it is not clear when cave-in-rock first became the headquarters of the criminals who flourished on the ohio, and preyed upon primitive commerce and travel between pittsburgh and the lower mississippi. shortly after the revolution was under way, renegades from eastern communities, corrupt stragglers from the american army, and villains who had had their brutal training in western wilds, began to seek in the ohio valley refuge from the more orderly and well settled communities. samuel mason, who had been an officer in the continental army, converted the cavern into an inn as early as 1797. while he occupied the cave, and a few years thereafter, it was known as “cave-inn-rock.” it was ideally located. every passing boat must reveal itself to those in the cave who had a long, clear view up and down the river. a lookout could detect boats long before boatmen could perceive the cave. the bold beauty of the bluff made it pleasant for the boats to run in near the sharply shelving shore, and many travelers were thus simply and easily delivered into the hands of the banditti. as an inn, where drink and rest could be had, it decoyed them; as a scene for shrouded crime it was perfect.
the earliest travelers on the western rivers floated or propelled themselves with paddles and oars in small, clumsy craft. the indian canoe or pirogue was heavy, but was managed with skill by those accustomed to its use. with the growing stream of settlers and the increasing
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number of settlements along the ohio and mississippi, there arose a necessity for larger craft that would bear heavier burdens. this brought the flatboat era covering the period from 1795 to 1820—that quarter of a century known as the golden age of flatboating. during that era river piracy was at its height. the lighter boats, pirogues, skiffs, and batteaux were to the clumsy rafts and flatboats bearing heavy cargoes what submarines and torpedo boats have been to the heavier ships in later warfare. inland piracy had its advantage in using the small craft on dark nights for sudden descents and escapes.
in the midst of this period the stately steamboat age began its development. it was inaugurated in 1811 when the first steam-propelled “water-walker” made its laborious and astonishing way from pittsburgh to new orleans. by 1820 steamboats had become a dependable factor in traffic, and were, to river travel, what the railroad train was later to become to the slow stagecoach and freight wagon. it was inevitable that under steamboat influence flatboats of all types—arks, broadhorns, orleans boats, keel-boats, and flat-bottomed barges—would follow the primitive pirogues, skiffs, and batteaux into retirement, except for neighborhood use. river piracy waned with the conditions it preyed upon, but not until about 1830 did it cease utterly.
in society, as in nature, everything develops with opportunity and disappears according to necessity. in the primitive age of river craft many travelers were captured or killed by indians bent on revenge or pillage. these marauders were sometimes led by white renegades. later, pioneers floating down the ohio or mississippi on flatboats came in contact with comparatively few savages, but were exposed to a far more daring
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and dangerous enemy in the form of river pirates—white men, many of them descendants of supposedly civilized european families. these disappeared as the population increased. then ensued the reign of the more diplomatic river pirates—the professional gamblers who, for a half century, used cards and other gaming devices as instruments with which to rob those who ventured into their society.
such were the types of craft and men operating upon and infesting the rivers in the early days. the country through which these boats moved was not the country we see today. changes in the shapes and channels of the rivers have been numerous, only the rock-defined reaches preserving their original contours. appearances in detail have greatly changed. the wonderful unbroken forests are gone. where they once stood are now fields and farms or cut-over forests; every few miles there is a town. the river channels once mysterious and uncertain are now carefully charted.
early voyageurs going down the river had, of course, no guides and there were no known marks to indicate their approach to any of the features of the river as it wound through the wild, uninhabited country. the boatmen who came afterwards carrying maps rudely scratched, found them unsatisfactory because of inaccuracies or lack of detail. not until a handbook was made available, after some years of careful compilation of river features, could the uninitiated navigate the large rivers with any degree of safety.2
the numerous charts in the navigator show the
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curves, islands, sandbars, eddies, and channels, and mark the location of towns and many other places of significance. the accompanying text contains instructions of value to the boatman, and historical data of interest. it is curious, however, that no section of either the mississippi or ohio is designated as one where outlaws were likely to be encountered—not even cave-in-rock nor the mouth of cache river, which were long considered the most dangerous resorts on the ohio. in every edition of the navigator about a page is devoted to a description of the cave and instructions to boatmen passing it, but there is no reference to its grim history. zadok cramer was evidently a practical man, with no eye to the speculative. it was not until 1814 that he added a few lines bearing on the cave’s “economic” history:
“this cavern sometimes serves as a temporary abode for those wanting shelter, in case of shipwreck, or other accident, which happen on the river near it. families have been known to reside here tolerably comfortable from the northern blasts of winter. the mouth of this cave was formerly sheltered, and nearly hid by some trees growing in front of it, but the rude axe has leveled them to the earth and the cavern is exposed to the open view of the passenger. emigrants from the states, twenty-seven years ago used to land here and wagon their goods across the illinois country, it not being more than one hundred and twenty miles from this place to kaskaskia on the mississippi.”
