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.

"This caused them to think something was going wrong and one called
out to know what was the matter: I heard him say 'He is weakening.'
I assured them everything was right only I wanted to take a view;
so they stopped. Off at a distance of perhaps twenty-five feet was
an opening about ten feet or more wide and twelve feet high. The
light from the opening struck it fairly, owing to the position of
the sun at the time. Through this opening I saw into another room,
large and magnificent. It brought to mind the White City. It was
snowy white, and thickly studded with stalactites and stalagmites
of immense size and in great numbers; some looking like spires of
numerous churches, and many connected as with a lattice-work about
the bottom. For a short time I gazed on that lovely scene, and
examined the chances to reach it, but a great gulf intervened that
we had no means of spanning, and I called to the men to lower me
down. Approaching the bottom one of the walls trended in towards me
and I stepped upon solid ground close to the wall, which half way
up seemed fifty feet away. The opening above now looked like a
small pale moon, and the next man who came dangling down to join us
looked no bigger than a toy soldier. Gradually our eyes became
accustomed to the twilight, and by the time our party was increased
to six men, I could see quite distinctly.

"The room runs directly into the mountain and is about ninety feet
high, and where we landed it proved to be twenty feet wide. It
extended in both directions, but much the farthest towards the
right hand. The outer room is encrusted in fine white water
formations. It forms a Gothic ceiling from which hang pendant at
all places brilliant and sparkling stalactites; some being of
immense size and length, from ten to twenty-five feet. Others are
not so large but are brilliant. We created a flood of artificial
light with dozens of candles and lamps; and then and not until
then, could we see the slope and contour of the roof. A few bats
were flitting about, disturbed for the first time. To the left, a
vast white pillar extended from floor to roof. It was pure white
and about five feet in diameter all the way up. It was fluted,
fretted, draped and spangled. I never in my life saw anything more
chaste and lovely. I thought of the countless ages it must have
taken to form that monument: of the streams of clear water that had
fallen and left their calcite deposits, while it grew year after
year, age after age, century after century, in this profound
darkness, disturbed by no noises save the rhythmic sound of the
falling drops and the dull flitting of the bats, who alone were the
living witnesses of its construction. To the rear of this great
pillar the room is divided into three galleries, one above another.
With great difficulty and much danger we climbed into each of
these. The floors were all like the pillar of pure white onyx, and
extended back a distance of thirty or more feet. The floor of one
formed the roof of another. They were brilliant with hanging
pendants and the side walls were all veneered with the same white
and crystalline formation. To entirely describe them is impossible.
A day in each would still leave the observer short of words in
which to tell of the wonders.

"Turning towards the right hand from the entrance we advance two
hundred feet up an incline of dry clay, the room widening gradually
until its width is forty feet, when we reach the top of an
elevation thirty feet above the starting point, where a sudden
steep descent brings us to a halt. A stone cast down strikes water
and the sound of a splash comes back to us. With caution we seek
our way down the hill and stand on the edge of a small lake or
pond. Suddenly my son, who is in the lead, rushes back saying:
'Look out! I put my hand on a snake.' Some of us, being armed with
hickory canes that had been thrown down, concentrated our lights
and advanced. Sure enough, there is a snake a yard long coiled up
on a section of rotten wood. It proves to be a copperhead, the most
quarrelsome and vicious snake in this country; but his nature is
changed so that he makes no effort to fight and is killed with a
blow, and is sent to be hoisted up that we may examine him in
daylight. No others were found, and probably he had fallen in at
the opening, and spent a long, weary time in expiation of his
upper-earth crimes.

"Examining the lake we find it to be about forty feet wide and the
same long, and it fills the room from wall to wall. We cannot pass
it so must either stop or wade through. We decide to wade, and on
measuring the water find it only two or three feet deep, with a
soft clay bottom, and in many places islands of stalagmite rise
above the surface.

"On the sides of the lake there are formations in the shape of
sofas and lounges, and they appear to be cushioned, but the
cushions are found to be hard, solid rock. As the lights advance
across the lake new wonders are revealed. Curtains and draperies
hanging from the top almost touch the water and entirely cut off
the view beyond. Passing under a curtain at one of the highest
places, we emerge from the lake, and once more on dry land, advance
up a slope. Here the water formations have taken human shapes of
all sizes and several colors now appear and help to present a chaos
of beauty.

"Two hundred feet more and the chamber ends in a vast waterfall,
but the water has turned to stone. Above the waterfall is an
opening, but it is twenty-five feet up a smooth wall and we have no
ladder. The journey was at an end. Tired, wet and muddy, we started
on our return trip; recrossed the dark lake, and retraced our steps
to the place under the opening without realizing that we had spent
six hours under ground. While the other members of the party, and
the specimens, were being raised to the surface, the writer sought
to learn the flora and fauna of this new region. The flora is
blank. Even the white mold so common in many caves is absent; and
no fungus grows on the poles, bark and rotten wood that have at
some past time been cast in.

"In animal life the range is greater. I have mentioned the
ever-present bats, and dozens of them were seen. There were also
small, white eyeless salamanders, small, yellow, speckled
salamanders, with signs of eyes but no sight; also a jet black
salamander, which like the rest, was blind. The bats were of two
species--the common brown bat and the larger light grey or yellow
species. But this was not the time of the year to see many bats in
caves. In the summer season most of them go out and remain until
cool weather, and then return to the caves with their young; so I
was rather surprised to see as many as we did.

