CRYSTAL CAVE.
South Dakota can boast of yet another cave in the Black Hills that was
formed by volcanic disturbance of the rocks and afterwards decorated in
a manner peculiar to itself. This is Crystal Cave. It is nine miles from
Piedmont in the eastern edge of the Hills, and easily visited from that
point by way of the narrow-gauge road, which winds along the natural
curves of the beautiful Elk Creek cañon, whose walls are said to expose
a depth of almost a mile of geological strata, although the exposure at
any one point does not exceed three hundred feet.
The disappointment of not having seen this cave during the summer visit
to the Hills grew as the weeks passed, and a request that the owner
should send a description was answered with an assurance that it was
impossible. Therefore, on Friday, November 13th, 1896, with a small
nephew, Herbert A. Owen, Jr., for company, the trip was undertaken a
second time to complete the unfinished mission.
The first glimpse of the Hills is at Edgemont in the early morning, but
the train makes its way to the north through the heart of the uplift,
twisting about the curves of the hills and clinging to the sides of a
beautiful cañon whose high walls give way here and there to fine slopes
densely covered with forests of pine and spruce. These look black in the
distance and suggested the name of Black Hills to the Indians, who
always have a reason for the names they give even to their children.
There are great tracts where fire has killed part or all of the timber
but left much of it standing, while in other places nature has defied
the power of fire and the hills are re-clothed with young trees. A
recent storm had further beautified the region with a few inches of
snow, but as the day advanced a chinook began to blow so that when
Deadwood was reached, soon after noon, only the northern exposures
retained an appearance of winter.
Deadwood is a most peculiar little city and very attractive in its
peculiarity, being crowded snugly into a depression between a number of
steep pine-wooded hills, which gives an appearance suggestive of a
bird's nest securely located among the forks of a branching tree, and as
is the case in a nest, business is chiefly transacted at the lowest
depth of the enclosure. As the busy center of a great gold-mining
region, the metropolis of the Hills, and the outgrowth of an exciting
historical past, it claims and receives interesting attention. And while
the whole Black Hills region is still distinctly a man's country, it
is called woman's paradise, and surely nowhere else are the daughters of
Eve received with a more gracious courtesy or surrounded by an equally
unobtrusive protecting care.
[Illustration: Approaching Deadwood. Page 176.]
The streets leading up to the residences lack very little of standing on
end, and the houses appear to have been hung in place by means of hooks
and wire cord like pictures on a wall. The smelter has no reception day
but admits visitors as if their pleasure were a guarantee of profit.
The finest scenery in the Hills is said to be that of the Spearfish
Cañon, north of Deadwood, and the finest of that at the Falls, but this
may be doubtful as other points are very beautiful, especially where the
Burlington & Missouri Road requires a distance of seven miles to climb
the cañon wall.
Piedmont being the nearest town to Crystal Cave, we took the early
evening train on the Elk Horn Road and soon were located, and shocked to
learn that the proprietor of the cave had started several days before to
drive to Wind Cave for specimens. The cave was closed and no one there.
The trip had been taken for the one purpose of exploring Crystal Cave,
and a letter sent in advance to announce our coming, but the train
carrying it was an hour late so he drove off without the mail.
There seemed at first nothing to be done but take the next returning
train, which, under the circumstances, was objectionable. A night's rest
and a telegram that had to be sent twelve miles by special messenger,
improved the situation. The proprietor was unavoidably detained at Wind
Cave, but secured a reliable guide, expressed me the cave keys, and has
since married the "specimen" he had gone in quest of. May great
happiness dwell at the cave many years!
The morning of the third day after our arrival found arrangements all
complete, and soon after the train left Piedmont it entered Elk Creek
Cañon, which is always beautiful, but on that morning was exceptionally
so on account of a sudden change in the weather having covered every
visible portion of the passing landscape with heavy frost. The trees on
distant hills that ordinarily are black, were, for once, all softly
white, and when the tall pines in the cañon were shaken by a breeze,
they cast a shower of flakes like snow.
Here the cañon walls are in Carboniferous Limestone with a pleasing
variety of color in the strata, and the erosion-carving not overdone,
the most notable piece being the Knife-blade. This, at first view,
appears to be a high, round tower, but the train following the curve,
reveals the fact that it is not a tower, but a thin, curved
knife-blade. The sun just for one instant shone through a rift in the
clouds, and added special charm to the scene.
[Illustration: The Knife-Blade. Page 178.]
A short distance beyond is Crystal Cave station, where the guide was
waiting to take us in charge. He is an intelligent young man who has
served an enlistment term in the army, is recently married, very
obliging, and proud of being trustworthy.
