Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-08-09
An Outlaws Cave.
Found on an Island In the Mnume e,
River, Ohio.

hiVers OhtOs
A Defiance. Ohio, despatch of recent
date says: The discovery few days since,
of the strange tomb of Simon Girty, the
notorious outlaw, and his band of Indian
allies has created vast amount of interest
throughout this state in the story of that
arch scoundrel and renegade. In the early
part of the present century, when the In
dams of the great Northwest territory
were giving the government so much
trouble, and the sturdy pioneers, who had
boldly pushed their way into the forests of
northern Ohio and planted their little
log cabins along the numerous rivers,
were compelled to carry their muskets into
the fields to protect themselves from the
attacks of rowing savages, band of blood
thirsty Indians from the Delaware, Ottawa
and Seneca tribes, who were led by Simon
Girty, infested the Maumee valley, and
for years terrorized the settlers by their
bold robberies and murderous assaults
without revealing their rendezvous.
Many times Grty's band of red devils
were followed to the banks of the Maumee
river, some twelve miles below this city,
but here all trace of them was lost They
disappeared as suddenly and mysteriously
as though swallowed up by the dark waters
VI llt llNtls II lllldlll Uttdiilt a Rtntid al
belief among the settlers that this band of
land pirates had a hiding place on an
island in the river near the spot where
they had so frequently and etfectually
Dallled their pursuers. This island was
called "Girty's Island, (which name it has
retained to this day. The island is about
300 yards long by 100 wide, and is covered
by a dense growth of forest. On the
western end the ground is high, and slopes
gradually to the waters edge at the east.
There is an Indian legend which says
that at one time Girty captured a very
beautiful white girl from one of the numer-
GUS settlements along the river and car
ried her OFF to this island, which he had
fortified with a cannon, procured while he
was in the employ of the government as
an Indian agent. The legend also relates
that the settlers soon after discovered the
hiding place of the outlaws, and after
increasing their numbers sufficiently, gave
Girty battle on the island, forcing him to
run the cannon of the point into the river
to prevent its capture. Many of the band
were killed in this engagement, but moth
ing was ever found of Girty, the girl
prisoner, or any of the survivors Of the
band, who had disappeared Just as it be-
came evident the battle was going against
them, and they had no means OF escape
from the island retreat.
1t is altogether probable that if Girty's
Island had always remained the property OF
the state there would never have been
anything known about this strange cavern
which afforded Girty and his men such a
secure hiding place during their life OF
crime, and was also used as tomb for at
least a portion of the marauding band of
sayages, both white and red. But about
two years ago State Canal Commissioner
Hartnell came to this city and sold Grty's
Island, together with two smaller islands,
to Mr.. w. II. Herman. These islands are
at one of the most picturesque bends OF the
Maumee river, and recently Mr.. Herman
decided TO build a summer residence on the
largest one.
Last week he sent a number of men to
work TO make an excavation for a cellar.
The men had almost completed their work
when the ground on which they were stand
ing gave way and they were precipitated
into a large cavern some 20 feet in depth
and about 30 feet at its greatest length.
One of the laborers received a fractured
arm from his fall, but the others escaped
uninjured.
As soon as the men had recovered from
their astonshment they set about TO eX-
plore their strange abode. They found the
walls of the room were lined with cedar
logs, which were still in fair state of
preservation. In one corner of the room
they found the skeletons of nineteen human
beings, which, from the contour of the
craniums, are said to be Indians, with
several Spanish and two English or Amer
leans. Besides these bones, which were
badly decayed, they found countless
arrowheads, spearheads, tomahawks and
the remains of dozen or more muskets.
There were also various pieces of furni-
ture, a broken spnning-wheel and many
pieces of broken earthernware. Beneath
a pile of broken crockery they found a
small chest or Golfer which had been rudely
hewn out of block of solid oak. A slab
of the same material was fastened on this
box with flint arrdwheads. In this box
they found four Spanish doubloons, some
fifty pieces of English money of various
denominations, six silver spurs, three
silver-mounted pistols and countless
trinkets of little or no value. Girty had a
great fear of falling into the hands of the
Americans; and dreading torture equal to
that which he had inflicted on many a de-
fenseless white man, he had undoubtedly
provided this cavern to afford refuge
from what he knew would be quick and
awful death were he ever captured. ,.,