LE ROY W. FOOTE is a resident of Middlebury and for eight years prior to his resignation on January 1, 1951 he was treasurer and a member of the Board of Governors of the National Speleological Society. The purpose of this society is cave exploration and study. Its worldwide membership is composed of men and women who classify themselves as "speleologists" or "spelunkers" depending on whether they rate as professional or pleasure-seeking cavers. Mr. Foote calls himself a spelunker, as much of his caving activity has been conducting field trips in New England and New York state. On his first trip to Twin Lakes Cave in 1941 he heard of the society which had been functioning less than a year as a national organization. He joined soon after to help in forming the policies of the society and to take an active part in its rapid growth. With Clay Perry, author of "New England's Buried Treasure" and "Underground Empire". he helped to reorganize the New England Grotto of the society. He is an authority on Connecticut's pioneer caveman. known as "The Leather Man", and has made an extensive study of this outstanding bit of American folklore that centers here in western Connecticut. Spelunking is a family pastime as his wife and three children are spelunkers too. Mr. Foote is well acquainted with Connecticut's underworld.
Connecticut is not one of the so called, "cave states." It may have had many caves in early geologic time, but the fact remains much of the great deposit of limestone, the material in which most caves are formed, was carried away by the glaciers and only slight evidence of it is left, and that mainly in Litchfield and Fairfield counties. One who longs for a cave in Connecticut, either for protection or spelunking, can only dream of what might have been in ages past. Could we have had a Carlsbad or Mammoth instead of "rabbit holes?"
"True" caves are found in limestone, dolomite and marble; rocks that are soluble. As these deposits are to be found largely near the western border of the state we will find our "true" caves in this area. Limestone is most noticeable in and around Canaan where a limestone company has its quarries, and in a lesser degree both limestone and marble are evident in outcroppings through portions of the Housatonic valley and in the hills toward Danbury. Other caves formed by irregularities on the earth's surface are called "fault" caves. These may be a jumble of rocks or fissures and may be seen almost anywhere and are not restricted to any certain kind of rocks. Both types of caves are of exceptional interest and they have played an interesting part in the history of the state.
Caves in the Litchfield hills, whether "true" or "fault," may be classified in other ways because of uses made of them in recent years. Throughout the whole state may be found rock shelters offering some protection from the elements and made use of by Indians. Some of the outstanding finds of Indian relics and artifacts have been made in their middens near rock shelters that have retained the designation, "Indian caves." Cliffs overlooking the Housatonic and Shepaug rivers provided adequate shelters for Indians and even today curio seekers find souvenirs of Indian handiwork there. On Indian Mountain, near the New York border in Sharon may be found one such cave or rock shelter.
Another Indian cave is located in Salisbury. To reach it from Route 44 one must turn south on a road between the library and the Congregational Church and cross the railroad tracks into the woods. Strangely enough, people living nearby know where the cave is located, contrary to the usual custom that the nearer one gets to a cave the harder it is to find someone who knows of it. In the "gay nineties" Waterbury young people found buggy rides to Indian Jack's Cave on the Mattatuck trail between Wolcott and Bristol occasions for merriment. Indian Jack set up "cave-keeping" here in a rock shelter that served as well as a wigwam.
Next in chronological order came the Tories, who left their imprint on our Connecticut folklore because of their lack of faith in a government separate from the the Crown, and who found it necessary to "hole up" when irate revolutionaries sought revenge. There are several Tory caves in Connecticut, and Litchfield County having had more than her share of these loyalists and the rocky terrain to shelter them when pursued, leads the state in caves of this kind. The "Tory Den," located among the Tondem ledges in the southwestern corner of Burlington, is most notable. "The Tories of Chippeny Hill" by E. LeRoy Pond tells of the use of this unique shelter by certain Tories of the nearby village of East Church. The surrounding country was inhabited mainly by these loyalists, and descendants of them still live there.
The Tory Den was formed when a large slab of rock fell from a perpendicular position onto other rocks and became supported in such a way as to allow considerable space beneath. One entrance, facing southeast, is ten feet wide and five feet high. The interior is the same width as the entrance and approximately six feet high, with a roof opening in the center large enough to allow one to pass up through. It could have been used as a chimney. The northern entrance is four feet high and five feet wide. Length over all is about 30 to 35 feet with a slight turn at about the center of the cave. It is very suitable for cave-keeping should anyone like to revert to primitive life. To reach the place, turn easterly from East Church Road just north of Bristol reservoir on an old road. Follow this road for quarter of a mile and turn north for another quarter mile on a wood road where the Tunxis trail is clearly marked with blue arrows. Ledges will appear on the left and the trail leads directly to the den located at the base of a high cliff.