the cave, of course, had more than criminal uses. how on one occasion it served as a “temporary abode for those wanting shelter” is recorded in the american pioneer, published in 1842. in this magazine dr. samuel p. hildreth, under the title of “history of a
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voyage from marietta to new orleans in 1805,” gives an interesting account of the schooner nonpareil and her voyage south, based on data furnished him by members of her crew. the boat was built at marietta and started down the river april 21, 1805. she was a sea-going vessel intended to run on the lakes near new orleans. the captain doubtless steered his course by a copy of the navigator. we quote from hildreth’s account of what the crew found in 1805 at the well-known lair of outlaws:
“as the nonpareil approached near the mouth of this dreaded cave, a little after twilight, they were startled at seeing the bright blaze of a fire at its entrance. knowing of its former fame as the den of a band of robbers, they could not entirely suppress the suspicion it awoke in their minds of its being again occupied for the same purpose. nevertheless, as they had previously determined not to pass this noted spot without making it a visit, they anchored the schooner a little distance from the shore and landed in the skiff. being well armed with pistols they marched boldly up to the cavern where, instead of being greeted with the rough language and scowling visages of a band of robbers, they found the cave occupied by smiling females and sportive children. a part of the women were busily occupied with their spinning wheels, while others prepared the evening meal. their suspicions were not, however, fully removed by all these appearances of domestic peace, still thinking that the men must be secreted in some hidden corner of the cave ready to fall on them unawares. on a little further conversation they found the present occupants of the dreaded cave consisted of four young emigrant families from kentucky going to settle in illinois. the females were
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yet in the bloom of life. their husbands had bought or taken up lands a few miles back from the river, and after moving their families and household goods to this spot had returned to their former residences to bring out their cattle, in the meantime leaving their wives and children in the occupancy of the cave till their return.
“having brought, with their spinning wheels and looms, an abundance of flax, the women spent the weary days of their husbands’ absence in the useful employment of spinning. a large fire in the mouth of the cave gave cheerfulness to the gloomy spot and enabled them, at night, to proceed with their labors, while its bright rays were reflected upon the looms, beds, and household utensils which lay piled up along the side of the cave. by day the sun afforded them light, the mouth of the cave being capacious and elevated, while the roof sheltered them from the rain. they were in daily expectation of the arrival of their husbands, when they would move out on to their farms in company.
“a little conversation soon dissipated all suspicions of harm from the minds of their visitors ... and, borrowing from them a torch, they explored the hidden recesses of the cave. at this time no vestige of its former occupants remained but a few scattered barrel staves, and the traces of their fires against the blackened sides of the rock. the walls, even at that early day, were thickly scored with the names of former visitors, to which they hastily added their own, and thousands have no doubt been added since. bidding a warm farewell to this singular and solitary community, they entered their boat, greatly wondering at the courage and confidence of these lonely females. their surprise, however, in a manner subsided when they reflected that
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they were the daughters of kentucky and from the land of daniel boone.”
the nonpareil experienced no trouble with river pirates, but was wrecked during a storm on the mississippi and never reached her proposed destination. so, in one form or another, every flatboat and other early river craft suffered more or less trouble. history records many robberies and other misfortunes, but its pages also show that, notwithstanding the numerous trials and tribulations, early river life, rough as it was, was more of a romance than a tragedy. going down the ohio and mississippi proved, in many instances, “easy sailing” compared to the flatboatman’s overland trip north over the natchez trace and other wilderness roads infested with highwaymen.
