LAWRENCE COUNTY
Rock Ledge Quarry.—Early in 1903 periodicals mentioned an interesting discovery made at this place. According to the report, workmen in excavating a cut for a railway found an old cave entirely filled with stalagmite matter. In this, 10 feet below the former top of the cave—the cut did not extend to the bottom of the stalagmite—were discovered some bones which were pronounced by "several physicians" to be those of a human being. Among them was a "jaw tooth" (molar) and part of a skull. Correspondence failing to elicit any satisfactory information, a visit was made to the site. The cave could not be traced in either direction from the railway cut; but it had plainly served as an outlet for several large sink holes on the hill above it. Nothing could be learned here regarding the matter except that the objects had been found and were then in the museum of the State University at Bloomington. This place was next visited and the specimens inspected. There were many fragments still imbedded in the matrix, which was travertine rather than stalagmite. No exact determination of them had been made, but only casual inspection was needed to see that none of them could be human. The "jaw tooth" was from a peccary, the "human skull" was the carapace of a tortoise.
Shiloah Cave.—It was reported that, although the entrance to this cavern, 7 miles northwest of Bedford, was in a sink hole, the floor was level and accessible. The opening is almost at the bottom of the sink, whose slope is quite steep. After every rain the water runs in; and while the floor is level, as stated, it has a constant stream of water flowing over it and is in absolute darkness.
Donnehue's Cave.—Although water flows continuously from the entrance, the amount of discharge was said to be small and the cave floor level and covered with earth, while the cave itself was large and well lighted. The approach, however, is quite difficult; the earth is nowhere more than 2 or 3 feet thick, and after a heavy rain the stream extends from wall to wall.
Between Bedford and Donnehue's cave is one, unnamed, at the head of a ravine which was once an extension of the cavern. The opening is of fair size but the floor is of rock and the outflow of water is steady.
Just outside the corporate limits of Bedford, to the south, is an opening in the cliff at the head of a deep ravine, more in the nature of a rock house than of a cave. It would make an excellent shelter for a few persons, being accessible, protected from winds, and close to water. While it may have been so used formerly, the deposit of earth and stone on the floor is very scanty and anything beneath could well be quite modern.
Two caves were reported 2 miles south of Bedford. One is a small opening from which a stream issues, flows across a meadow, and enters the other cave, which is much larger. They are parts of one passage, the roof between these openings having broken down, and the stream is the same which finds its outlet at Donnehue's cave.
Several other caves in the vicinity of Bedford were visited. They are all small and of no importance from an archeological standpoint.
Donnelson's Cave.—"The mouth of the cave is found at the head of a deep gorge worn through the limestone by a good-sized stream which flows from the cave and down the gorge to the broader valley beyond. Many centuries ago the cave extended the full length of the gorge, and the waters of the stream flowed directly from its mouth into the valley. The roof of the underground channel finally became so thin that it collapsed, the gorge was then started, and as the centuries went by grew in length, the cave becoming ever shorter by the continued falling of the roof.
"Three passages open directly into the mouth of the cave. The right hand passage has the level of its floor about 5 feet above that of the entrance, while the opening on the left is 12 feet above the level of the stream and very difficult to enter without a ladder. The middle passage extends straight back from the common vestibule or main entry. The latter is 25 feet long, 21 feet high, and 18 feet wide, but at its farther end is reduced to the narrow middle passage between great masses of limestone. The water in this passage is waist deep and explorations must be made by wading or in a light canoe. One hundred feet within is a magnificent cascade, where the stream rushes and leaps down a narrow passage with such violence that the noise is plainly heard at the entrance.