The cave had, of course, been in existence for thousands of years. It was worn into the bluffs by Ohio River flooding, probably extensively during the melting following the Wisconsin Ice Age, which ended about 10,000 years ago. The effects of the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquake (7 and 7.5 on today's Richter scale) may have further contributed to the formation of the cave.
Through a relationship with Duff, Samuel Mason moved his base of operations to Cave-In-Rock in 1797. Mason had been a Revolutionary War militia captain and later served as an associate judge in Pennsylvania before moving his family to Kentucky. After arriving in Kentucky, Samuel Mason became the leader of a gang of river pirates and highwaymen outlaws who wreaked havoc around Cave-In-Rock, Stack Island (a point on the Mississippi River about 200 miles north of New Orleans) and along the Natchez Trace. Mason's gang's practice was to rob travelers going down the rivers. They also pirated boats carrying merchandise and supplies down the rivers. It was common practice for men to move supplies down the rivers, abandon the flatboats at the end of their journey, then return home along the Natchez Trace. If the Mason gang missed robbing them on one of the great rivers, they'd have yet another opportunity to rob them on land along the Natchez Trace.
Samuel Mason used Cave-In-Rock as a central point of his base of criminal operations, which stretched all the way to New Orleans. His tavern in the cave created an easy lure for travelers to stop as they passed, but the combination of the gambling den, brothel and refuge for criminals made it the perfect trap.
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| Micajah "Big" Harpe, born Joshua Harper (c.1748-1799), and Wiley "Little" Harpe, born William Harpe (c.1750-1804) |
Known as the Harpe brothers, the two started out life as first cousins.
The Harpe brothers spread killing and despair wherever they went. While they operated primarily in Kentucky and Tennessee, there are some accounts of their horrible activities on the Illinois side of the Ohio River.
"Big" Harpe was the first of these three bandits to lose his head to captors, but eventually, Samuel Mason and "Little" Harpe were captured, killed and beheaded. Their heads and skulls were left strategically in plain view to deter future outlaws. Their departure only made way for the next generation of thieves and counterfeiters!
In the early 1800s, the Sturdivant Gang and the Ford's Ferry Gang appeared in the region. The Sturdivant Gang originated in Colonial Connecticut. By 1810, third-generation counterfeiter Roswell S. Sturdivant led his gang, primarily based in St. Clair County, Illinois, but also occupied a fortress nearby Pope County. The Ford's Ferry Gang had a more local foundation. James Ford (1770-1833) was a business and community leader in Kentucky and Southern Illinois on both sides of the Ohio River. The other side of his dual personality was that of a gang leader and his bandit's high-jacked flatboats for decades!
Isaiah Potts and his wife Polly, who owned a tavern, Pott's Inn, near Ford's Ferry, are two of the most colorful characters in our story. Ferry goers would depart the boat and take the short trek to the tavern as they ventured inland. It was a common occurrence for the travelers to be attacked, robbed and killed along the route to the tavern.
Although one descendant of Isaiah and Polly believes their behavior has been highly exaggerated over the years, one story seems to live on. Did they murder their son when he returned after being gone for years? While there is no credible evidence, legend holds that young Billy Potts left home after being caught by locals in the act of murder. Young Potts changed his ways and prospered. He returned home after many years, but his parents didn't recognize their well-dressed son, lured him to the infamous spring for a drink, and robbed and murdered him. As they had often done, they buried him in a shallow nearby grave. The next day, friends of Billy Potts came looking for him and described having seen him the day he got off the ferry. Isaiah and Polly realized what they had done. They dug up his grave and found a young man bearing a birthmark just like their son had. If it is true, it is a sad ending.
Happily, outlaw folklore isn't the only history associated with Cave-In-Rock! Although not too highly revered today as a highly educated researcher or author, in 1833, Josiah Priest wrote about cave paintings he observed at Cave-In-Rock. Priest described the paintings as plants, animals, humans, the sun, the moon, and stars. He described the humans as wearing clothing similar to the early Greeks or Romans. He wrote, "On the Ohio, twenty miles below the mouth of the Wabash, is a cavern, in which are found many hieroglyphics, and representations of such delineations as would induce the belief that their authors were, indeed, comparatively refined and civilized."
