Tennessee. It is half a mile from and within plain sight of the
railway station of Shellmound, 20 miles west of Chattanooga. The
entrance is fully 100 feet wide and 40 feet high; a short distance
within the cave enlarges, a little farther it contracts somewhat.
Daylight penetrates, in spite of curves and immense piles of débris,
for more than 500 feet. It has been a resort from time out of mind;
first, for Indians and pioneers, then for refugees, now for various
social gatherings.
All the earth in sight has been worked for saltpeter, leached, and
thrown aside. A vastly greater quantity than now remains has been
washed out of the cave by Nickajack Creek, which always has some
flowing water and in wet weather rises 5 or 6 feet. Long bridges are
required where the highway and railroad cross it.
It takes its name from the Nickajack Indians, who once dwelt here. The
field in front is strewn with flint chips and other indications of
aboriginal settlement.
There is nothing in the cave to dig for. The saltpeter miners moved
all the earth they could reach, while the immense rocks and the creek
make any further excavations impossible.
HAMILTON COUNTY
There are many caves in the vicinity of Chattanooga, but all that were
visited possess some feature which makes examination appear useless.
Most of them have small, inconvenient entrances; others are subject to
overflow or have running water in them. None could be heard of in
which conditions were better.
* * *
ALABAMA
LAUDERDALE COUNTY
SMITHSONIA.--There is a noted cave at Smithsonia, near Cheatham's
Ferry, 15 miles west of Florence. It was reported as suitable for a
dwelling, but at the entrance the roof is not more than 4 feet high,
and a stream a foot deep reaches to the wall on either side.
KEY'S CAVE.--On the Buck Key farm, 6 miles west of Florence, is a cave
which may have afforded shelter to the earliest man in the region.
There are two entrances or antechambers, separated by a solid rock
partition a few yards thick. One is partially filled with huge solid
blocks, some of them several hundred cubic feet in size; the other has
in it and in front of it a mass of earth and loose rock whose crest is
fully 20 feet above the highest part of the inside floor a few feet
back from the front margin of the roof. From here an additional
descent of 10 feet leads to the floor behind the first-mentioned
entrance, and there is about the same descent to a nearly level floor
in the cave a short distance beyond. The way is partially blocked by
large rocks which, it is said, have fallen within a few years. For
this reason persons in the neighborhood are afraid to venture in.
There is a rumor that the corpse of a woman, coated with stalagmite,
can be seen in this cave; also several bodies (sex apparently
indeterminate) lying like spokes in a wheel, with heads at the center.
No one could be persuaded to go in and point out the place where they
lie.
From its position, high in a bluff but easy to reach, not more than
one-fourth of a mile from the Tennessee River and the same distance
from a clear creek, with a strip of bottom land between it and the
streams, this cave seems worthy of exploration. At least a month of
work by several laborers would be required to clean away the fallen
material so that excavations would be practicable.
COLYER'S CAVE.--This is about 5 miles west of Florence. It faces a
ravine that leads into the creek discharging near Key's Cave. Human
bones were found in it many years ago. The entrance is a round hole,
through which one must creep a few yards, then by means of a pole or
ladder descend 6 feet. From here the cave is nearly level, with
several branches. In some places the floor is solid rock; in other
parts it is covered with a thin layer of earth. The "human bones"
consisted of one skeleton, lying on a rock floor, fully a fourth of a
mile from the mouth of the cave.
COFFEE CAVE.--This cave, 4 miles west of Florence, is said to be "like
the Colyer cave, but smaller in every way." It was not visited.
SHOAL CREEK.--A cave is reported on Shoal Creek "3 or 4 miles above
its mouth." No one could be found who knew its location more
definitely or was able to give a clear description of it.
BLUEWATER CAVE.--Bluewater Creek comes in several miles above Lock No.
6 of the Mussel Shoals Canal. A cave is reported to be near its mouth,
but the only caves anywhere in that vicinity, so far as anyone living
or working there knows, are a small hole a mile below on the canal,
into which a man can crawl, and one some 3 miles up the creek, reached
by climbing down a sink hole in a field. The opening to the latter
results from fallen rock.
