2007
NSS Convention
Mangengo, Indiana July 23-27, 2007
Spelean History Session Abstracts
Using
Historical Archives to Discover Forgotten Caves
Gary
A. O'Dell
Dept.
of Geography, Government, and History
Morehead
State University
Morehead, KY 40351
g.odell@morehead-st.edu
Cave
entrances - and even entire caves - can be "lost" when knowledge of
their location or existence fades from collective popular knowledge.
Caves disappear as a result of natural processes or human activity that
may disguise, cover, or even destroy these features. Frequently,
however, significant karst features have been documented in some
manner, and the task of the researcher interested in locating such
features becomes that of discovering obscure references within the vast
array of archival materials. In the past, human society has
generally attached more significance to springs, as invaluable sources
of water and power, than to caves, most often considered as curiosities
with little use value other than a few folk usages. Accordingly,
archival material tends to refer more to springs than to caves per se;
but in karst terranes springs are often indicators for cave systems.
This paper describes and evaluates some of the primary archival sources
for locating information about forgotten caves, and provides
illustrative case studies from the Inner Bluegrass karst region of
Kentucky.
The Cave Cure -
Old and New
Ideas on the Healing Properties of Caves
Colleen
O’Connor Olson
Cave
Guide
Mammoth
Cave National Park
PO
Box 7
Mammoth
Cave, KY 42127
Colleen_Olson@nps.gov
Caves
have long been associated with mystery, fear, and...good
health. Crushed stalactites were used in ancient China and
17th century Europe as sedatives, cough medicine, and to heal broken
bones. In the 19th century, visitors at Mammoth Cave thought
the cave air enabled people to walk much farther without fatigue than
they could above ground. Tuberculosis patients were even
housed in Mammoth Cave to take advantage of the healing properties in
the 1840s. Even today, caves and mines in eastern Europe and
Montana are visited by sick and injured people hoping to be cured by
the radon or salt ions. Are we, as cavers, healthier because
of the radon and ions we soak up? The exercise we get caving
is a health benefit, but don't expect to be cure of tuberculosis or any
other illnesses on your cave trips.
Cave
Art in Cave History - A Global Consideration
William
R. Halliday
6530
Cornwall Ct.
Nashville,
TN 37205
wrhbna@bellsouth.net
New
interpretations of European cave art and new recognition of its North
American counterparts open windows into the role of cave art in cave
history worldwide. In my cave-oriented viewpoint, interfaces exist
between cave art and rock art, and between cave art, historical
inscriptions, political assertions, and graffiti, but artificial
religious grottoes, recreational (“garden") grottoes, meditation
grottoes and burial grottoes are architectural features, not caves. On
a global basis, cave art may be classified as cave paintings (including
pictographs), cave sculpture (including petroglyphs and mud glyphs) and
manuport art (including religious statues, ornate chandeliers, etc.).
Age and motivations reflected in existing cave art vary widely but each
type contributes to the history of individual caves and their regions.
Examples are presented from the eastern and western United States,
eastern and western Europe, mesoAmerica, Venezuela and the Caribbean,
Africa, India and Ceylon, China and southeast Asia, Australia and
Hawaii.
Springhouses in
Kentucky: Form and
function in an evolving cultural landscape
Gary
A.
O'Dell
Dept.
of Geography, Government, and History
Morehead
State University
Morehead, KY 40351
g.odell@morehead-st.edu
Natural
springs are characteristic features of karst landscapes, and have been
highly valued as water supply sources from prehistory to the present
day. Springs are frequently modified to improve accessibility, increase
flow, and to protect the discharge point. Spring modifications
constructed in an earlier era are often maintained, renovated, or
improved by future generations. Kentucky provides an exceptional study
area in which to investigate the significance of springs upon the
cultural landscape. The importance and use of springs from the earliest
days of settlement and exploration are amply documented in the
historical record, and springs in both highly modified and undisturbed
states may be found. The author has documented and photographed nearly
1,000 springs within the state, focusing primarily upon the Inner
Bluegrass karst region. The purpose of this study was to investigate
the nature and variety of spring modifications in this region, their
origins and distributions, their relation to settlement patterns, and
their changing significance in relation to changes in land use and
cultural context. A classification hierarchy for spring modifications
was developed for this purpose.
The
Historical Geography of Show Cave Development
Kevin
Patrick
Geography
and Regional Planning Department
Indiana
University of Pennsylvania
Indiana, PA 15705
kpatrick@iup.edu
Show
cave histories tend to focus on the sequencing of events that occurred
at specific caves, researched and written independent of other caves.
Historical geography, with its emphasis on spatial patterns through
time, provides a perspective on cave commercialization for an entire
region. Emphasizing commercial caves in the eastern United States, a
set of periodic stages are presented as a national model for the
historical development of show caves. Beginning in the 19th century and
continuing to the present, the pattern of tourist cave development is
related to the evolution of transportation systems and the changing
interpretation of how entrepreneurs should present caves to the paying
public.
History of
Allens Cave, Warren
County, Virginia
Tom Tucker
34 Tuckers Lane
Washington,
VA 22747
threedogtom@earthlink.net
Allens
Cave is located near Front Royal, Virginia. The cave may have
been known as early as 1774. It is shown on Charles Varley's
Map of Frederick, Berkeley & Jefferson Counties in the state of
Virginia, published in 1809. In 1835, Joseph Martin published
A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of Virginia, in which there is an
extensive detailed and surprisingly accurate description of the entire
cave.
In the mid - 1930's there was apparently an
attempt made to commercially develop the cave. This endeavor
moved to the adjacent Skyline Caverns when they were discovered in
1937. Allens Cave was described in NSS Bulletin
Number 2, in 1941, and was a frequent destination of cavers from the
Washington area during the 1950's and 1960's. Due to
vandalism and possible liability, the cave was sealed in the early
1970's, and remained so until the late 1990's, when it was re-opened to
investigate its proximity to a potential highway widening project.
The
cave is known for it's large Ballroom, said to have been the site of
social gatherings over the years. The walls of the room, and
of many other of the passages, are covered with names. Recent
examination of the walls has yielded the names and unit identifications
of Confederate soldiers, apparently placed there following the Battle
of Cedar Creek, in October, 1864.
The walls of the
cave also exhibit the names of some of us, which is a measure of how
our understanding of cave conservation has evolved over the years.
Some
Little Known Facts On Wyandotte Cave Indiana
John
Benton
208
W 19th St.
Huntingburg,
IN 47542
jbenton@fullnet.com
Wyandotte
Cave has had a long and storied history, becoming a show cave in 1850
and visits by prehistoric Indians thousands of years prior. There are
many facts that are either little known or just coming to light the
last few years such as the study as a major Indiana bat hibernacula.
Throughout the years, the cave has been the site of suicide,
windstorms, early billboard advertising, of which little is known or
written. Some of the stories exist as hand me down tales, such as lost
passages, hidden underground rivers, and a purchase that never was by
P.T. Barnum. Monument Mountain was featured by Ripley’s Believe It or
Not in 1932, gaining national prominence for the cave. Famous people
such as presidents, governors, geologists, filmmakers, astronomers,
have visited the cave from time to time. The cave is also the site of a
working seismograph. And one of the more curious incidents occurred in
1941 when a team of mules was led several thousand feet into the cave
to excavate a newly found passage for tours. Oddly, the Indian group
for whom the cave is named, probably never set foot far inside!