The scenery here is most beautiful as well as grand. The cañon makes a
sharp turn toward the south, and on the north opens out into another
cañon of even greater beauty and higher walls, the perpendicular being
three hundred feet in places. Crystal Cave is in the hill embraced by
the junction curve. The natural entrance is more than two hundred feet
above the cañon bed and was naturally approached from above. A short
walk up the north cañon, whose name has unfortunately slipped away, was
over ice and snow the chinook had failed to reach, and brought us to a
long stairway against the wall, which affords a more direct approach
than nature gave and is a fair test of physical perfection.
Finally a resting place is reached where the grandeur of the view can be
enjoyed; and then a shorter stairway completes the ascent of the wall,
but not of the hill, so there is still a considerable upward walk
through the forest of tall pines all carpeted with brilliant mats of
kinnikinic with its shining leaves, glowing in shades of green and red,
trying to rival the bright scarlet berries. The kinnikinic here
resembles the wintergreen of the east, while in the mountains in
Colorado it grows in the form of a shrub two to three feet in height,
but with no variation in the leaf or berry.
At last perserverance is rewarded with a view of the cave buildings and
the summit of the hill rising yet higher beyond, and tall, straight
pines swaying in the rising wind over all.
One of the two houses was entered and preparations quickly made for
entering the cave, the artificial tunnel entrance being only a little
distance further on.
The door was unlocked, candle-sticks taken from a shelf within, candles
from the guide's supply lighted, and we went forward at last, into
Crystal Cave. At the end of the new tunnel, a second door was passed
through, which is locked on the inside during the visiting season by the
last guide to enter, in order that no chance late arrival may enter
alone and be lost.
The first room is a small one at the junction of the natural and
artificial entrances, from which we go upstairs to the Resting Room, in
the highest level of the cave, and perfectly dry but otherwise of no
special interest. After a short rest here we went down stairs at the
side opposite that on which we entered, into a passage leading to the
cave's first beauty, the Red Room. As the name indicates, the walls are
vividly colored and represent the uncertain line which separates the
Carboniferous strata from the Triassic rocks. The color is handsomely
brought out here in contrast with masses of calcite crystal, so as to
present by the combination a charmingly beautiful room, from which we
retired, feet first, down a "squeeze" to the Bridal Chamber, where we
found ourselves perched on an irregular narrow ledge, high up on the
wall, and cherishing a private conviction that exploration had met a
checkmate; but the guide reached the floor and my nephew, Herbert,
scrambled down with as much ease as the chipmunk he had chased to the
house top a while before; so a little application settled the difficulty
and re-united the party. The room is an artistic study in red, and the
only reason for its being called the Bridal Chamber is that the way out
is decidedly more rough and difficult than that by which the entrance is
effected; this, however, is an observation not based on official
information.
Off to one side of this room is Lost Man's Paradise, also in red and
crystal, named in honor of the timely rescue of one who had faced the
possibility of becoming a lost soul.
Another Fat Man's Misery, on a lower level, leads from the Bridal
Chamber to the Big Dome, a large room with a fine dome-shaped ceiling
from which heavy masses of crystals have fallen to the floor; and down a
steep incline from here is Reef Rock, an immense fallen rock with box
work on the under side, which at one time served to ornament the
ceiling; and now this rock marks the beginning of Poverty Flat, a broad,
low passage of great extent, that has been robbed of all its wonderful
treasure of crystal and ends in a steep, rough declivity named Bunker
Hill by the guides who dreaded to mount it when going out loaded with
specimens. At the foot of the Hill is a bowlder of enormous size and
with a pointed top, known as Pyramid Rock and giving the same name to
the large room in which it stands.
Every portion of Crystal Cave has at one time been heavily crusted with
calcite crystals, mainly of the dog-tooth variety, and any barren places
are so either because the surface has been removed for specimens, or
thrown down by the violence of an earthquake. But where the latter has
been the cause of removal, the crystals have in most cases been renewed,
which is amply evidenced by the fallen masses being crystallized on all
sides; and these as well as most of the walls, are not covered thinly
with one crust, but layer has been added to layer until the thickness
is four to ten inches and often more. The ceilings that have been
denuded by nature's forces during the same early period when water
filled the cave were also renewed.
From the Pyramid Room a narrow fissure forms a passage to the Cactus
Chamber, where there is a marvelous floor on which the crystals are in
bunches like cacti, and the beautiful ceiling is the finest and most
irregular unbroken mass of crystal yet seen.
Passing through a round hole known as the Needle's Eye, we enter
Statuary Hall, where the latest inrush of water has eroded the sharp
points from the crystals, leaving only smooth surfaces, and at the same
time done much curious carving, the most conspicuous pieces of this work
being a bear and the heads of an Indian and his baby.