COLBERT COUNTY
NEWSOM SPRINGS.--Numerous caves, most of them small, are reported in
the county. The best known is at Newsom Springs, 8 miles south of
Barton, on the Southern Railway. It is locally known as the
"three-story cave." The lower "story" is a cave from which water
always flows. The second "story" is directly above the first. The two
have no connection, unless far back in the hill. The floor of the
upper cave is mostly rock. It is now fitted up by some people in the
neighborhood as a camping place, where they spend a part of each
summer. The third "story" is an excavation for a cellar under a house
recently erected.
MURRELL'S CAVE.--Tradition has it that this cave was one of the hiding
places of a famous desperado and horse thief whose gang operated over
all this country in early days. The only entry is by means of a ladder
in a narrow crevice 20 feet deep. The place may have been a refuge,
but never a residence. It is one-fourth of a mile from Bear Creek, not
far above the mouth.
Two other holes or crevices within a few hundred yards, difficult to
crawl through, reach small caves. Possibly all these are connected.
BAT CAVE.--One-fourth of a mile from Murrell's Cave is a small cavern,
the roof not more than 4 feet above the floor. It has been inhabited
from time immemorial by myriads of bats. Several tons of guano have
been taken out for fertilizing purposes, but no evidence has been
discovered that it was ever a habitation for humans.
PRIDE'S CAVE.--In the river bluff a mile from Pride Station is a cave
in which a fisherman has made his home for several years. There is a
rather thin deposit of earth on the floor which may have recently
accumulated.
CHEATHAM'S FERRY.--Near the landing some boys, while hunting a few
years ago, discovered a stone wall across the mouth of a small cave.
Tearing it away, they found within some human bones, flints, pipes,
including one "with a lot of stem holes," and fragments of pottery.
All these were on top of the earth or only a few inches below it.
Various excavators or relic hunters have failed to find anything more.
The cavity is quite small and difficult to reach, and is undoubtedly a
burial place for modern Indians.
On both sides of the river here are immense shell heaps. The shell is
mingled with earth near the top, but below 2 or 3 feet the mass is of
clean shell to a depth, as exposed by the river, of at least 10 feet.
The bottom of the deposit is not visible, being concealed by mud piled
against it in high water. The old ferryman says it is 20 feet deep.
Although the shell piles are built up higher than the bottom lands to
the rear or on either side, they are submerged several feet in great
freshets. It is impossible to explain this fact otherwise than by the
assumption that the bed of the river has been elevated in recent
times, although there are no other indications apparent that such is
the case.
SHEFFIELDS.--In the river bluff 2 miles above the Sheffield end of the
railway bridge is a crevice or joint which has been widened to 10 feet
at the outlet by water percolating from the top of the bluff. When
discovered, a rock wall was piled across it near the entrance. Behind
this human bones were found with "pieces of pottery and other things."
They were close to the surface. Subsequent explorations have revealed
nothing below them. It is plainly a burial cave for Indians. The river
now reaches at flood tide to within 10 feet of the floor. The earth
covering the bones may have washed over them, as there is some
evidence farther back in the crevice that surface material is still
carried in from the rear, in very small amounts, during rainy seasons.
ROCK SHELTERS.--Several very large rock houses exist on the southern
slope of the hill or "mountain" lying a mile to 2 miles south of
Pride, 7 miles west of Tuscumbia. Water drips from the roofs, keeping
the floors wet all the year and collecting in pools to which stock
resorts when the little creeks or brooks in the ravines become dry.
It is useless to search in this part of Alabama for caves presenting
indications that they may have been habitable, or the reverse, in ages
past. The native rock is a cherty or flinty limestone, crumbling
easily, and readily susceptible to changes from atmospheric
influences, and especially so to the action of water. New subterranean
channels are continually developing, with consequent changes in the
interior of any cavern near them.
JACKSON COUNTY
ISBOLL CAVES.--It was reported that habitable caves with spacious
rooms occur on the Isboll farms, near Limrock. They have entrances
and front chambers of ample size to move about in, though not more
than 15 feet wide. There are broader expansions back some distance
beyond daylight. In both caves rocks up to 15 or 20 tons in weight
strew the floor, until only narrow passageways exist between them. In
addition, water flows from them in rainy seasons, being frequently 2
feet or more in depth.