the usual plan of the river robbers was to station one or two of their men and women at some prominent place on shore to hail a passing boat. these decoys pleaded to be taken aboard, claiming they were alone in the wilderness and wished to go to some settlement further down the river, or that they desired to purchase certain necessities which they lacked. if the boat was thus enticed ashore, the crew saw their cargo unloaded, and plundered, or beheld their craft continue its course down the river in the hands of the enemy, themselves held as hostages or murdered.
boat wreckers were another common source of great danger. under one pretext or another they managed to get aboard the boat and scuttle it near a place where their confederates were prepared to make an attack. or, like colonel fluger, they waited until they found a boat tied along the bank and then bored holes in the bottom or dug out the caulking. when the ill-fated boat began to sink, the fellow-wreckers rushed to the
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rescue and appropriated the goods for their own use, killing part or all the crew if necessary.
then, as now, a number of dangerous channels existed in the ohio and mississippi. they were designated as such in the navigator. near the head of some of them lived reliable settlers who made it a business to pilot boats through for pay. pirates frequently succeeded in passing themselves off as trustworthy local pilots. boats turned over to such men for safe steering were usually grounded and immediately thereafter delivered into the hands of outlaws in waiting.
one of the dangerous channels, against which voyageurs were warned by the navigator, ran from the head of walker’s bar (a bar beginning about two miles below cave-in-rock) down to tower rock, and from there extended to the foot of hurricane island, a total distance of about eight miles. the author of the river guide, after devoting considerable space to directions for navigating this channel and avoiding the hurricane bars, adds a suggestion: “just below the cave, on the right bank, there is a person who is sometimes employed to pilot boats through this serpentine channel, and it is better for a stranger to pay a dollar or two for this purpose, than run the risk of grounding on either one or the other of these bars in low water. when the water is high there is no occasion for a director.”
the outlaws at cave-in-rock turned to their advantage the suggestion published in the navigator. about ten miles above the cave, near battery rock, or on what has long since been called the jonathan brown old place, the robbers stationed a man who offered to pilot, for a small sum, single boats or small fleets through this “serpentine channel.” he explained that the person referred to by the navigator as living “just
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below the cave” was out on a visit and would not return for a week or more. in the event the first man failed, another, standing ready a few miles further down at ford’s ferry, offered his services. the pilot who succeeded in being employed grounded the boat in front of the cave if, by the time he reached the place, he judged the cargo was worth the risk and the crew could be overpowered. if more time was required, he guided the boat to the head of hurricane island. there it was either wrecked or taken safely through the channel, the procedure depending on whether or not he judged a profitable robbery possible. boatmen who declined to take a pilot aboard at battery rock or ford’s ferry were likely, if the water was comparatively low, to inquire for a director “just below the cave.” the man procured there, whether a member of the cave band or not, invariably guided the boat safely through. thus by helping to maintain one reputable and reliable place near the cave for procuring the services of a pilot, the robbers experienced little trouble in trapping the boats they selected for that purpose.
although most of the prospective victims were given little consideration until after they had come within ten or twenty miles of the cave, in a number of instances the river pirates began setting a trap for a boat long before it arrived at shawneetown.
the fact that the victims were piloted to the cave by certain members of a band, or enticed into the place by some other means for the sole purpose of robbery, is recorded by many early writers; none of them, however, gives any details. all authors who touch on the cave’s history publish statements based on what other men and women heard other people had experienced
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while in the hands of the outlaws. only one instance has been found in which the victim himself (dr. charles h. webb) recited to an author the details of how he was decoyed to the cave and how he escaped from the men then occupying the place. the old flatboat robbers and flatboat wreckers left no first-hand accounts of the methods they employed.
the year 1788 roughly marks the beginning of the big inflow of settlers into the region west of the alleghenies, also the beginning of counterfeiting and other outlawry at cave-in-rock. many travelers and home-seekers followed the trails and went into the interior afoot, on horseback, or in wagons; others took the river to some river point and either settled there, or proceeded overland to an inland section. thus, by “long lines of wagons” and “great fleets of boats” the middle west became settled. in the meantime many a small party traveled alone over the trails or drifted down the river in a single boat or in a small fleet, into the new and sparsely populated country, and became easy prey for highway robbers or river pirates who were likely to appear at any time and in any disguise.3
the earliest connection of the cave with the name of any outlaw who became famous was in 1797, when samuel mason, of revolutionary fame and hideous fate, seems to have occupied it as a main trap for his carefully worked out scheme of river piracy on a large
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scale. he erected a great rude sign on the river bank near the mouth of the cave, proclaiming to every passerby that his “liquor vault and house for entertainment” was open to the public. many captains and their crews and many flatboat passengers were lured to it. after mason and his family left for the south, most of the succeeding bands, during their necessarily short stay, operated a gambling and drinking place on the same principle.