Tory Cave in New Milford harbored more of these loyalists but not in such comfortable quarters as provided in East Church. The cavern is a "true" cave. Two entrances are to be found there, each leading to a different section of the cave. Except in extremely dry seasons one is sure to get wet either from crawling in the cave or in trying to enter it. The crystalline limestone walls of the large water-carved room reflect the light from one's lamp giving a silvery cast that is pleasing to see. Legend would have us believe that the cave once extended much farther east, and the ravine running up from the highway gives one the impression of a caved-in corridor. It is said the occupants had a secret entrance near the Housatonic River, and a tunnel extended beneath the present U. S. 7 which separates the cave from the river. To see Tory Cave at its best one should visit the cavern in winter. There will be no need for caving togs. Nature seals up the entrance with a massive curtain of ice and access to the interior is not only uninviting but next to impossible. A perpetual well-spring becomes a frozen Niagara and the interior is a sloshing corridor of mountain water. The giant sink hole entrance that is thirty feet in depth and diameter, retains its winter garb until the month of May.
Tories must have been hard pressed for caves in this area and the stocking of provisions and munitions here must have been disheartening to the staunchest loyalist. The cave is located about 200 feet from the westerly side of U. S. 7 south of Gaylordsville. The green parking area near a culvert, accommodating three or four cars and testifies to its popularity to spelunkers. These two caves are the outstanding Tory hide-outs in this area.
Prospectors once sought riches on Mine Hill in Roxbury where silver ore was found, but down near the eastern base of that same mountain is a cave overlooking the Shepaug River in which a band of counterfeiters worked their unlawful trade. Neither business proved to be profitable, and money-making in the Shepaug valley at Roxbury Station turned to dairying with milk selling at four cents a quart. Gamaliel's Den, near Judd's Bridge, is a wild and unfrequented section of Roxbury now that milk trains no longer rattle over the abandoned Shepaug line. Gamaliel's Den Gang on Moosehorn Brook, headed by Steve Rance, had their underground rendezvous directly across the Shepaug from the Pootatuck Indian shelter caves.
Bridgewater Cave, with an immense drive-in entrance, is large enough to house a herd of cattle. A cave of this type served the purpose well for Bill Stuart, the native boy who went bad, in his traffic of horse thieving. It was his custom to take his neighbors' horses before the barn doors were locked, herd them into the cave, and at night drive them over the state line into New York where they were sold. On his return trip he rounded up stolen New York horses and sold them to the neighbors in Bridgewater who were surprisingly short of horses. Bill Stuart believed in creating a demand for his merchandise before he presented it for sale, and for a long time he was kept busy supplying horses that gave him a handsome income. Somewhere south of Bridgewater Center is the pasture-lot shelter, also known as Bill Stuart's Cave, where Bill hid his stock in trade to supply his needy neighbors. No engine numbers to change in horse and buggy days! Some of the residents still have horses.
Connecticut might have been called the "Leather Man State" if the advent of this itinerant had preceded the purveyor of wooden nutmegs. Today we have more evidence of this remarkable character than samples of the synthetic spice. Almost every town has its Leather Man's cave. Actually they are rock shelters similar to those occupied by Indians and were used by the Leather Man for protection from the weather at night. He dressed in leather patches, traveled a circuit of 365 miles every 34 days and obtained his food from kindly housewives. His route covered much of western Connecticut and a part of Westchester County in New York state. Woodbury has not less than six of these so-called caves. The one most widely known is near the Dug Way on the property of Elbert and Frederick Barnes, within a few hundred feet of U. S. 6, about one-and-a-half miles north of North Woodbury. Across an upland swale from the old feldspar quarry and facing the morning sky, a snug overhang of rocks marks the former living quarters of Connecticut's nineteenth-century cave man. We know the location is authentic, as Mr. Elbert Barnes made the long hike up the ravine to point out the spot where he saw the improvised shelter as a boy while it was being used by the Leather Man. In the gay nineties the cave was visited by avid hikers, lovelorn and normal.
Another Woodbury shelter made use of by this cave dweller is located near the Woodbury-Roxbury Road on Good Hill. Other Leather Man caves in Woodbury may he found near the Weekeepeemee River in Hotchkissville on the property of Mr. Arthur Isham, at Middle Quarter, Ecuhut Hill and at the Bear Pit on Good Hill.