BLOWING CAVE.--This takes its name from an outward current of cold air
which is so strong as to distinctly modify the temperature of the
atmosphere at least 100 yards from the entrance. The opening and the
front chamber are nearly 40 feet across, but the distance from the
roof to the muddy floor strewn with large rocks is not more than 5
feet at any point. A creek flows across the cave 200 or 300 yards from
the mouth, and there is evidence in the way of drift and mud to prove
the statement by the owner that after very heavy rains the overflow
comes out the front of the cave in such amount as to fill it to the
ceiling, and with a velocity that will roll stones larger than a man
can lift.
CULVER'S CAVE.--This is somewhere on the side of a mountain about 4
miles from the station of Limrock. Owing to destruction of forests and
subsequent growth of brush, the guide was unable to locate it. He
described it as a room in which a man could walk about and reached by
going in through an opening like a sink hole, which, however, is only
about 5 feet deep. The locality, a rugged, barren hillside, near the
head of a cove, is not one in which it is probable a cave would be
used for any purpose.
HARRISON'S CAVE.--This is 2½ miles west of Limrock. It has a large,
high opening, an easy approach, and is quite accessible, being at the
foot of a mountain with level bottom land in front. A stream flows
directly across it some 30 feet from the entrance, emerging at the
foot of one wall and disappearing under the other. The earth bank on
each side of the stream is about 5 feet high, indicating at least that
depth of deposit on the rock floor; as the latter is not visible the
amount may be much greater. This earth is soft and wet. In rainy
weather water from the interior flows along the floor into the little
stream. Sometimes this can not dispose of the surplus, and the
overflow rises until it makes its exit through the mouth of the cave.
When this happens all the earth within is covered from 2 to 5 feet
deep.
SALTPETER CAVE.--This lies 4 miles south of the railway, between
Limrock and Larkinsville. It is described as being dry, with a large,
high entrance, and "plenty of room inside right at the front." But it
was thoroughly worked during the war by saltpeter miners who took out
all the dirt they could easily reach, going back "200 or 300 yards."
For this reason it was not visited.
DEKALB COUNTY
FORT PAYNE CAVE.--A mile south of Fort Payne is a cave in Lookout
Mountain, which, a "boom" company some years ago converted into a
summer resort. The detritus in front of the entrance was leveled off,
steps constructed to the top, and a heavy stone wall built across the
mouth, leaving an entrance a little less than 7 feet in width which
was closed by gates. Inside the barrier the floor, now made tolerably
level, extends about 30 feet toward the rear, to the natural rock
wall, and is 50 feet from side to side, with a roof from 6 to 15 feet
high. In the wall at the rear are two small openings through which
explorers can pass to large chambers farther within. To the right of
the front chamber is a branch cave which is high and wide at the
beginning but soon becomes impassable from the accumulated rocks and
earth rising to the roof. The left side of the front chamber is
continued in another branch going directly back into the mountain. The
roof and floor have an equal slope downward to a point some rods from
the beginning, the clear space between them being not more than 4
feet. Beyond here the roof is high and there are some large
expansions. A creek flows from the rear of the cave to a point
estimated as 200 yards from the doorway, where it sinks into the
earth. The noise of its fall is distinct throughout the front part of
the cavern. There is considerable drip, and though dry stalactites and
stalagmites occur in some places, over most of the front chamber their
formation is still in progress. Outside of the doorway the solid rock
walls show on each side, nowhere less than 25 feet apart. At a depth
of 30 feet water flows from the rock and earth between these side
walls, but there is no sign of solid bottom, so the depth of the cave
is probably more than 30 feet below the present floor.
Under existing conditions the cave would form an excellent shelter,
being accessible, roomy, and with an abundant supply of fresh water.
