Sulfur Galleries: The Historic Caves of Wyoming’s Shoshone
Canyon
Richard Rhinehart
Sulfur Cave Group
1811 S Quebec Way #41
Denver, CO 80231
nss@rockymountaincaving.com
In
early 1937, miners with the Utah Construction Company, contracted with
the Bureau of Reclamation to complete a lengthy irrigation tunnel along
Shoshone Canyon east of Yellowstone National Park, opened a natural
cavern of unknown extent. Located less than half a mile from the
multi-level Shoshone Cavern, protected by the federal government as a
national monument since 1909, this new cavern posed unusual technical
problems for the Bureau’s engineers and dangerous for the miners.
Building a 120-foot-long flume across the large natural cavern, miners
discovered the cave’s high sulfur content and fluctuating carbon
dioxide atmosphere was dangerous. The cave twice caught on fire during
operations, resulting in work stoppages. In addition, two miners
perished on April 1, 1937, being run over by the mine train after high
levels of carbon dioxide dropped the workers in their tracks. For
decades, this cave was closed to the public.
Only recently have skilled scientists and
cavers been permitted to tentatively explore and document this
forgotten cavern, discovering extraordinary crystalline gypsum and
sulfur speleothems. Speleologists believe this incompletely explored
cavern may include lower levels where ascending hot spring water and
carbon dioxide gas fill the cave and extremeophile life flourishes in
an acidic environment. Explorations have found evidence of past
visitation, including a 1930s-era wooden ladder and decaying trash.
With its proximity to Shoshone Cavern, dropped as a national monument
in 1954 and managed by the Bureau of Land Management as Spirit Mountain
Caverns, Shoshone Canyon Conduit Cave may contain astonishing and
fascinating curiosities.
Sauta
Cave, Carlisle and Henderson, and the U. S. Supreme Court
Charles A. Lundquist
Research Institute, von Braun Hall
University of Alabama
Huntsville, AL 35899
lundquc@uah.edu
Elinor H. Kates
4701 Whitesport Circle SW Apt 214
Huntsville, AL 35801
elinorkates@comcast.net
During
the Civil War, Hugh Carlisle and George Henderson managed extensive
mining operations in Sauta Cave. Events related to these operations
resulted in their saltpeter production being described in records of
the U. S. Supreme Court. Carlisle and Henderson both immigrated from
Scotland to the U. S., where they formed a general contracting
company. In 1859, they won a contract to build a railroad
between the Coosa and Tennessee Rivers. They were preparing the
right-of-way when the Civil War began and federal support disappeared
for railroad building in the South. They then sought other enterprises,
including the saltpeter operation and a venture that resulted in
ownership of a considerable amount of bailed cotton. When
Union forces occupied northern Alabama for several months in 1862, the
Sauta operations were stopped and the cotton seized and sold. The
proceeds went into the U. S. Treasury. During reconstruction,
President Andrew Johnson signed a pardon for all Confederate war
participants. Under this pardon, Carlisle and Henderson applied in the
U. S. Court of Claims for the money from the sale of their
cotton. The U. S. attorneys noted that the claimants were not
citizens and documented their saltpeter operations as evidences of
support of the rebellion. The Court of Claims denied the
Carlisle and Henderson application. The case was appealed to
the Supreme Court, which ruled that although Carlisle and Henderson
were not citizens, they were included in the Johnson pardon and
entitled to their money. Carlisle later finished the railroad.
Which
end is up?
Mysteries
of Weasts/Fountain Cave, Augusta County, Virginia
by Jim McConkey
604 Shirley Manor Dr.
Reisterstown, MD 21136
mcjames@comcast.net
The
third of the three most famous caves discovered in Cave Hill, Augusta
County, Virginia, Fountain Cave (formerly Weasts Cave) remains somewhat
of an enigma even after 50 years of commercial visitation. Discovered,
celebrated, and promptly forgotten for a quarter century before being
“rediscovered,” the cave has been slow to give up her secrets. Although
hundreds of articles were written on the neighboring Weyer’s Cave (now
Grand Caverns), only a few tidbits were ever published on Fountain. The
discovery of a complete description of the cave from the year of its
discovery in 1835 turned conventional thinking on end. While trying to
follow the original route, none of it made any sense. One day, while in
a passage at the very “back” of the cave, I realized that I was
standing next to the pools, or fountains, from which the cave derives
its current name, which were supposed to be next to the entrance! After
a mental 180, feature after feature fell into place. Another cave,
currently known as TI-59 Cave, turns out to have been the original
entrance. A voice connection has since been established, even though
the entrance passage was blasted shut many years ago.
