Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-05-24
Di1eovorT 81 I 4 erarhrol. rave.

/ III - - ANMNA|AWWNL NANEHH|
The Santa 70 Hgaid Of April nc says,
Last week a remarkable and extensive
cavern waa discovered about three miles
downilthe creek from jackson, Amador
uountyi By = party Of genteuen who were
bunting IN the vicinage One Of the party
mot abare near n thick clump OF bushes,
and on going to look for itfhe observed a
hole in the ground several feet In diameter,
and apparently the entrance TO q subter-
ranean cavern. The party resolved 70 ex-
plora It and DR.. Heming took The lead. On
Wednesday a party Of twenty-five or thirty
from jackson visited II. The editor Of the
Ledger, who was Of the party, thus de-
scribss 10: sflaSiI
"After clambering down q chimney.like
aperture in the rocks for some. distance, We
landed OF n foot-hold Of rubbish composed Of
almost every, thing in nature, and were IN
the cave. There Is another entrance, butnot
20 good a one ss that through which we
passed. The cave Is about ninety feet long
hy seventy five wide-the distance between
floor and roof about twenty feet. When the
rubbish ehali have been removed from the
cavern, the distance win be much greater.
tt'Each man held a lighted candle in his
hand, by which means the cavern was illu-
minated; and the scene presented, although
not SO gorgeous and magnificent as may DO
seen in the Mammoth Cave Of Kentucky, and
in some other noted caverns, was neverthe-
less very fine. Small crystaliged stslactites
shining like brilliants, studded the walls and
ceiling. Stelagmites we're also observable,
but not to any great extent. The formation
Of the walls and roof appears to be princi.
pally of a limestone nature, with hundreds
Of dlminutive quartz leads, or traces inter.
spefsed. On one side of the cave large quartz
powders are found. ca quartz ledge crops
out close to the mouth of the cave.
Hln the cave were found many charred
pieces of wood, and a rock that had evil
IDENTIFY been used az a fireplace. At old blan-
ket, partly decayed, was also found, and any
number of beef bones-such as come from
the kitchen. This, with other facts, con-
WINGED everybody that the cavern must have
been occupied for a greater or less length of
time by human beings; and as no one could
make Of such a place a residence from choice,
and as it 10 so secluded MS mot to have been
discovered, or rather made publicly known |
until now, although hundreds have fire.
quently Travelled all around IT, the conclusion
was drawn that its Inhabitants must have
been fugitives from justice or banditti. The
trial of Joaquin was near the spot; some of
bis murderous exploits were committed near
there; among others, the murder OF a jack
son butcher. At the time Of the celebrated
RaDcbeTia massacre, Mexicaus were driven
from the immediate neighborhood of
this cave.
zone thing is certain, and that is that the
has been extensively occupied rs a den
by wild beasts. The traces o fanimals, rang
from grizzlies, through the grade Of lion,
wild. cat, wolf and coyote, down to
hare and squirrel, are abundant. We Sc
cured askull of some animal, and the jaw
homes Of several-eome of them very large.
One gentleman founda tooth over two inches
in lepgih. large enough for q mastodon, but
don't believe a mastodon ever visited the
cave. OH"
There are evidences that this is only one
chamber Of the cavern, and that entrances to
other rooms will be found. There are other
passages too narrow to admit of entrance.
old Indian says there is another cave, of
great extent, with many passages and rooms,
the same spot. He says his parents aud
many other Indians inhabited it a long time
ago, but on a certain occasion one Of their
number entered an unexplored passage, and
was never afteTwerd heard of. Since then,
no Indian could be induced to go near the
mouth of the cavern, much less to enter it.
They believe it to be the abode of evil.
"Near the opening of the cave we have
given avery imperfect description of, are the
remains Of two cabins, said to have been &C.
by cinnamon in 1852. Whether Joa.
quin murdered aud buried them, with scores
of other victims in some as yet secret portion
of the cavern, is a matter about which we
know nothing.
1.-THE owners are cleaning out the cavern.
We had almost forgotten to mention that We
have q very strange-appearing knife taken
from the cave, in our possession. The donor
named it Joaquin's Toothpiek.s" -r-