it was a common practice among outlaws frequently to change not only their headquarters but their names. while at cave-in-rock mason was also known as “wilson.” thomas ashe, who wrote about it, probably did not know that the wilson he described was samuel mason. among the various men who appeared after the departure of samuel mason, alias “wilson,” was one jim wilson. whether jim wilson was his real name is not known. however, between samuel mason as “wilson” and a later man known as “jim wilson” there has been more or less confusion for almost a century, especially in tradition. in 1897 william courtney watts wrote a historical romance, chronicles of a kentucky settlement, in which he presents james ford, of ford’s ferry notoriety, as “james wilson.” james ford was in no way connected with mason or with wilson, but his presentation under the fictitious name of “james wilson” had added to the already existing confusion.
after james ford’s death, which occurred in 1833—and many years before watts applied the name of “james wilson” to him—a writer published a sketch of the career of one jim wilson at the cave. this sketch is here recapitulated, not as a story that can be verified in all its details by history, but as a semi-historical
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tale which may convey a better idea of the methods, life, and fate of the cave’s outlaws than formal history. only one who will make a study of the cave’s past—from the available authenticated records down to some of its absurd traditions—will recognize this story as a picture in which facts fairly divide the scene with fiction, and painted in colors that bring joy to the hearts of readers of dime novels. when and by whom it was written or first published has not been ascertained. it apparently was not written before 1836, for the author, in his introduction, attempts a description of the cave as it appeared that year. the writer evidently had read thomas ashe’s account published in 1808, and was also familiar with some of the cave’s printed history and oral traditions. the story was probably first published in an old magazine or newspaper. in 1893 it appeared, anonymously and without credit, in the crittenden press, of marion, kentucky. from that weekly it was copied by many newspapers in the lower ohio valley, and is now preserved, under various titles, in many a scrap book.
this old story is interesting because it was written when stories of the cave were still fresh. inaccuracies and confusions of names and dates may have crept in, but it remains the first concise and inherently reasonable account of how the cave was first occupied as a den by river criminals. in the presentation of the usual method of the cave’s renegades, it matters very little whether the first of those desperate captains of crime bore the name of wilson, mason, or harpe. in this case it seems clearly the story of samuel mason about 1797. the names they assumed might vary with every flatboat or raft that passed. an alias is ever the shield of the criminal. the story describes not only a
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method actually employed by the cave’s outlaws for many years, but also a method by which the career of more than one of these river pirates was, as we shall see later, so tragically terminated. the story runs, as follows:
“about the year 1809, one jim wilson, a flatboatman, while passing down the ohio, was overtaken by a terrific storm. he steered his boat under the shelter of a cliff. on landing he observed the opening of the cave. he was attracted by the commodious rooms with dry ceilings and sanded floors, and resolved that on his return to pittsburgh he would bring his family hither.
“in the following spring wilson’s boat again landed at the foot of the cliff. this time he was not alone, but with him came his wife, five children, two slaves, and william hall, the great counterfeiter. his boat was loaded with provisions, stores, liquors, and arms, which he had stolen from the government warehouse at fort pitt on the night before his departure. the great cave was soon transformed into a dwelling and tavern large enough to accommodate several travelers.
“wilson’s object for landing and establishing himself in so remote and romantic headquarters will be seen hereafter. a sign was planted at the water’s edge bearing these words: ‘wilson’s liquor vault and house for entertainment.’ this novel sign had a magnetic effect upon the boatmen who were almost daily passing en route to southern markets, with flatboats loaded with produce. the boat crews were generally jovial fellows, fond of rum, rest, and merriment, and hardly a boat passed without stopping. many were the guests at wilson’s tavern; thieves and gamblers stopped off here and in a few months the place became infamous for its licentiousness and blasphemy.