Out from the Hall are two important routes, one down the steep incline
of Beaver's Slide to The Catacombs, and another, which we followed
first, is through Rocky Run, a rough and rocky pass, to a large and
handsomely crystallized chamber called the I.X.L. Room, on account of
those three letters, over twelve inches in height, being distinctly and
conspicuously worked in crystal on a magnificent piece of box work that
would weigh nearly half a ton, for which an offer of five hundred
dollars is said to have been refused.
The next chamber beyond is Tilotson Hall, very large and extremely
rough, and named in honor of a teacher from the Normal School, who
delivered an address here that gave much pleasure to both visitors and
guides.
The way to farther advance is now more difficult and through a jagged
crevice of threatening appearance, but the trip is made in safety and
with comparative ease, and brings us into Notre Dame, one of the largest
chambers in the cave and perhaps the finest, although where so much is
fine that may be uncertain. The display of box work and crystal is
sufficiently gorgeous to do honor to the famous old cathedral of France,
the ceiling especially being a masterpiece of the builder's and
decorator's arts; but the grandest portion, which a visitor recently
returned from foreign travel called The Russian Castle, on account of
the magnificence of the large box work and pearly crystal masses, should
rather be known as the great cathedral's crowning glory, The Altar.
Another large room, the handsome Council Chamber, is entered just as
that Altar of pearl is lost to view; and from there an up-hill trip is
taken through a narrow crevice to Whale Flat, which is the natural
history room, with a large whale as the show specimen.
Going out from here we enter another crevice which serves as a steep
stairway descending to a lower level, and measures from top to bottom
one hundred and eighteen feet. This is called Rip Van Winkle's Stairway,
and although merely a high and crooked crack in the rock, is very
beautiful because heavily coated with crystal, the effect being
especially striking at the top where the crystal is partly worn away and
leaves exposed patches of red rock.
At the foot of the Stairway is the first room containing water, and is
called the Gypsy Camp. It is the most charming chamber yet visited, with
not the smallest spot of plain or common rock visible. The ceiling,
walls, floor, and groups of fallen rocks, are all unbroken masses of
pearly calcite in crystals of varied sizes, with here and there a patch
coated over with pure white carbonate of lime, or supporting a bunch of
fragile egg-shell, which is a thin, hollow crust of lime carbonate,
almost invariably having the pointed form of the dog-tooth spar. And
there are also beautiful mats and banks of dainty white carbonate
flowers. While waiting here for the guide to go in quest of the lunch we
had carelessly left behind, the time was utilized in measuring the room,
which is a small one. The size of the cave and our limited time for
seeing it, prevented much-desired measurements from being taken in all
parts of the cave.
This room was found to be forty-eight feet long, the irregular width
varied from fourteen to thirty feet and the height from four and
one-half to ten feet. The crystal water basin is especially beautiful
and the water so clear that we stood looking into it with
disappointment, being thirsty and thinking it dry, until the guide
laughingly dipped and offered a cupful. The basin is the segment of a
circle rounding beneath a massive, overhanging crystal ledge of
wonderful beauty, and is nine feet long by two in width. This room and
the Stairway into it are alone worthy of a visit, but there is much that
is finer still.
Out of Gypsy Camp by way of Gunny Sack Crawl, so named by the workmen
who spread gunny sacks to relieve the torture of crawling over the
beautiful floor of sharp crystals, we enter the first chamber, where
active operation is still maintained and certain branches of the great
decorative industry of the cave may be carefully studied. This operative
chamber, which is unnamed, would no doubt be called a factory in the
east, but in its own locality would more likely be referred to as The
Works.
The next chamber entered is Crystal Flat, whose floor is completely
covered with immense crystal blocks, and the wonderful crystal ceiling
is exceedingly fine. But time being limited we must pass on into the
Lake Room, where is Crystal Lake, the largest body of water in the cave.
It is about thirty feet long by fifteen wide and its greatest depth
is said to be ten feet. The water is cold and clear, and the gold fish
introduced as an experiment three years ago are said to have grown
rapidly but not yet turned white, and are not known to have become
blind.
[Illustration: The Bridal Veil. Page 187.]
At some little distance from Crystal Lake, and not within the same range
of vision, although in the same room, is Dry Lake, which to the surprise
of the guide we found to be not dry, but full of limpid water through
which we could distinctly see the delicate clusters of crystals it is
depositing. They are of a pale honey yellow and are called Gum-drops on
account of the resemblance to that variety of confection.
The name Dry Lake was given because in blasting out a passage a
misdirected shot went through the bottom of the Lake, which in
consequence was soon drained; but the heavily charged water has sealed
up the unfortunate break, and resumed its interrupted work. The ceiling
drops to a height of little more than three feet directly above the Lake
margin, and is a beautiful crystal mass, which at a little distance down
the sloping floor appears as the background for a fine piece of cave
statuary called The Bridal Veil, and formed of cream-tinted dripstone.
