The Wilderness Campfire Stories of Marvel Cave
The Devil's Den
It was a warm spring day in the dense forest along Indian Ridge in the Ozark Mountains. South of the ridge along the meandering White River Valley was a small hunting party of Osage Indians who had traveled from their camp along Bull Creek in pursuit of food and furs.
Just as the hunting party came to a fork in the stream, two bears were sighted. The bears ran for their lives. One darted up a nearby tree, where a well-placed arrow brought the bear crashing to the ground.
The hunters followed the second bear along the banks of Jake Creek, and up the rough slope of Indian Ridge toward Roark Mountain, the highest point along the ridge. When they reached the summit, they found their dogs part way down a deep crater barking at the trapped bear. Two of the Indians climbed down the steep sides of the crater and attempted to send the dogs under a ledge to flush out the bear, but the dogs refused to go under. The youngest Osage Indian, in order to prove his bravery to the others, drew his knife and moved under the ledge. Then the courageous hunter leaned back and with tremendous force lunged forward and stabbed the bear. The bear leaped forward in anger. The Indian, dog and bear fell through the bottom of the crater into the deep, dark cave below, disappearing forever.
The Osage carved V-notches in the trees around the rim of the large opening to warn others of the danger there, named the entrance Devil's Den, and never returned.
From Jewel of the Ozarks - Marvel Cave by Ronald L. Martin
Bald Knobbers
During the Civil War many men left their Ozark homes. Neighbors were far apart and homes and families were unprotected. Bushwhackers roamed the hills along the Arkansas border, killing, stealing and burning homes and buildings. To end the siege of lawlessness, people of Stone County organized a strong home guard unit. For protection the masked guards met at night usually on one of the treeless hilltops, known as bald knobs. The Bald Knobbers, as they were later called, did not hesitate in many instances to shoot or hang a captured terrorist.
After the war, a guerrilla leader returned to his home near the White River. The homesteaders were uneasy about having the terrorist living near them. One moonlit evening the Bald Knobbers, carrying pine torches, rode to the guerrilla's cabin. They tied his hands, put him on a horse and rode toward Devils' Den. The pine torches carried by the masked riders along the ridge road made an eerie sight in the moonlight. At the cave, the prisoner was seated on a rock for a few seconds and then pushed into the 200 feet of darkness below.
In the latter months of 1885, a lady traveling down the Old Wilderness Trail stopped at the Marble Cave Mining and Manufacturing Company, operating at the cave. She explained that her husband had been pushed into the cave 20 years previously by the Bald Knobbers. After hearing that the cave was open, she wanted to find her husband's remains and provide a respectable burial. Several miners went to investigate, but no remains could be found. The lady left and was never seen again on Roark Mountain.
From Jewel of the Ozarks - Marvel Cave by Ronald L. Martin
William H. Lynch
A Canadian miner and dairyman heard of the cave in the Ozark Mountains and became interested in visiting the natural wonder. The Canadian felt if all the stories about the cave were true, he could make a living by giving cave tours. On October 30, 1889, the Marble Cave Mining and Manufacturing Company sold the square mile of land around the cave entrance to Canadian William Henry Lynch for $10,000 "sight-unseen". Word traveled through the hills that a foreigner had purchased the property and, mysteriously, before the Lynch family had time to move, the entire town of Marmaros located at the cave's entrance was burned to the ground. Many believed the Bald Knobbers were guilty, but it has never been proved.
As Mr. Lynch grew older he became more superstitious. He believed he would never die in the cave but would be shot in the back. To protect himself at night he carried a half-gallon bucket with the front removed. A candle placed in the bucket provided light toward the front of Lynch and left the area behind dark, so he could not be seen. His fear never came true because on September 13, 1927, at 80 years of age he died of natural causes, and was buried in the Notch Evergreen Cemetery.
