Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-03-29
THE INTELLIGENCER.
lT'F ~ iuishfsuorfl
The big Indians Cave.

understani that an article appeirel somc
time ago in your paper, IN relation % thi. cave
ffom shat heard Of IL contents. i0r have
not scvn H. il cOuniu1i two erfufS Fr,ly,
that the cave vas quarricll down and destroyed,
srnaHdly. that it Was Lewis WelLrl Who killed
the Big Indian in h.
The cave is large hole in the hes of a rar.
residing -aud stone fngk, large enough O. hold
Ihrce of four men. Formerly tbs sutn1er %
thi, hole vas small, and bat little more than
capable oi permitting the b0ty Ola maa tU pa,
through. whie n the inside there vas q cousi.
cradle descenI from the top Of the cave inWards,
~ that a man with great ca.e could De down
wholly concealed on the inside. This top Of the
cave, by eorrn,ion Of the rick ani the thought.
le,sness Of tie thousands Of boy, who have viz.
tied II, !, now wholly gone, but the Indian
Cave b. still there in the rock lnaltefcl. execp,
in the particulars mentioned
II is situated Just west of the Sections house.
and in line with It and the llrmpGe.d engine
house, and in the large Sand stone strata l,lns
exposed 10 the side 0f the hill below the CITY
Cemetery, and south OF the railroad bridge .-
Judge Thompson has made path from this
bridge up to the grave yard. ard so located il
that when the person using IL comes o. the first
"NllA VI paul. 70 llANH ANt AuIN kllt ult
his face Is directly in froAt Of the cave
The Biz Indian history, as heard i thirty
NJ perhaps forty years ago, when it was more
reliable a. tradition than Il nov IS, a,gnbcd
the deed Of daring TO Jonathan Zane and not 10
Lewis Wetzel, and think, wiihou, much doubt,
properly 30. As long a, mankind deem 1t a
matter of honorable fame to be heraldgd as law.
iul man ,,layers, let him 10 whom such honor Is
due have the memory of the deed IN this in.
stance It was brave ast, and like many acts OF
the samekind Of those days had It's qualification
in its necessity, and many ol the actor, 10 those
scenes were not prompted by love of lame Or uf
cruelty, but painfully ielt the necessity Of their
positions.
This Indian had previously killed two white
men Tn one day one u the men had gone out
lrom the fort or town, 10 search oi his COWS and
being missed and a search madc for hun by a
party Of men, he was found Just as he was shot,
down, perhaps, and, such is my recollection,
,calped. Within very short time another set.
tier went out in the same direction and shared
the same fate. As was the custom of those days
these men carried their guns for self defence or
To Kill any game that might tappear Zane yolun-
teered 10 60 out, confident that an Indian was
lurking ia the neighborhoOd, although no trace
Of any had been seen then, nor for some time
before. So dilligent had the search been made
that at the time the settlers could scarcely be.
levcthat the murders were the work Of Indians.
But Zane went out shortly after turning into
the bottom, on the east side Of Wheeling hill, he
heard the call Of n wild turkey; he stopped
Short the call was repeated and he caught its
direction and probable distance; he pursued the
direction Of the sound pretty rapidly and freely
until he was within an uncertain rifle shot Of
the distance, here he held up and kept a line Of
trees between himself and the direction Of the
sound; he heard the call again, and measuring
location and distance Hith great precision, he
brought his rifle, ready cooked to his accu>tom.
cd position for quick and active use, and pro.
cecded Nth greater caution, confident that the
safety Of his life lay In his quick perception and
irm use Of his weapon. lie reached his dis.
lance when he knew he could depend on both
aud lookiu: in the direction whence the sounds
had come, he, from behind tree, saw the lndi.
an raise himself, and looking from the cave, give
another call ZaneS unerring rifle shot aseRgoi
the white mans death and relieved the lorted
settlers from the panic which hadstricken them.
This is the history which | heard long years
since, and which gave maine to this cave in the
rock, for the Indian was man Of very large
stature.