Not a great deal of imagination is required to see a slender girlish
figure completely enveloped in the flowing folds of a wedding veil that
falls lightly about her feet. The figure itself is three feet ten inches
in height and stands on an almost flat circular base of the same
material, that measures nine inches in depth and two feet eight inches
in diameter. At times the water rises sufficiently to cover the base, in
proof of which it left a fringe-like border of small sharp crystals,
such as could be formed only beneath the water's surface. Most of this
border has, unfortunately, been chiseled off for specimens, but will be
renewed in time if left undisturbed; and that condition can easily be
secured with a few feet of wire netting.
To one side of this room is a most daintily beautiful alcove so
profusely decorated with fragile forms of dripstone that a passage
through it without causing damage is extremely difficult. This alcove is
about twenty-five feet in either direction, with a sloping floor almost
covered with stalagmitic growths above the earlier deposit of sharp
crystals, and many of these rise in slender columns to the glass-like
ceiling, which varies in height from three to six feet and is thickly
studded with small stalactites of both varieties--the pointed, solid
form, and those of uniform size, which are always hollow like a pipe
stem. The central ornament is the Chimes, a musical group of stalactites
which is scarcely more beautiful than Cleopatra's Needle, at a
distance of a few feet to one side, a transparent column four feet
in height and having an average circumference of seventeen inches.
[Illustration: The Chimes. Page 188.]
[Illustration: The Needle. Page 188.]
[Illustration: Tower of Babel. Page 189.]
The Abode of the Fairies is a similar, though smaller room, with The
Tower of Babel for a handsome show-piece. While this portion of the cave
is extremely attractive, the measurements given show that in comparison
with caves of other states the drip deposit here is too small to be
reckoned an important feature in itself, but in conjunction with the
miles of calc-spar that give the cave a character distinctly its own, it
well repays all attention.
Leaving Lake Room we enter a newly opened, long, dry passage to Slab
Room, where a comparatively recent earthquake has shaken down the
ornamental ceiling and spread it in great slabs over the floor; and
having since remained perfectly dry it has the appearance of being the
work of yesterday. This room is remembered as the one in which a party
of workers were lost, and one of their number gave a severe nervous
shock to the junior proprietor by suggesting that as he was acting as
guide and unable to lead them out, it was only right that he should be
the first victim to satisfy their hunger. A rescuing party with
extinguished candles was listening behind a rock to the blood-curdling
speech, and came forward to restore cheerfulness.
A long, irregular, frosty looking crevice called Jack Frost Streak,
conducts us from Slab Room and ends at Mold Ladder, on which we pause to
admire a wonderful growth of snow-white cave vegetation, before
ascending into Santa Claus' Pass, the longest passage in the cave. It is
a rough crevice named from the fact of being discovered on Christmas
Eve, and ends at the Government Room on the main tourist route where a
U.S. pack saddle and apparently portable bath tub are conspicuous.
Next beyond is a very large room named New Zealand, on account or its
icy appearance and the undisputed possession of a seal. This room in
turn opens into Mold Chamber, where an old board platform, formerly used
for the display of specimens, has fostered the most marvelously
beautiful growth of mold: it hangs in ropes five and six feet long, with
tasseled ends, and in broad, looped draperies; but is most beautiful
where it has taken possession of the rocks and spreads out on the flat
surface like large open fans, with deep, soft feather borders.
Having been in the cave eight hours, we now followed the outward passage
from Mold Chamber and soon reached an open trap door where the guide
suggested to Herbert that he would be afraid to go down alone and allow
him to close the door; but the child surprised him by quietly stepping
down and then asking why he wished it, only to be told "because we are
coming too." Which we did and found ourselves in the main entrance
passage, and in due time returned to the outer world where a terrific
wind was roaring through the tall pines and the early winter evening had
already closed in dark.
The guide locked the cave, walked with us to the house where he lighted
a lamp and left us to prepare for the return to town; but the lamp,
belonging to a bachelor, was empty, so we made our preparations in
imitation of the blind. On the guide's return he lighted a candle, but
suggested that twenty minutes were generally allowed for reaching the
station.
The house was accordingly closed and as we walked down the long, curving
slope to the stairway, he told of a new and unknown bob-tailed wolf that
has recently made its first appearance among the hills in considerable
numbers and to the terror of stock. It attacks and bites horses or
cattle, and after waiting for the fatal poison inflicted to take effect,
falls to and eats the victim.
The uncovered platform which serves as a station being reached a few
minutes before the train arrived, I expressed an unwillingness to detain
our guide longer on account of his having a walk of four and a half
miles to his home; but he declined to consider the subject; saying he
had been directed not to leave us until we were taken safely on the
train, which came sweeping round the curve on time and stopped for us.