The drip from the ceiling could be avoided. But it does not follow
that such was the case in the remote past. It is apparent that at one
time the creek had its outlet through the mouth and down the gorge in
front, the right branch of the cave being then open. From some cause,
probably the formation of a sink hole above, water from the surface or
near the surface found a way through this branch, carrying mud and
rocks sufficient to fill the front chamber to its present floor,
diverting the flow of the stream, and finally filling the cave through
which it came. While the creek was flowing, occupation would be
impossible, or at least inconvenient. When the mud began to settle in,
the front portion would be shut off. This condition would hold until
the stream found its new outlet and the branch cave had become
entirely filled; and when these processes were completed the floor of
the cave would be practically at its present level. Under the
circumstances exploration would probably, almost certainly, be
fruitless. The company which owns the cave would also wish it restored
to something like its present state.
ELLIS CAVE.--On the estate of Dr. Ellis, 19 miles north of Fort Payne
and 3 miles from Sulphur Springs, are two caves known locally as
Big-mouth and Little-mouth. The smaller is closed by a locked gate.
The larger has a rather imposing appearance from the outside. From a
ledge of rock, in place, in front of it, one looks down a steep slope
in which rocks up to 40 or 50 tons weight are imbedded. At a vertical
depth of 30 feet is a level space not more than 8 or 10 square yards
in area. From this a narrow crevice goes to the right. Within a few
yards it reaches a hole which can be descended only by means of a rope
or ladder. Persons have, however, gone several hundred yards in it.
On the left of the level space and bounded on each side by solid rock
walls is a pit 10 feet deep, caused by inflowing storm waters which
have created this depression in seeking a small outlet, also toward
the left. The height from the bottom of this sink to the roof of the
cave is nearly 50 feet.
Crossing this pit on a foot log, which rests on loose rock and earth
at its farther end, a crevice varying from 6 to 10 feet wide goes
inward for 50 feet. Earth covers the loose rock at the level of the
foot log almost at once, and this earth has a steep ascent toward the
rear. The crevice widens beyond the distance mentioned, though
irregularly, being in some places 25 feet from side to side. So far as
progress is concerned, the cave terminates 150 feet from the doorway
in a blank wall. It may be that if the earth were out of the way
further progress would be possible.
Considerable digging has been done for saltpeter, but except near the
front it has been only superficial.
The top of the earth at the extreme rear of the cave is almost or
quite as high as the roof at the front, which means that, if the
bottom should be level, the thickness of this accumulated deposit is
not less than 35 feet. As the dip is toward the rear and quite sharp,
about 10 or 12 degrees, the earth here may well be much thicker than
indicated.
Excavation would be tedious and costly, as it would be impossible to
dispose of the dirt except by blasting a deep trench through the rock
in front to make room for wheeling it out.
KILLIAN CAVES.--There are two of these, both on the west slope of
Lookout Mountain. One is near Brandon, 6 miles south of Fort Payne.
The entrance is a large sink hole on the side of the mountain, descent
into which is difficult owing to the steepness and large rocks. At the
bottom the water which flows in over the muddy floor from the slope
above--several acres in extent--rushes into a hole choked with loose
stones and disappears.
The second cave is about 3 miles northeast of Collinsville. Débris
from the mountain has formed a wall across the entrance, which is
naturally wide and high and opening out on a little flat in front.
Some digging has been done for saltpeter at the front part of the
cave, reaching about 30 feet back from the inner foot of the
accumulation. In the pit thus formed water stands after every rain
until it soaks away. Where it ends the "face" is about 5 feet high. On
top, farther in, there is much travertine or stalagmite; in some
places it extends entirely across the floor. In other places the floor
is bare. There is constant drip, and in one room there is a little
gully, where surface water in wet weather, entering from a small
branch cave on one side, has cut an exit through the earth at the foot
of the wall on the other side. The hole in which it disappears extends
beyond the rays of a lamp, and a stone thrown in goes down a slope
several feet in length. Very little working is needed to reduce any of
the earth to soft, slippery mud, hence no excavation was possible.
MARSHALL COUNTY
FEARIN CAVE.--This is in a bluff on the right bank of the Tennessee
River, 10 miles below Guntersville. It has three divisions. Shortly
after passing the spacious entrance a branch turns to the right. In a
few feet a wall is reached which can be scaled only with a ladder.
Climbing this, a large chamber is reached, totally dark, and the home
of innumerable bats whose "guano" covers the floor and fills the air
with a stifling odor. This branch comes to light again more than a
mile away on the side of the mountain.
