2006 NSS Convention
Bellingham, Washington, August 7-11, 2006
Spelean History Session Abstracts
History
of the Cascade Grotto - the first 35 years
William
R. Halliday
6530 Cornwall Ct., Nashville, TN 37205
bnawrh@webtv.net
The
Cascade Grotto's application was signed 21 May 1951 by 10 NSS members,
mostly in the Seattle area. In those days of two-lane
highways, no limestone cave was known in western Washington.
Oregon Cave was a 14-hour drive from Seattle. The lava tube
caves of Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams were believed to be few and
hidden deep in wilderness forests. And the closest cave in
Canada was believed to be Nakimu Cave in Glacier National
Park. Diligent searches began to unearth limestone caves
south of Mount Baker and high above Snoqualmie Pass, but the obstacles
were too great for the remaining founders and the grotto became
inactive around 1955 after publishing just six issues of Cascade Cave
Report. Almost at once, however, new cavers and new access
produced a spectacular rejuvenation with a strong international
orientation. A new publication - The Cascade Caver - appeared
in 1961. The grotto subsequently emphasized international
vulcanospeleology. It also pioneered American
glaciospeleology but its studies of the summit geothermal caves of
Mount Baker were cut short by the 1980 eruptions of Mount St.
Helens. There it undertook 20 follow-up study trips to caves
and pseudokarsts in the "Red Zone". My own close involvement
with the grotto ended after 35 years, in 1986. The grotto got
along just fine without me.
Schroeder's
Pants Cave
Christian
Lyon
Los Angeles, CA
x429er@hotmail.com
In
the fall of 1947, brothers George and Lyndon Lyon along with Herb
Schroeder discovered a beautifully decorated cave that they would
explore and lead school groups into for the next 18 years. On one of
those explorations, Herb wound up "pantsless" due to his size and the
tightness of some of the squeezes. The cave would become known the
world over as "Schroeder's Pants Cave". It was featured in numerous NSS
News articles in the late 40's and early 50's and talked about
throughout the Northeastern Grottos.
Twenty-three
year old James Gentry Mitchell of Waterville, Ohio, who was living and
working in the Boston area, came to Dolgeville, New York on February
13th, 1965, with two inexperienced cavers from the Boston Grotto. The 3
began exploring the cave to the point where James is lowered into a 70
foot bell shaped room. Freezing water was pouring on him at this point
and eventually led to his death.
The
National Capital Rescue Team was called to the scene but ultimately,
and not without controversy, determined that it was not possible to get
the body out. The cave was dynamited shut. In June
of 2006, a group of experts, along with James Gentry Mitchell's
brother, made a return trip to the cave to finally retrieve the remains
of James, for burial at Mitchell Lake, Ohio.
Two
1851 Accounts of Grotta del Cane and bibliographic followup
William
R. Halliday
Honorary President, IUS Commission on
Volcanic Caves
6530 Cornwall Ct., Nashville, TN USA
37205
bnawrh@webtv.net
Arrigo
A. Cigna
Italian Speleological Society
Fraz
Tuffo
Cocconato (Asti), Italy I-14023
Arrigocigna@tiscali.it
Located
in the Phlegrean Fields volcanic area near Naples, Italy's Grotta del
Cane contains a concentration of CO2 sufficient to anesthetize
unfortunate dogs (hence the name "Cave of Dogs"). As such it
has long been touted as a touristic attraction, perhaps even since
Roman times. Innumerable accounts in the travel literature of
many languages cause popular and scientific misunderstandings
about caves and about gases in caves even today.
Recently
one of us (WRH) encountered two English-language observations which
occurred a few days apart in 1851. One description of Grotto
del Cane suggested that the site was and is an artificial
excavation. This stimulated library research, including
accounts back to Pliny who was said to have mentioned the "grotta" in
his Roman-era writings about this volcanic area. We could not
confirm this. But it was discussed at length in Athanasius
Kircher's famous 17th Century "Mundus Subterraneus". In
addition to youthful personal observations, Kircher quoted at length
from an account by Bishop John Caramuel. He included a
diagram which strongly suggests to one of us (WRH) that the "grotto"
then was recognizable as an open-air travertine basin, not a cave as
the term is used today in cave science.
Caramuel
used the phrase "crypta manu fossa", meaning artificial excavation or
enlargement. He did not use the word "spelunca" but Kircher
chose to use it. Additional bibliographic research
is indicated.
Additional
Facts about the Shroeders Pants Cave Incident
Timothy
Downey
37 Balance Rock Rd, Unit 7, Seymour CT 06483
CaverTimD@aol.com
This
is going to be a slideshow presentation on the story of the Shroeders
Pants Cave Incident. Tim Downey is a member of the NSS and son of the
late Clark R. Downey who was a renowned NSS Caver. He will be speaking
about his father's findings on the tragedy from 1969-1990's. He will be
presenting photographs and factual documentation on the tragedy based
on Clark Downey's interviews with residents of Dolgeville who were
there in 1965, and from Tim's personal experience. Tim will discuss
what the story means for us today and how it affects us as a national
caving society in the future. In 1965 it had been reported that
Shroeders Pants Cave had collapsed as a result of drilling efforts in
the pit room, that Jim Mitchell's body had been lowered to the floor
and that there was no way of getting Jim's body out of the cave - thus
the cave was permanently sealed by the State of New York. Tim will show
that the cave had not collapsed, that Mitchell's body had not been
lowered to the floor in the manner that had been reported, and that the
rope had been cut causing a controversy which still rages today. He
will also explain how his father was the one who erected the Memorial
Stone above the Cave, and started the Jim Mitchell Award for the NSS.
In closing, Tim is planning to bring a piece of Jim Mitchell's
equipment which has never been seen before.
--
end of 2006 Spelean History Session abstracts --
(updated
September 1, 2006)