From Jewel of the Ozarks - Marvel Cave by Ronald L. Martin
The Dead Animal Room
As early as 1885 when Truman Powell was an officer of the mining company, he claimed there was a room in the cave into which many prehistoric animals had crawled to die. A long narrow passage from the Cathedral Room led to that chamber where he saw the mummified remains of thousands of animals that seemed to be carnivorous species. When well-known geologist E. D. Hovey visited the cave, Powell showed him the jawbones and skull of a catlike animal with the fur still attached. Powell claimed that there were remains of a bobcat, wolves, foxes, panthers, weasels, and others. No one was allowed to enter the Dead Animal Room except scientists from the Smithsonian Institution who were to identify each species. The room, Powell claimed, was very dry and the animals, perfectly preserved, looked like they were sleeping. Around 1900 the Sharp brothers, Harvey, Palmer, and Will, claimed that they carried out what looked like a monkey. Why did the animals choose to die in a natural dry tomb? Did instinct drive them to this massive burial grotto? It was evident the animals did not come down the sinkhole. Did the animals know of a ground level entrance to the cave? Powell believed there was an entrance that opened along one of the hillsides. If there is one, it has never been found.
William Lynch did not believe there was a Dead Animal Room. In his 30 years of exploring the cave he never found it. He maintained the only animals that died in the cave fell through the sinkhole. Surprisingly, there is no record in the Smithsonian Institution files today of any study of the animals of Marble Cave.
From Jewel of the Ozarks - Marvel Cave by Ronald L. Martin
Spanish Gold Diggings
Many old-timers believed that treasure was buried in or near the cave. When Truman Powell visited the cave in 1882, he found Spanish type ladders. They were long poles with notches carved in them for feet and handholds. Several treasure seekers have visited the area. One of the most spectacular episodes started in 1933 when John Patterson and Bob Hyde came to the Lynch sisters and showed them maps they had acquired of the cave area. They believed Spanish treasure had been buried, not in the cave, but in a valley southwest of the cave entrance. An agreement was made that Patterson and Hyde would finance the search. The Lynch sisters were to receive a percentage of the treasure.
Patterson and Hyde hired Jake Massey and two other men to help dig. The diggers were paid $1.50 a day. For two and one-half years the men searched the valley. They constructed several tunnels that extended hundreds of feet into the hillsides. Small railroad tracks were installed so that ore cars could be used in removing their dynamited rock. Cave guides, Lester Vining and Rex Johnson, knew the treasure seekers and reported that during the last year of digging a night watchman was hired to guard one tunnel. Near the end of their venture they evidently felt that they were near the treasure because tension between Hyde, Patterson, and diggers was high. They did not trust each other and a fight erupted. While the sheriff was being summoned, sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the valley. Surprisingly, no one was injured. A couple of weeks later Patterson slipped off at night without telling anyone. Some believed that Patterson worked until he ran out of money and ran off. Hyde and the diggers believed that Patterson ran off with the treasure. Fifteen years later Patterson died a poor man in Springfield, Missouri.
From Jewel of the Ozarks - Marvel Cave by Ronald L. Martin
Cathedral Room Events
On October 18, 1894, the Lynch family opened Marble Cave (as it was then called) to visitors. The Cathedral Room, the largest cave entrance room in the United States, contained a small platform with a piano where the Lynch sisters entertained visitors with operatic arias.
Nearly 70 years later, on July 7, 1963, the world's underground altitude record was set in the Cathedral Room by Don Piccard, who achieved the record only 4 months after he made the first successful crossing of the English Channel in a hot-air balloon. This notable achievement was commemorated in 1987 and 1988 with the flight of two hot air balloons piloted by attorney Carson Elliff and professional balloon pilot Jim Herschend. In 1988, spectators witnessed a miraculous feat when businesswoman Becky Petrehn stood atop one balloon enabling her to be the first person to touch the ceiling of the Cathedral Room.
During the 1950's square dances were held regularly in the large room. The dances eventually turned into the Annual Square Dance Festival, which brought people from all over the United States to participate. In 1956, one of the most popular television shows of the day, Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee, featured performances from Marvel Cave's Cathedral Room.
From Jewel of the Ozarks - Marvel Cave by Ronald L. Martin