Returning to the lower chamber and going back about 100 feet from the
main entrance, a wall similar to the first is reached, above which is
another large cave. Bats never inhabit this, and the floor is of loose
dry earth. But no ray of daylight penetrates it, and as a great amount
of saltpeter was made here during the War of 1812 scarcely any of the
earth retains its original position. During the Civil War the floor of
the lower or main cave was also dug up for making saltpeter and much
of the leached earth piled in front of the cave. This acts as a dam
against encroachment of the river except in the highest floods. There
seems, however, to be a passage between the cavern and a spring under
the river bank, for water appears on the floor as soon as it reaches
the same height outside and the two surfaces maintain a constant level
until the freshet subsides. On account of these facts no excavations
were made.
HARDIN'S CAVE.--Nine miles below Guntersville, on the right bank of
the Tennessee, is a ferry known as Honey Landing. It is at the lower
end of a steep bluff which forms the river front of a high hill or
mountain, as such elevations are called here. A few feet above
high-water mark a narrow ledge or shelf projects, which can be reached
only from a point on the side of the hill just above the ferry. About
100 yards from here the ledge reaches a cave, which has a high and
wide entrance, with ample space for several families to live on a
fairly level, well lighted floor. If the cave were dry, it would be an
ideal primitive home. But water continually seeps down the hill above
and falls over the roof at the entrance, while a gully through the
cave and several minor washes, as well as the mud spread over the
floor, show that a large amount of water flows through the cave in wet
seasons and covers all the floor except an area some 15 feet in
diameter. This is dry on top, but would be muddy at a depth of 3 or 4
feet, the level of the bottom of the gully, so no exploration was
attempted.
WELBURN'S CAVE.--Six miles northeast of Guntersville is a cave in
which many human bones have been found. It is only a burial place and
could never have been used as a dwelling. The entrance, barely large
enough to crawl into, is at one side of the bottom of a large sink
hole due to the falling in of a cave roof. It receives all the
rainfall of more than an acre and is nearly choked with mud and
driftwood. It may have been somewhat larger at one time, as there is a
tradition that a deer was chased through the cave, coming out at
Bailey's Cave, a mile away. Within a few rods the water sinks into the
earth, and the floor of the cave, rising beyond this point, is dry. It
was on this dry earth, not in it, that the skeletons were found. The
floor is uneven, at some places permitting a man to stand, and at
others rising to within 3 feet of the roof. Explorations can not be
made, as there is no method of disposing of the removed earth.
BAILEY'S CAVE.--This cave is 7 miles northeast of Guntersville. The
entrance is high and wide and there is a large, well-lighted area
within; but the cave is flooded every time Town Creek gets out of its
banks. Bailey's Cave is the other end of Welburn's Cave, as persons
have gone through the hill from one to the other.
BARNARD CAVE.--This cave, which is also called Alford's and is still
more commonly known as Saltpeter Cave, is on the left bank of the
Tennessee 10 miles below Guntersville and opposite the Fearin
property. The entrance is at the foot of a bluff overlooking a strip
of bottom land a fourth of a mile wide, but the opening is above any
flood that has occurred since the country was settled. At the foot of
the slope is a bayou filled with Tupelo gums. Between this and the
river the ground can be cultivated.
The cave is so straight and the walls so smooth as to look like an
artificial tunnel. The entrance is in plain view from a point 380
feet back, and the change of direction, even at that distance, is very
slight. The saltpeter miners started at the entrance and removed all
the earth lying from 3 to 6 feet higher than the present floor, which
is nearly level. They carried their work along the surface of a
stratum of gravel, sand, and clay, which is so compact as to be
difficult to remove with a pick, and seems to belong to the stream
which carved out the cavern. The "face" where they quit work is 5 feet
high, and the earth is quite dry, breaking down in angular fragments
and separating from the walls so freely as to leave no residue on
them. Its original depth at any point, however, may be very easily
ascertained by noting the different tints or shading of the wall rock,
the lower part, which was protected by earth, being distinctly lighter
in color than that above, which was exposed to atmospheric weathering
and, for a time, to the smoky torches and candles of the workmen.