mark the way and used up all their candles. They waited for fifteen hours before a rescue party from the town found them.

October 21, 1875 Bear Cave, Westmoreland County. Pennsylvania. Two youths by the name of J. Herron and Anderson experienced light failure while exploring the complex maze cave on Thursday. A rescue party from the town entered .the cave at 9 A.M. on Friday, and with in two hours Herron and Anderson were rescued from their dark confinement (Anon. 1875).

Spring 1878 Wyandotte Cave. Crawford County. Indiana. Biologist, David Starr Jordan is separated from a party of twelve or fifteen and is lost in the south end of the cave (Rothrock, 1915). Starr had parted company with his caver friends and was exploring alone beyond the Australian Continent. He realized this part of the cave was new to him, so he sat down to wait for his companions who he could hear in the distant. In a short time he went to sleep. Awaking. he could not hear anyone and then ran in the direction of the last voices. In the process, his candle went out. He sat down in hopes he would be discovered. Edward T. Cox, the State Geologist of Indiana was in the same cave exploring party and suggested they all go top side and have dinner. Perhaps Jordan will catch up, they thought, because Jordan knew the cave better than anybody. After dinner Cox and party returned to the cave and found him cold. shivering, and had the appearance of having been beat up. The site is now known as Jordan's Wait. Jordan had been in this part of the cave from about 10 A.M, to 1 P.M.

July 27, 1879 Lost River Cave. Warren County, Kentucky. W. H. Phillips. "Bud" Coombs. John Bailey, J. B. Sumpter, and an African America were a half a mile back in the water cave when they heard a high water surge coming from the cave entrance. The mill gates had been opened to start the mill wheel. The cavers were knocked down by the surge wave and carried along with the high water. They lost their lights and sustained body bruises. They made their way out of the cave in pitch blackness (Anon .• 1879).

Pre 1882 Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. Matt Bransford, a freed slave guide, hid from some dirk revelers who had partook too much wine and were in rare spirits for mischief. Matt extinguished his light. After they had past his hiding spot. he tried to relight his lamp. but had forgotten his matches. With care, he made his way out of the Bottomless Pit area along a trail he knew well, all the while feeling his way with his staff. Then his staff detected one of the chasms; he stopped, became dizzy, and fainted at

Journal of Spalaan History. Vol. 29 No. 2 page 59 the edge of the drop off. He came to, adjusted his composure, and crawled along the 'path, feeling with his hands. In this fashion he made it back to the surface (Hovey, 1882', p. '1?1).

Pre 1883 Bear Cave, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. A rain storm occurred during the exploration of this complex maze cave. The cavers witness the cave stream on the rise. This caused some consternation, and one of the ladies in the party fainted. She was revived and all exited the cave safely (Anon., 1883).

March 16, 1884 Lookout Mountain Cave, Hamilton County, Tennessee. Two men, Charles Gower and Christopher Schmitzins were 2 1/2 miles back into the cave when Gower stumbled, dropped his lantern in a crevice and broke their bottle of reserve oil. Groped around without any luck and they finally sat down to await a rescue. They were thought by the gate keeper to have already exited the cave while he was at dinner. Two weeks later another exploration party accidently discovered them in the cave (Anon., 1884).

November 21,1885 Lisamby Cave, Caldwell County, Kentucky. . John Verhoeff in the company of two or three boys and several young ladies went cave exploring on Saturday morning. Young Verhoeff chose to explore a side passage on his own. While in there his candle had only two inches left and finally went out. His companions called to him from the main cave without any answer. They became concerned and exited the cave to call out a rescue party. A 100 man rescue party was assembled just after dark at the cave entrance. After four hours of searching, they found him perched atop of a 20 foot high rock. Hovihe got up there no one could guess. "Mr. Verhoeff was brought into town amidst the cheers of the people, and escorted in a torchlight procession to the College, and there, after he had publically thanked the crowd for his delivery, they left him." (Anon. 1885, p. 2).

c. 1880-1900 Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. Cave guide Ed Bishop had four of his party disappear from the group. They wenfon their own exploration of Mammoth Cave. Their lights went out all but one. They sat down and awaited to be rescued. After finishing work for the day he went back into the cave in search of his lost . charges. He found them at one o'clock in the morning (Jeffers, 1918, p. 155).

pre-1897 Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County, Kentucky. Cave guides Nick and Mat Bransford save a tour group from drowning on Echo River in Mammoth Cave (Wright in Schmitzer, 1993, p. 243; I have not seen the Wright reference). REFERENCES

