Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black Hills

by Luella Agnes Owen

CHAPTER IV.

FAIRY CAVE AND POWELL CAVE.

Fairy Cave enjoys the reputation of being the most beautiful yet discovered in that cavernous region, and consequently a visit to it was contemplated with considerable eagerness, although the mode of entrance had been described with sufficient accuracy to prevent any misconception of the difficulties to be overcome or the personal risk involved. To go from our temporary abiding place it was necessary to pass Marble Cave, and when we had gone that far Mr. Powell left us to follow the road, while he, on his mule, took a short cut across the hills and valleys, to try to find men not too much occupied with their own affairs on a fine Monday morning, in corn plowing time, to join our expedition. As neither our small companion, Merle, nor ourselves, had any knowledge of the locality of our destination, we were carefully instructed to follow the main road to the Wilderness Ridge, and keeping to that, pass the Indian Creek road and all others that are plain, but turn down the second dim road and follow it until stopped by a new fence where we would be met and conducted. So long as points to be passed held out, these directions gave us no trouble whatever, even the first dim road offering no obstacle to the pleasure of our progress; but the second dim road proved so elusive we traveled many miles in search of it, finally bringing up against a place Merle was familiar with and knew to be a long way off the track of our intentions. As there was nothing to be done but return we naturally accepted the situation and did that; presently finding Mr. Powell and the Messrs. Irwin, on whose land the cave is, patiently waiting for us in what was really not a road at all, but rather, in this region of fossils, the badly preserved impression of one long since extinct.

The new fence was opened at two places that we might drive through and be saved the exertion of walking a considerable distance, then the horses were left in the shade while we scrambled down the steep hill-side covered with sharp-edged, broken rock, about mid-way down which is the mouth of the cave, yawning like a narrow, open well. Above this a stout windlass has been arranged on two forked logs.

A few feet below the surface the cave spreads out jug-shaped, so that in descending nothing is touched until the floor is reached, one hundred feet beneath the surface; consequently the only danger to be apprehended is a fall.

Each of the three men present kindly offered to go down and make the exploration with me, but that would have left only two at the windlass, and for a man's weight, safety requires four. Should an accident occur, assistance would be necessary, and some time lost in finding it; so, to the undisguised satisfaction of one and equally evident relief of the others, it was reluctantly decided that the trip must be given up, and therefore we are indebted to the kindness of Captain Powell[3] for the following description of Fairy Cave:

"The Cave referred to is situated in Section 24, Township 23, Range 23, in Stone County, Missouri, and is on the homestead of one of three brothers named Irwin.

"It was accidentally discovered in the year 1895 and up to the time of this writing (June 1896) only six persons have ever entered it. It is in a point or spur of the Ozark Mountains which runs to the east from the great Wilderness Ridge, and is three miles distant from the Marble Cave. Having been one of the first to enter the Cave, being called by the owner as a sort of cave expert, I will attempt to describe both the adventure and the cave just as they were. The measurements are simply estimated, though by long practice I have become expert in that line also, but the longest measurement here was correctly taken by the rope used.

"Having been invited by the Irwin brothers to come and examine and explore a new cave they had found but had only entered and not explored, accompanied by my eldest son, W. T. Powell, I reached the place one warm Saturday morning. We found about twelve or fourteen men waiting for our coming; some discussing the matter of whether we would enter when we did come, and others who had volunteered to work the windlass, which had been erected over the opening, by means of which, with a one hundred foot rope, entrance was to be made. The opening was like a small well, and situated under the edge of an overhanging cliff of marble, and on the southeast slope of the mountain, about one hundred and fifty feet above the bottom of a narrow valley, and about the same distance below the top of the mountain, which here is three hundred feet high. In order to rig a windlass the edge of the cliff had to be broken away. The well-like opening descended for about ten feet through strata of flat-laying rocks that formed a roof; then all appeared to be vacancy and a stone cast in gave back a distant sound.

"Having first tested the air and proved it good by dropping in blazing excelsior saturated with turpentine, a stout oak stick was attached to the end of the rope, my son sprang astride and was lowered to the bottom, just one hundred feet. He reported back 'All right.' On the return of the rope I took my position on the stick and was soon dangling in mid air. The sensation was strange and exhilarating. Looking up I could only see the small opening I came through, and a straggling stream of light poured down that, but on all sides profound darkness reigned supreme. A spark-like light my son lit, reminded me of the lost Pleiad. About twenty-five or thirty feet from the top I caught sight of a scene that made me call on the men at the windlass to stop.