The
“Lost” Third Reel to Russell T. Neville’s In the Cellars of the World
Dean H. Snyder
3213 Fairland Dr.
Schnecksville, PA 18078
dsnyder3@ptd.net
In
the late 1920s, Russell Trall Neville of Kewanee, Illinois, took some
of the first cave movies in the United States. Neville showed these
segments with his lecture which he called In the Cellars of the World.
After Neville’s sudden death in 1950, the original 35mm nitrate films
were acquired by Burton Faust for the NSS. They were later transferred
to 16mm film and shown at the NSS Convention in 1970. However, a third
film, containing original, duplicate, and damaged footage was not used
to produce the film that is seen today. This third reel was located in
2010 and will be added to the In
the Cellars of the World DVD in the NSS AV Library. Some
of the caves seen include Mammoth, Wyandotte, Salts, and Carlsbad.
Photographer
Ben Hains at Cave Hill, Augusta County, Virginia
Jim McConkey
604 Shirley Manor Dr.
Reisterstown, MD 21136
mcjames@comcast.net
By
the time New Albany, Indiana photographer Ben Hains came to visit the
boom town of Shendun (now Grottoes), Virginia, he was already
recognized as the premier cave photographer in the United States.
Familiar with his work at Mammoth Cave, Marengo Cave, and Wyandotte
Cave, “Major” Jedediah Hotchkiss, founder and chief promoter of
Shendun, had recruited Hains to visit Shendun in hopes of stirring up
tourism through photography. Hains accepted and spent five days in town
in May, 1891, taking a series of stereo photographs by magnesium
lights, and delighting the town with his geniality while not
underground. After he returned home, he sent 27 proofs to be named by
Major Hotchkiss and Rev. Dr. Hovey, and eventually produced a series of
25 stereoviews, 21 from Weyers Cave and four from the Cave of the
Fountains. Hovey debuted these images to the American Geographic
Society on the stereopticon. Although Hains’ stereoviews from Kentucky
and Indiana are still readily available, almost none are known to
survive from Virginia. A few of the available images will be shown.
Investigations
at Cheeks Stand Cave, Tennessee: History, Folklore, and Archaeology
Joseph C. Douglas
Department of History
Volunteer State Community College
Gallatin, TN 37066
joe.douglas@volstate.edu
The
current study examines the history, folklore, and archaeology of Cheeks
Stand Cave, a modest spring cave near the Red River in Robertson
County, Tennessee. Located on an early road and stagecoach line halfway
between Nashville and Bowling Green, Kentucky, the cave was utilized as
a water source and for cold storage by Elijah Cheek, a tavern owner
whose inn (or stand) was located a few yards away. According to
folklore Cheek murdered a traveler and disposed of the body in a nearby
sinkhole that supposedly communicated with the back of the cave. When
confronted with this rumor by naturalist Alexander Wilson in 1810,
Cheek denied the accusations in a remarkable confrontation. An
examination of the cave and surface sinkholes sheds doubt on the story,
while some of the other folklore associated with Cheek is also dubious.
A deeper look at Cheek suggests a more complex man than the popular
caricature of evil. Material culture extant in the cave sheds light on
other aspects of the cave’s history, including occasional social
outings in the 19th and 20th centuries and its possible use to hide and
shelter livestock during the Civil War. Finally, there is evidence of
prehistoric Native American exploration in the form of charcoal and
stoke marks from river cane torches which date to Cal BC 1010 (Cal BP
2960) and are contemporaneous with other Early Woodland Period deep
cave explorations in the
Mid-South.
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