Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1897-09-15
CANTER'S CAVE.
HERE WAS SHELTERED THE DUPE or
THE BRILLIANT BURR.

riot Against the Government-Sad HIS.
tory of Dashing Young officer Who
became an Outlaw and Hermit-Oh
Natural Wonder.
Situated six mics north of Jackson.
Ohio, and surrounded by woods and
underground so dense that the suns
rays seldom pierce, are what is known
as Gamers Caves" a favorite resort
OF campers and picnic parties. The
reputation of these caves for wild and
natural beauty has gone out until they
are known and visited not only by per-
sons living in this particular section OF
the state, but by pleasure seekers who
come miles to view this grand bit Of
| scenery. Commercial travellers and
sight-seers, who have day or so to
spend in this locality, anxiously inquire
iO1 the road to Canter's, and of late
years pho oGraphers in the employ OF
houses who issue stereopticon pictures,
| are sent here by their employers and
| spend days in securing views of this
| wild and rustic spot. One unacquaint-
| ed with the location of these caves
might approach them totally unaware
| OF their presence until following the
we l-beaten path, he suddenly emerges
| into what is known as the 'amplii-
| theatre" when a view bursts upon mis-
vision which is awe-inspiring in it's
| grandeur. Vast rocks rising to a per-
peIdicular distance of from IS to $50
Ieet upon all sides, makes this a posi-
| ton of almost absolute safety from an
attacking force. To the extreme left
OF this amphitheatre is what is known
|
though crumbled away in recent years,
still retains depth of some eighty
| feet, and at one end of it may still be
seen the circular hole carved in it's
roof, which was used as an outlet for
smoke by the old hermit Canter, who
made this cave his home up to the time
of his death in 1910, and for whom the
caves are named. A story filled with
romance is the one connected with the
life of this once historic old man. In
1906, when Aaron Burr was perfecting
his scheme for the foundation of THE
New Empire, Of which he was to
make himself sovereign, James Canter,
then brilliant young lieutenant in
the United States army, stationed near
Biennerhasset Island, was made fiat
tering offer by an agent of Burr if he
would consent to desert his country
and join the cOnspiratOTs. To this pro-
pOsal young Canter was given some
time in which to make his answer, dur
ing which time ambition and loyalty
struggled for the mastery. Young and
handsome, cultured in mind and DASH
ing in manner, Lieu enant Canter was
everything that could be desired in an
officer whose duty it should be to take
charge of the important details of the
expedition. His young wife was wo-
man of rare beauty and accomplish
ments, but OF all her natural traits, her
consuming ambition to see her hus-
band occupy an exalted position among
men was the strongest, and when Burr
! aware of her commanding influence
over her husband, entrusted her with
his plans, she was fired with the bold
ness and intrepidity of the enterprise,
and Immediately determined to enlist
her husband as an associate. Canter,
being man of ductile temper, was
easily induced by the dazzling pros
poets of glory and honor which were
set before him, to become actor in
the drama which was to follow. His
tory relates how, upon the night of
their departure from Blennerhasset
Island, the expedition was pursued by
|
a long race, it was oyertaken and cap
tured near Marietta, while floating
down the Ohio river in barges. Can
ter was one of the few to escape arrest
Seeing that the plot was to be frus-
trated he, with others, left the barges
in skiff and made for the Ohio shore.
Canter felt keenly the insecurity of his
position. He had deserted his country
to join in a rebellion against her. His
, crime was treason for which the pun
ishmen was death. Not daring to re-
turn to his home, ne roamed aimlessly
, about until he entered this county,
where the wild and uninhabited coun-
try offered what seemed to him a pro-
lection from his pursuers. Remaining
here until Burr had been tried and ac-
quilted of the high crime in which he
had been implicated, Canter returned
to his home in western Pennsylvania
only to find his young wife dead, his
family scattered, and himself though
cleared of all legal culpability, still
resting under the ban of society. Brok-
Ell in fortune and spirit and without
friends, Canter returned to the wilds
of this county, then the frontier of the
unsettled west, and took up his solitary
abode among the rocks which have ev-
err after borne the name of 'Canter's
Caves" To this day may be seen en-
craven upon the wall of the lonely cell
occupied by the hermit the motto
which was wont to be inscribed upon
the banners of the deluded followers of
Burr: THE gods invite to glory and