"Down comes the rope for the last time, and taking my place, I soon
feel myself spinning around and slowly rising. As I again pass the
magic city I saw going down, a stronger wish than ever takes
possession of me to go there, and I look for any chance to solve
the problem of how such a journey can be made. 'Thou art so near
and yet so far.'

"Suddenly I find myself emerging from the ground into a very hot
world, with the evening sun blazing so that the air feels like the
scorching heat of an oven; and my late companions are scattered
about under the trees, no doubt wishing themselves back in the cool
regions below the hot cliffs.

"My final conclusions in regard to Fairy Cave were that it was
about six hundred feet long by from fifteen to forty feet wide and
from eighty to ninety feet high: that in the upper story there are
rooms that I could not reach, that will amply pay the scientist
and explorer to investigate in the future: that probably we reached
all the accessible parts in the level we traveled: that the
temperature was fifty-six or very near that degree: that small as
it is, it contains the finest formations and grandest scenery I
have ever seen in a cave: and I have examined over one hundred of
various sizes. I believe that for interior beauty its equal is not
to be found in America, and I sincerely believe that the verdict of
future exploration will establish the truth of the assertion, but
as equally good judges differ on such matters, time will be
required for a true and just decision. There are yet many promising
caves to be explored in this region, and if my strength holds out a
few years I hope to see them all.

"T. S. Powell."

POWELL CAVE.

As a measure of consolation for the disappointment of not seeing the beauty of Fairy Cave, Mr. Irwin suggested that only a quarter of a mile further on was another, recently discovered and worthy of a visit, although small.

In that region of steep hills and sharp-edged rocks, a great amount of travel can be added to the experience of a tender-foot in a short distance. The quarter of a mile seemed to stretch out in some mysterious way as we worked on it, but the variety and abundance of attractions are more than ample compensation.

The view was fine, including as it did the deep ravine and grassy, wooded slopes rising three hundred feet above, with here and there a handsome ledge of marble exposed like the nearly buried ruin of a forgotten temple of some past age. Scattered about in great profusion among the broken rock on the surface of these hill-sides we observed a water deposit of iron ore. It is a brown hematite and in some cases shows the structure of the bits of wood it has replaced. Since this region has from the earliest time produced a generous growth of vegetation, the decay of which has yielded a never-failing supply of acids to assist in carving the caves and then in their decoration, the presence of the ore is not difficult to account for. The whole Ozark uplift being rich in iron, the acidulated drainage waters coming into contact dissolved and took it in solution, to re-deposit where and when conditions should be favorable. These conditions were found in the basin among the hills and along its outlet.

In the Popular Science Monthly of January 1897, a short article by J.T. Donald, entitled "A Curious Canadian Iron Mine," describes the same thing going on at the present time in Lac a la Tortue, a small body of water in the center of a tract of swamp land, which produces the vegetation necessary to supply the acid required for a base of operation.

Of the manner of deposition he says: "The solution of iron in vegetable acid (in which the iron is in what the chemist calls the form of a protosalt) is oxidized by the action of the air on the surface of the lake into a persalt, which is insoluble, and appears on the surface in patches that display the peculiar iridescence characteristic of petroleum floating on water. Indeed, not infrequently these films of peroxide of iron are incorrectly attributed to petroleum. These films become heavy by addition of new particles; they sink through the water, and in this manner, in time, a large amount of iron ore is deposited on the lake bottom. It must not be supposed that the ore is deposited as a fine mud or sediment. On the contrary, in this lake ore, as it is called, we have an excellent illustration of what is called concretionary action--that is, the tendency of matter when in a fine state of division to aggregate its particles into masses about some central nucleus, which may be a fragment of sunken wood, a grain of sand, or indeed a pre-formed small mass of itself."

It is claimed for this water ore, which is gathered like oysters, that mixed with bog ore and magnetic iron, and smelted with charcoal, the result as obtained is strong, durable and high priced.

The curiously elastic quarter of a mile finally yielded to persistent toil, and the cave was reached. The entrance is sufficiently broad to give a good first impression, and is under a heavy ledge of limestone which breaks the slope of the hill and is artistically decorated with a choice collection of foliage, among which is a coral honeysuckle; the fragrant variety grows everywhere. Under the ledge is a narrow vestibule, out of the north end of which is a passage about twenty-four inches in width, between perpendicular walls, and as steeply inclined as the average dwelling-house stairway but without any assisting depressions to serve as steps. Mr. Irwin cut a grape vine, and making one end secure at the entrance, provided a hand rail, by the aid of which I was able to easily descend the stepless way and afterwards remount.

The first chamber entered is the principal portion of the cave, and by actual measurement is forty-nine feet in length by forty-eight in greatest width and the height estimated at fifty feet. On account of irregularities it appears smaller but higher. On opposite sides of the chamber, at elevation about midway between the floor and ceiling are two open galleries. The floor is extremely irregular with its accumulation of fallen masses of rock, and the action of water has given to portions of the walls the appearance of pillars supporting the arches of the roof. The whole aspect is that of a small Gothic chapel. Off to the northwest is another room measuring thirty feet in each direction, and out of this are several openings, too small to squeeze through, which indicate the possible existence of other chambers beyond, but they may be only drain pipes.

The cave contains no drip formations, notwithstanding which it is one of the most charming, and when invited to name it I called it Powell Cave, in honor of the most ardent admirer of caves in that county, and to whom I am much indebted for valued assistance.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] Editor of the county news-paper.