In 1848, another writer visited the cave. William Pidgeon was a well-known antiquarian and archaeologist. He became famous for his 1858 work, Traditions of Dee-Coo-Dah and Antiquarian Research, although at a later time, his work was critically deemed to be partly almost science fiction. He described the curious pictographs at Cave-In-Rock as humans that looked like ancient Egyptians. Pidgeon wrote about his belief, because of artifacts he had found, that an entire network of a mound-builder race was occupying sites in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. At the time, many in the science community made fun of him. In the past 150 years, history and prehistory have unfolded, and we now know that the Ohio River Scenic Byway region was such a place!
The pictographs described by Pidgeon and Priest have long been destroyed, but more recent graffiti tells the stories of other visitors to the cave. In 1913, the Ohio River flooded, and B.C. and Cole paddled his boat into the cave, stood up and carved his name into the cave ceiling.
In 1929, Illinois bought 64.5 acres of land, including the cave. Additional parcels were purchased later, and all combined form the current 200-acre Cave-In-Rock State Park. The beautiful park stretches from the Ohio River's shoreline to the top of a 60-foot-tall bluff. It is maintained by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and the lodge and cabins are managed by Marty Kaylor, a Cave-In-Rock lifetime resident. Kaylor recently reported that IDNR reported that in 2012, 514,000 visited Cave-In-Rock State Park, and Kaylor said the number significantly increased over the 2010 number of 227,000 people.
In the early 1800s, the Sturdivant Gang and the Ford's Ferry Gang appeared in the region. The Sturdivant Gang originated in Colonial Connecticut. By 1810, third-generation counterfeiter Roswell S. Sturdivant led his gang, primarily based in St. Clair County, Illinois, but also occupied a fortress nearby Pope County. The Ford's Ferry Gang had a more local foundation. James Ford (1770-1833) was a business and community leader in Kentucky and Southern Illinois on both sides of the Ohio River. The other side of his dual personality was that of a gang leader and his bandit's high-jacked flatboats for decades!
Isaiah Potts and his wife Polly, who owned a tavern, Pott's Inn, near Ford's Ferry, are two of the most colorful characters in our story. Ferry goers would depart the boat and take the short trek to the tavern as they ventured inland. It was a common occurrence for the travelers to be attacked, robbed and killed along the route to the tavern.
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| This photograph of Pott's Inn was taken in the 1920s by Cave-In-Rock. |
Happily, outlaw folklore isn't the only history associated with Cave-In-Rock! Although not too highly revered today as a highly educated researcher or author, in 1833, Josiah Priest wrote about cave paintings he observed at Cave-In-Rock. Priest described the paintings as plants, animals, humans, the sun, the moon, and stars. He described the humans as wearing clothing similar to the early Greeks or Romans. He wrote, "On the Ohio, twenty miles below the mouth of the Wabash, is a cavern, in which are found many hieroglyphics, and representations of such delineations as would induce the belief that their authors were, indeed, comparatively refined and civilized."
In 1848, another writer visited the cave. William Pidgeon was a well-known antiquarian and archaeologist. He became famous for his 1858 work, Traditions of Dee-Coo-Dah and Antiquarian Research, although at a later time, his work was critically deemed to be partly almost science fiction. He described the curious pictographs at Cave-In-Rock as humans that looked like ancient Egyptians. Pidgeon wrote about his belief, because of artifacts he had found, that an entire network of a mound-builder race was occupying sites in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. At the time, many in the science community made fun of him. In the past 150 years, history and prehistory have unfolded, and we now know that the Ohio River Scenic Byway region was such a place!
The pictographs described by Pidgeon and Priest have long been destroyed, but more recent graffiti tells the stories of other visitors to the cave. In 1913, the Ohio River flooded, and B.C. and Cole paddled his boat into the cave, stood up and carved his name into the cave ceiling.
In 1929, Illinois bought 64.5 acres of land, including the cave. Additional parcels were purchased later, and all combined form the current 200-acre Cave-In-Rock State Park. The beautiful park stretches from the Ohio River's shoreline to the top of a 60-foot-tall bluff. It is maintained by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and the lodge and cabins are managed by Marty Kaylor, a Cave-In-Rock lifetime resident. Kaylor recently reported that IDNR reported that in 2012, 514,000 visited Cave-In-Rock State Park, and Kaylor said the number significantly increased over the 2010 number of 227,000 people.
ADDITIONAL READING:
Mass Murderers in the Illinois Frontier: The Harpes Brothers.
Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
Very interesting article, Neil! Even though I grew up in Southern Illinois and, certainly, knew about it, I don't ever remember being at Cave In Rock!
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