Newsom Springs.—Numerous caves, most of them small, are reported in the county. The best known is at Newsom Springs, 8 miles south of Barton, on the Southern Railway. It is locally known as the "three-story cave." The lower "story" is a cave from which water always flows. The second "story" is directly above the first. The two have no connection, unless far back in the hill. The floor of the upper cave is mostly rock. It is now fitted up by some people in the neighborhood as a camping place, where they spend a part of each summer. The third "story" is an excavation for a cellar under a house recently erected.
Murrell's Cave.—Tradition has it that this cave was one of the hiding places of a famous desperado and horse thief whose gang operated over all this country in early days. The only entry is by means of a ladder in a narrow crevice 20 feet deep. The place may have been a refuge, but never a residence. It is one-fourth of a mile from Bear Creek, not far above the mouth.
Two other holes or crevices within a few hundred yards, difficult to crawl through, reach small caves. Possibly all these are connected.
Bat Cave.—One-fourth of a mile from Murrell's Cave is a small cavern, the roof not more than 4 feet above the floor. It has been inhabited from time immemorial by myriads of bats. Several tons of guano have been taken out for fertilizing purposes, but no evidence has been discovered that it was ever a habitation for humans.
Pride's Cave.—In the river bluff a mile from Pride Station is a cave in which a fisherman has made his home for several years. There is a rather thin deposit of earth on the floor which may have recently accumulated.
Cheatham's Ferry.—Near the landing some boys, while hunting a few years ago, discovered a stone wall across the mouth of a small cave. Tearing it away, they found within some human bones, flints, pipes, including one "with a lot of stem holes," and fragments of pottery. All these were on top of the earth or only a few inches below it. Various excavators or relic hunters have failed to find anything more. The cavity is quite small and difficult to reach, and is undoubtedly a burial place for modern Indians.
On both sides of the river here are immense shell heaps. The shell is mingled with earth near the top, but below 2 or 3 feet the mass is of clean shell to a depth, as exposed by the river, of at least 10 feet. The bottom of the deposit is not visible, being concealed by mud piled against it in high water. The old ferryman says it is 20 feet deep. Although the shell piles are built up higher than the bottom lands to the rear or on either side, they are submerged several feet in great freshets. It is impossible to explain this fact otherwise than by the assumption that the bed of the river has been elevated in recent times, although there are no other indications apparent that such is the case.
Sheffields.—In the river bluff 2 miles above the Sheffield end of the railway bridge is a crevice or joint which has been widened to 10 feet at the outlet by water percolating from the top of the bluff. When discovered, a rock wall was piled across it near the entrance. Behind this human bones were found with "pieces of pottery and other things." They were close to the surface. Subsequent explorations have revealed nothing below them. It is plainly a burial cave for Indians. The river now reaches at flood tide to within 10 feet of the floor. The earth covering the bones may have washed over them, as there is some evidence farther back in the crevice that surface material is still carried in from the rear, in very small amounts, during rainy seasons.
Rock Shelters.—Several very large rock houses exist on the southern slope of the hill or "mountain" lying a mile to 2 miles south of Pride, 7 miles west of Tuscumbia. Water drips from the roofs, keeping the floors wet all the year and collecting in pools to which stock resorts when the little creeks or brooks in the ravines become dry.
It is useless to search in this part of Alabama for caves presenting indications that they may have been habitable, or the reverse, in ages past. The native rock is a cherty or flinty limestone, crumbling easily, and readily susceptible to changes from atmospheric influences, and especially so to the action of water. New subterranean channels are continually developing, with consequent changes in the interior of any cavern near them.