The most picturesque Leather Man Cave in Connecticut is at Black Rock Park in Watertown. It is well known to local residents, and thousands have seen it in their hiking days. Mr. Arthur Blewitt, the Waterbury naturalist, wrote informingly of it in the leaflet on Mattatuck State Forest. One large room with an immense opening greets one long before the cave is reached from the wood path leading from the gravel road. A small back entry to the cave makes the arrangement pleasing to the uninitiated caver. The location is at the base of a perpendicular rock that towers above the 70-foot oaks and beeches, and the smoked walls of the cave testify to its long use by scouts and other campers. The awesome setting and the stillness of the forest overcomes one at first and is reminiscent of some of the scenes in Blackmore's "Lorna Doone." Laurel thrives in the acid compost covering the minutely garnet-studded schist. One mile to the southeast and overlooking the Naugatuck River, near Jericho Bridge is another cave once occupied by the Leather Man. It is at the base of a precipice that is topped with majestic hemlocks. The walls of Jericho Rock have withstood the blasts of bugles from the Boy Scout camp across the valley at Camp Mattatuck for a long time but they are beginning to disintegrate noticeably in places. The Leather Man came through unscathed and died in Westchester County in 1889.
Most residents of Connecticut are unaware that our state has the "champion" cave of New England. It is situated in the heart of the limestone region in Salisbury and is called Twin Lakes Cave. Actually there are two caves close together and the larger one has two entrances. This cave has not been completely mapped and new passages are frequently being found but it is now the longest and most popular New England cave. It has a history that is unique for such a phenomenon so remotely located. Like the door of the proverbial mouse trap manufacturer, it has its beaten path made by thousands, some of whom come from distant countries.
At one time it was a commercial cave, and only two others in America opened for cave sight-seeing before Twin Lakes Cave. Mammoth began operations in 1813, and in 1865 Weyer's Cave in Virginia, now known as Grand Caverns, opened for business. Twin Lakes Cave was opened to the public in 1870, just two years after its discovery. It is interesting to know what publicity was resorted to in this new enterprise of cave showmanship in America. Facing the yawning sinkhole (main entrance) was a dance hall where lively quadrilles were executed to the tune of a cracked fiddle. Another building housed dressing apartments for ladies and gentlemen, a large dining room and an office with a bar attached. The Connecticut Western Railroad was under construction nearby to bring people from distant towns.
Commercial caves in 1870 were a novelty, and many of the conveniences enjoyed today in cave sightseeing were unknown. Dignity was sacrificed. Entrance fee at Twin Lakes was ten cents. This payment entitled a man to an oil cloth suit and a sou'wester, and a woman was given voluminous bloomers and a net for her hair. Each person was given a piece of adamantine candle, about three inches long placed uprightly on the end of a horizontal pudding-stick-shaped piece of wood, about a foot in length. On leaving the cave they had all the marks of a modern spelunker who expects the inevitable mud bath in cave crawling. The cave was operated by Mr. John Odenbreit. The property was owned by a Mr. Miles who, during a 'coon hunt, lost a dog and in the search that followed, the cavern was discovered. The cave reverted to a "wild" status when the venture proved to be unprofitable.
The main entrance is at the bottom of a thirty-foot crater, or sinkhole, and it is impressive to stand beneath the hemlocks and gaze down into the funnel that is about forty feet in diameter, and to realize that here is one of nature's wonders - a cavern, with acreage below ground. Here delicate artistry in stone is preserved from weathering influences. The original crawl-way has been enlarged to admit a person to walk in a stooped position for some 75 feet and beyond that is adequate head room. A drop or 'chimney" is encountered that takes one down fifteen feet to the next level, and thence the winding tunnel grades down to the main floor level several hundred feet farther on. The first formation to become noticeable is a four-foot column in the first large room. At one time the cave was elaborately decorated but vandals have been at work and now stalactites are found mainly on the 50-foot ceilings or in the inaccessible crevices. There is a waterfall, two natural bridges and many rooms, alcoves, balconies and climbing invitations on every hand, It is a veritable wonderland, and hours can be spent there without a perceptive passage of time. The "long crawl" connects with the main cave near the column and leads to another entrance through a wide but low ceilinged portion of the cave.
A few years ago a "register" was placed on a tree near the sinkhole entrance by the National Speleological Society and over a period of two months 140 people recorded their names. Some came from Florida and Canada and other from as far away as Switzerland. A boy in Baytown, Texas, who registered there, wrote that he looked forward to visiting his grandmother in Connecticut each Summer because it gave him an opportunity to see Twin Lakes Cave. Between Texas and Connecticut are some of the most beautiful caves in the world, but Twin Lakes Cave has something that brings people a long way to see. A cave--man with nearly a thousand cave visitations to his credit acknowledges Twin Lakes Cave to be a remarkable cavern, and be further states that Litchfield County has beautiful scenery - below ground
There are many other caves in Connecticut and perhaps some that have never been found. The ones mentioned are of outstanding interest in the Litchfield Hills.
In Vol. VI No. 2 of the Lure is a remarkable Indian story of Pahke's Cave in Hartland.