Anonymous 1810 Subterranean Voyage or the Mammoth Cave Partially Explored. The Enquirer, (Richmond, Virginia), April 20, 1810, Vol. 6, No. 109. Reprinted Journal of Spelean History, 1970, Vol. 3, No.3, p. 59-60. , . Anonymous 1823 Hinman's Hole. Franklin Herald and Public Advertiser, August 26, 1823. Anonymous 1849 Description of Weyer's Cave. Nationallntelligencer (Washington, D .C .), August 4, 1849. Anonymous 1849 Weyer's Cave. The Independent (New York, New York), November29, 1849. Anonymous 1858 Fearful Adventure in the Mammoth Cave- The Maelstrom · Explored. Record of the Times (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), October 6, 1858. Anonymous 1866a A Thrilling Narrative - Miraculous Escape of Parties from a Cave. New York Daily Tribune (New York, New York), April 17, 1866. Anonymous 1866b A Wonderful Cave. Republican and Democrat, (Greensburg, Pennsylvania), August 8, 1866, 2 (50). Anonymous 1870 Disasters, A Subterranean Voyage. Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,

page 60 Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), February 16, 1870; reprinted Journal Spelean History, 1992, Vol. 26, No. 4, p. 65-66. Anonymous 1875 On Thursday last.. .. The Indiana progress, (Indiana, Pennsylvania), 6 (42): 5, in Tom Metzgar (199), A Nineteenth Century Cave Rescue, The Loyalhanna Troglodyte, 3 (3): 35. Anonymous 1879 Almost a Catastrophe. The Courier-Journal, (Louisville, Kentucky), July 29, 1879, n.s., Vol. 55, No. 3491, p. 1. Anonymous 1883 Immense cavern to be found in Chestnut Ridge. The Latrobe Advance, September 23, 1883, 11 (7): 1. Anonymous 1884 Starving in a Cave. The Chattanooga Times, (Chattanooga, Tennessee), March 31,1884. Reprinted Journal ofSpelean Histo"ry, 1991, Vol. 35, No.5, p. 17-18. Anonymous 1885 Lost in a Cave. The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), Novemb~r 24, 1885, p. 2. Bird, Robert Montgomery 1837 The Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. The American Monthly Magazine, n.s., 3: 417-438,525-546. Brown, Samuel 1809 A description of a cave on Crooked Creek, with remarks and observations on nitre and gun-powder. Transactions American Philosophical Society, 6: 235­ 247. Cooke, Richard L. 1840 American Caverns. Weyer's Cave. The Family Magazine. or Monthly Abstract of General Knowledge 7:41-47. Dolbee, Cora 1948 Unpublished letter dated March 10, 1948. Type script extract in history files, Mammoth Cave Office, Kentucky. . Farnham, John Hay 1820 Extract of a letter from John H. Farnham, Esq. a member of the American Antiquarian SOCiety, describing the Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky. Archaeologia Americana. Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society, 1: 355-361 . Hovey, Horace C. 1882 Celebrated American Caverns. Robert Clarke &Co., Cincinnati. Humphreys, David 1788 An Essay on the life of.. .Israel Putnam .. " Hart. Jeffers, Le Roy 1918. The Mammoth Cave and Great Onyx Caves. Scientific American, August 24, 1918, p. 155. Lorimer, L. R. 1828 The Cavern. The Focus (Louisville, Kentucky), 2 (22): 2, April 15 1828. Munson, Patrick J.; Kenneth B. Tankersley; Cheryl A. Munson; and Patty Jo Watson 1989 Prehistoric selenite and satinspar mining in the Mammoth Cave System, Kentucky. Midcontinental Jour. Archaeology. 14 (2) : 119-145. Perry, Clay 1946 New England's Buried Treasure. Stephen Daye Press, New York. Robbins, Louise M. 1974 Prehistoric people of the Mammoth Cave area. in Patty Jo Watson Archaeology of the Mammoth Cave Area, 137-162. Rothrock, H. W. 1915. "Memoirs of H. W. Rothrock" One of the original heirs of Wyandotte Cave [,] Wyandotte, Indiana. Unpublished type written manuscript, dated December 28, 1915, Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, 7 p. S.C.C. 1830 Half Moon Mountain Cave. The United States Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), May 25, 1830. Schmitzer, Jeanne C. 1993 The Sable Guides of Mammoth Cave. The Filson Club History Quarterly, Vol. 67, No.2, p. 240-258. Shackleford, Oliver P. c. 1917-1920 An Account of the History of Mammoth Cave During the Middle Nineteenth Century by Oliver Shackleford, One of the Guides. Type written, 11 p., history file, Mammoth Cave Office. Shaw, Trevor 1992 Unpublished letter to Angelo George, dated July 13, 1992, type written.

Journal of Spelean History, Vol. 29 No. 2 page 61