Schoolhouse cave . . .

[Frogman]

Years ago my stepfather used to tell me about this cave near Creston WV where they once held school.  I have also heard that during the Civil War (War of Northern Agression) some of the local irregulars used the cave as a hideout.  I knew that the cave was located on my hunting lease, but I had never been able to find it.  At our recent lease meeting some of the local guys gave me directions to the Schoolhouse Cave.

Go out this road . . .



Down this hill . . .



Through the woods above the river . . .



And there it was . . .



A huge rock over hang and the School house cave.



The entrance . . .



I'm guessing it was about 30 feet wide at the mouth and about 40 feet deep.  The pictures I took inside didn't come out.

Here are some of the other rock formations nearby.  Pretty rough country.



We were scouting for deer sign and found quite a bit of coyote scat and tracks.  Not much deer sign.  Our mast is really low this year??  

Did a stand at another location a week ago.  No takers . . .



Jim

 

[iahntr]

Good lookin country. Cool deal with the cave. You should do a little
metal detecting in there and see if ya come up with anything.
Thanks for sharin it with us.

[SCcoyotehunter]

i always like caves.

[Yotehntr]

  Pretty cool Jim! I used to do a lot of caving myself, even went to Mexico to Golondrinas ... (I was a vertical caver) I'll have to dig up some of those old pics.

[FinsnFur]

I think I'd be scared to crawl into that thing. Did it collapse or something? ...or are the pics that deceiving?

Some of that looks like cat country

[pitw]

No wonder you didn't get one  School + Coyote = Edicated Coyotes   .  Thanks for showing me that and I'm with Jim on the part about crawling in.

[Frogman]

The cave went far enough back in that we lost the natural light.  I tried using my cell phone for light but my eyes were not adjusted well enough to see with it.  We found some names and initials carved on the wall.  One had a date from 1905.  There were lots of beer cans and bottles lying around from recent visitors.   I will go back with a light and try to get some better pictures.  The metal detector is a good idea if I just knew someone who had one??  The local club member who gave me directions to the cave said that others had metal detected and sifted through the dirt on the floor in the past.

Here is an article I found about the cave.   Found here    http://www.hurherald.com/cgi-bin/db_scripts/articles?Action=user_view&db=articles_hurherald&id=22404



EARLY CALHOUN HISTORY - Schoolhouse Cave
(03/03/2007)


By Starling Bartlett
For 185 years the Red man disputed with the White man for possession of the continent and during all that time carried on the most relentless warfare, an account of which is recorded in the history of Western civilization.

No wonder then that it required five generations for the combined army of Great Britain and her American colonies to drive them from her shores.

A spirit of revenge arose among them and prompted by it they determined to again possess the land or perish in the attempt.

Thirty-five years after crossing the Ohio they equipped war parties and sent them against the frontiers of Virginia. Every student of pioneer history knows the results.

Three trails, or war paths, were chosen by the parties where their blood was shed.

The first was up the Great Sandy. The second was up the Big Kanawha, and the third was up the Little Kanawha. It was those of the northwest who chose the trail up the Little Kanawha.

This led through what is now Calhoun County. This was the first trail to connect Gilmer, Calhoun, Wirt and Wood counties together, after the white man settled.

Many times the savages were overtaken before reaching the Ohio and made to pay dearly for their invasion.

This trail was used by the early settlers for going to market from Glenville to Burning Springs and on to Parkersburg.

It was a two-day trip. The settlers would take meat and potatoes over the trail and bring back salt and other groceries. The over-night stopping point was a large cave between Fish Pot and Muscle Shoals.

This Indian trail was used for many years after the Indians were gone from the hills and is still visible today.

The first white man to settle in the limit of the cave, which was used in early days as a school, was Stephen P. Parsons. He settled on the banks of the Little Kanawha at what is known today as Devil=s Race Track.

In 1814, his nearest neighbor was up the river where the town of Glenville now stands. He was an actual settler and made his home here. He was soon followed by new settlers in this wild retreat, including Benire Mayse, James Miller and Audrey Sharp.

The first school that was taught in Calhoun county, or within the recent limits of the county, was taught at the cave below Big Bend, at what is known as Fish Pot.

The first teacher was Robert Clifford. His first school was taught in the fall of 1818. About a dozen pupils made up his class. The seats were made by splitting small logs in half and then using wooden pins, trestle style, in the oval sides. The first school house built in the county was in 1824.

School in the cave lasted only a few weeks during the fall months, before the winter set in. Fire was built in one end, and a crack in the roof was a makeshift chimney.

Over the entrance to the cave the early settlers built a wall of hewed logs, with a small opening left which was covered by cloth.

The Bible was used as the first text book. Slates were used in place of pencil and paper, and soft limestone was cut with an ax and trimmed down with a knife to use as chalk.

Some of the favorite games of the early school children were fox and geese and hide and seek, played along the rocks.

The cave was used as a hiding place for the early Indian scout, Dan Duskey, who roamed the area during the same era of that other famous scout, Jesse Hughes. Duskey has a secret niche in the cave where he hid many times from the Indians.

During the Civil War the cave was used as a hideout by both Union and Confederate soldiers, just as it had earlier been used by the settlers in their skirmishes with the Indians.

Many times cattle, horses, sheep and other livestock were safely stowed away in the cave during those early years, and horses were kept there during the Civil War by the soldiers of both sides.

This cave, which is on the banks of the Little Kanawha River, is not easily accessible by good roads, but a trip to it proves very interesting.

The trail and the cave are two of the things left for the later generations to see, as reminders of the struggle the early white man had in settling this area.

And if you are interested, here is another article about some school kids taking a field trip to the cave . . .

http://www.hurherald.com/cgi-bin/db_scripts/articles?Action=user_view&db=articles_hurherald&id=1042

Pretty interesting!

Here are a few more pictures I took.  They didn't come out so well.









Jim

[FinsnFur]

Ok......that's better. Now that is pretty cool!

[coyote101]

Very interesting. You need to get in there with a better light.

Pat

[golfertrout]

Jim that cave is not the school house cave, it is much to small to have horses and cattle in it as you could have seen. as far as relics, there was some but they are in my possesion now was the sifting box still there?

[JohnP]

Great bit of American history.  They should be teaching "stuff" like that in our school system. 

[timbertoes]

Excellent post, thanks