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“wilson had been for many years a deep-dyed criminal and only came here that he might vary his crimes, and have a wider field for operation. out of his guests he soon formed a band of the most noted robbers, murderers, and counterfeiters that, for two years, had no parallel in modern history. their headquarters were at the cave, but they had many stations along the ohio above and below, which were maintained for the purpose of preventing suspicion being cast upon the genial landlord at the cave. the principal station was at hurricane island, where forty-five men were stationed all the time.
“each boat that landed at the cave was captured and such of the crew as would not join wilson’s gang were allowed to drift on to hurricane island where they were again captured and the remainder of the crew foully murdered and their bodies cast into the ohio. with new pilots and crews the boats and cargoes were taken to new orleans, and converted into cash which was conveyed to the cave through the wilderness of kentucky and tennessee.
“many boats loaded with valuable cargoes left port on the upper ohio and its tributaries, under the guidance of experienced and trustworthy officers. the officers and crews never returned. no returns for sales were ever received. it soon became a mystery that so many honorable men never came back to pay over the proceeds, and to tell the perils of their voyage. it was many months before any serious suspicions were created. after that it was found that the cargoes were disposed of by entirely different crews from those entrusted with them. there was but limited postal or other communication in those days—letters of special importance were carried by messengers who often fell
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into the hands of wilson’s men. thereby they kept posted and, by changing the communication to suit their purposes, and forwarding them by different carriers, often thwarted the attempt of justice, and kept their whereabouts enveloped in mystery for many months. ‘but it is a long lane that hath no turn.’ it was finally ascertained that no tidings could be had of any boat after it had passed certain points on the ohio near wilson’s tavern.
“a meeting of the pittsburgh shippers was called and it was determined to ferret out the mystery. this would be a shrewd piece of detective work which would be attended by many dangers. a large reward was offered for information as to the exact location of the robber band. john waller, a determined and ambitious man of maysville, kentucky, resolved to secure the reward or perish in the attempt. he was furnished with a cargo contributed by various shippers along the ohio, and with five trusted companions he set out early in the spring of 1810. they floated with the current many days. at last one evening they came in sight of the cave, and were attracted by the novel sign and also the presence of several females on the bank, who made gestures for them to land. they held a hasty consultation and resolved to land; a few sweeps of the steering oar brought them to the foot of the cliff.”
that which follows this clear description of ordinary circumstances is evidently a mixture of fact and fiction that represents the imaginative style of the day. it is quite plain that the author himself had not personally visited the cave, but had relied upon the fictions of thomas ashe or the reflections from ashe’s account that had gained circulation and belief. he accepts the mythical “upper cave” and has the cave divided off
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into rooms and a “council chamber,” no relics of which have ever been reported by any matter-of-fact observer from that time to this. the leader, “jim wilson,” he converts into a semi-savage with matted and tangled hair and beard, who is yet a shrewd trader and an orator of no mean power for his day. on the occasion of the initiation of new recruits jim wilson delivers a romantic and argumentative speech that is equal to the best fiction of the times.
the story narrates graphically how waller and his men were overawed and compelled, under fear, to agree to join the robber band; how they were received into it with melodramatic ceremonies and then were oath-bound, but not fully trusted; how they made their escape—the savage and astute robbers being, of course, fooled for the exigencies of the event; how the waller force combined with its waiting reinforcements, returned, captured jim wilson and then went to hurricane island and destroyed that part of the band; and how eventually “jim wilson’s head was severed, his body buried ... the head identified and delivered to the proper authorities at pittsburgh ... and the captors received the merited reward.” this last point is plainly an echo of mason’s fate.
this story of the activities of the early renegades of civilization, and of the river pirates who occupied the cave bears upon its face the stamp of truth that fits neatly into practically all traditions from about 1795 to about 1820.
before mason became famous, however, greater scoundrels than he were to attract public attention, and hold it for some years. the story of the harpes—“big” and “little” harpe—is one that may freeze the blood as read now in the light of old records and personal
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accounts that seem to bring the reader into the very presence of these two brutes. in the security of law and order in these days the facts seem remote, but when the sparse settlement of the west in 1799 is realized, and the further fact that wilderness hospitality opened doors to all travelers and admitted these monsters freely with good people, it is possible then to conceive the horror their deeds and presence aroused.
