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. the cave has been at once noted and notorious, famous and infamous, and it remains today, through all the changing years and diversities of its use, actual or attributed, practically unchanged, still challenging curiosity, surprise, fear, and admiration.
the scenery above and below the cave attracted the attention of the earliest western travelers. much deforestation has taken place during the past century, but the landscapes along the banks of that section of the ohio stand today, as they did in the olden days, unsurpassed by any other along the river’s course. the mouth of the cave is in a high bluff overlooking the ohio, which is the central link in a chain of majestic landscapes. it seems almost a paradox that a spot so beautified by nature should have been made the headquarters of outlaws, and the scene of much that was hideous in crime.
pioneers in the west were likely at any time to encounter wild animals or to be forced to battle with plundering or revenge-seeking indians. whether traveling overland trails or upon navigable streams, the
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first-comers in the middle west were always in danger of highway robbers or river pirates. the cruelest of all highwaymen were the harpes and the shrewdest of the river pirates were the masons.
cave-in-rock’s history as a rendezvous of outlaws does not begin until about 1795. the date of the discovery by white men has not been ascertained. the earliest record found is in the history of new france, by charlevoix, in 1744. it includes bellin’s map of louisiana presenting the general course of the ohio, drawn from observations made by m. de lery. when this explorer came down the river in 1729 he noted the location of the cave by referring to it as “caverne dans le roc.” after 1778 it is indicated on many english and american maps. early travelers designated it by various names, each of which, except “house of nature,” contained the word “cave.” since 1800, cave-in-rock has been practically the only name applied.
the early french called the ohio “la belle riviere.” in the days of primeval forests it was one of the most beautiful streams in the world. 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. it is about two and one-half miles below ford’s ferry and a half mile above the village of cave-in-rock.
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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. it is sphynx-like in its silence, and bewilders those who enter.
the mouth is an arched opening, semi-elliptical in form, about fifty-five feet wide at the base. the cavern extends back horizontally one hundred and sixty feet with an almost uniform width of forty feet. the walls and roof, which change to more or less of an ellipse near the mouth, again change near the center into a semi-ellipse and retain that curvature to the end. the ceiling is horizontal throughout its length, while the floor, beginning about seventy-five feet from the entrance, gradually inclines upward toward the rear, and at the extreme end comes within a few feet of the arched ceiling. at this end there is a hole large enough to permit a man to climb out into a sinkhole in the surface above. the upward incline of the floor in the rear is due to a deposit of earth, washed there during the past half-century by water coming down through the sinkhole during heavy rains. near the middle of the ceiling are two perpendicular crevices with an average width of less than a foot, extending across and beyond the cave, and upward to within about fifteen feet of the surface of the cliff. one of these narrow crevices has, near the center, a chimney-like opening sufficiently large to admit a man. it leads to a rough-walled enlargement about four feet wide and ten feet
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high. this small place is known as the “upper cave,” and has a history and fiction of its own.
in the lower part of what may be designated the lower lip of the mouth-like opening is a large, level, wedge-shaped space about five feet lower than the floor of the cave. at its outer extremity this wedge-shaped space is almost as wide as the mouth itself, but rapidly tapers inward to a width of about four feet. it then continues back into the mouth about twenty-five feet through the solid rock, in the form of an excavated channel or passage about three and one-half feet wide. this narrow channel, about five feet deep at the beginning, inclines upward until it reaches the general level of the floor of the cave. the top of the rock on either side of the excavation is level and resembles a platform. these two platforms or stage-like floors extend inward and, like the inclined passage, soon reach the general level of the cave. this excavated channel and the part of the wedge-shaped space from which it leads may have been made by men, but whether by indians or early whites is not known. it may possibly be the result of erosion.
at a normal stage of the river the mouth of the cave is, measured in the perpendicular, about half-way between the top of the bluff and the water’s edge. in spring the river frequently comes up to within a few feet of the opening. when the water is extremely high it enters; during great floods there is ample depth to row a skiff the entire length of the cave.
such is cave-in-rock today, and such it was in pioneer times, except that in the rear a deposit of earth had not been washed in, and that large trees, which stood in front of the mouth and hid or partly concealed it, have long since disappeared. it was an ideal lair for river
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outlaws; it furnished shelter and gave them every advantage over passing travelers.
