Carvers Cave

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16 RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY

Native Americans have always re erredto Carver’s Cave as Wakan Tibi, the

Dwelling o the Great Spirit. JonathanCarver (1710–1780) visited what hecalled the “Great Cave” in 1766 andagain in 1767, and it became the earliestMinnesota cave in the published literaturewhen the rst edition o Carver’s best-selling Travels Through the Interior Partsof North America appeared in 1778. 1 Many more accounts o visits to the cavesubsequently appeared in the historicaltravel literature. While it will be shownhere that the cave has changed little overlong stretches o time, the overall impres-sion readers get rom some o these ac-counts is exactly the opposite. 2

Carver’s description o the cave, crudethough it is, is recognizable even today.His account gives modern readers a senseo the site’s geology, especially the na-ture o the rock in which the cave is situ-ated. In what is perhaps the most heavilyquoted passage rom his Travels, Carverwrites that:

About thirty miles below the Falls o St.Anthony, at which I arrived the tenth day a terI le t Lake Pepin, is a remarkable cave o anamazing depth. The Indians term it Wakon-teebe, that is, the Dwelling o the Great Spirit.The entrance into it is about ten eet wide, theheight o it ve eet. The arch within is near

teen eet high and about thirty eet broad.The bottom o it consists o ne clear sand.About twenty eet rom the entrance beginsa lake, the water o which is transparent, andextends to an unsearchable distance; or thedarkness o the cave prevents all attempts to

acquire a knowledge o it. I threw a smallpebble towards the interior parts o it with myutmost strength: I could hear that it ell intothe water, and notwithstanding it was o sosmall a size, it caused an astonishing and hor-rible noise that reverberated through all thosegloomy regions. I ound in this cave manyIndian hieroglyphicks [ sic], which appearedvery ancient, or time had nearly covered

them with moss, so that it was with di culI could trace them. They were cut in a rudmanner upon the inside o the walls, whiwere composed o a stone so extremely sothat it might be easily penetrated with kni e: a stone every where to be ound nthe Mississippi. The cave is only accessiblby ascending a narrow, steep passage that lienear the brink o the river.3

St. Paul Underground History and Geology at Carver’s Cave

Greg A. Brick

Carver made a great uss about thiscave; and it used to be described

in the old geographies, as one o the natural curiosities o North America.”

—James Goodhue (1851)

Figure 1. Carver’s Cave circa 1875, showing how much roomier the cave was in the past. The prominent horizontal line in the sandstone above the man on the left is today located at waist height. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.



RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 17

In 1852 pioneer Midwestern geologistDavid Dale Owen (1807–1860) coinedthe widely publicized name “St. PeterSandstone” or the rock layer in whichthe cave is ound, based on outcrops alongthe St. Peter’s (now Minnesota) River atFort Snelling. 4 In modern times, geolo-gists have determined that this sandstonedates rom the Ordovician Period (505 to438 million years ago).

The Cave’sChanging InteriorCarver’s Cave is a spring-cut cave, ormedby the eroding away o sand grains byfowing water, a process that engineersand geologists call “piping.” 5 In orm, itbelongs to the tubular variety o St. Petercave.6 Throughout the time it has been

known, the cave has undergone repeatedepisodes o naturally sealing itsel withdebris rom the cli s above and beingdug open again by some enterprising in-dividual, about once each generation. Thelake level inside the cave has fuctuatedconsiderably over the years dependingon whether this cli debris has dammedback the spring water. Because the promi-nent bedding plane in the sandstone that

orms the ceiling o the cave is readilyvisible in old photographs, it serves asa distinct marker line that indicates the

fuctuation o the water level over theyears. Consequently these photos pro-vide an easy way to gauge where thingsstood at the time the photos were takenin relation to the water level in the cavetoday. From the examination o suchphotos, it is apparent that the cave wasmuch roomier at various times during thenineteenth century ( Figure 1 ).

The early Minnesota geologist NewtonHorace Winchell (1839–1914) wrote that“Carver’s cave, date[s] back to pre-Cre-taceous age,” 7 which is much too old,according to our present understandingo the regional geology. Rather than be-longing to the Age o the Dinosaurs, asWinchell’s statement might suggest, thecave most likely ormed more recently,when the Mississippi River gorge to whichit drains was carved in pre- or interglacialtimes. Once the gorge had ormed, it pro-vided a lower level to which groundwaterin the sandstone o the blu s could drain,allowing the piping process to occur. 8

Nineteenth-century travelers’ accountso the cave yield considerable insightto its history. When Major Stephen H.Long, (1784–1864) U.S. Corps o Topo-graphical Engineers, visited and rstnamed “Carver’s Cave” on July 16, 1817,he had this to say:

Two miles above the village [Kaposia] on thesame side o the [Mississippi] river is CarversCave, at which we stopped to break ast.However interesting it may have been, it doesnot possess that character in a very high de-gree at present. We descended it with lightedcandles to its lower extremity. The entranceis very low & about 8 eet broad, so that aman in order to enter it must be completelyprostrate. The angle o descent within thecave is about 25° . . . . In shape it resemblesa Baker’s oven. The cavern was once prob-ably much more extensive. My interpreterin ormed me that since his remembrance theentrance was not less than 10 eet high, & itslength ar greater than at present. 9

Another account, by the explorerHenry R. Schoolcra t (1793–1864), dates

rom 1820, not long a ter Long’s rstvisit:

The cave itsel , appears to have undergone aconsiderable alteration since that [Carver’s]period. . . . As the rock is o a very riable na-ture, and easily acted upon by running water, itis probable that the lake has been discharged,thus enlarging the boundaries o the cave. 10

These early perceptions o change atCarver’s Cave were illusory, however,because both travelers had almost cer-tainly con used the cave with other,nearby caves. In Long’s case, it has beenalleged 11 that he con used Carver’s withDayton’s Cave—a much smaller cave—while it is known with more certaintythat Schoolcra t con used Carver’s withFountain Cave, a much larger cave. Eitherway, the cave appeared to the bewildered

traveler to have undergone a veritablemetamorphosis in the hal century sinceCarver’s original visit.

Even more bizarre, however, was theaccount o the eccentric Italian travelerGiacomo C. Beltrami (1779–1855), in1823. He con ounded Carver’s and Foun-tain caves in his memoirs. 12 By doingthis, he produced a hybrid cave, which hecalled the “Cave o Trophonius,” re erringto a amous Greek cave that containedan underground river where an oraclewas consulted. 13 The physical descrip-tion o Beltrami’s cave undeniably be-longs to Fountain Cave; yet he attributedto it Native Am erican ceremonies and the“hieroglyphics” associated with Carver’sCave, even using the name “ Whakoon-Thiiby,” which pertains to the latter cave. 14

Nonetheless, Carver’s Cave was unde-niably undergoing a small amount o phys-ical change over time. The French émigréscientist Joseph N. Nicollet (1786–1843),assisted by others, dug the cave open in

Figure 2. Burnley’s map of Carver’s Cave, 1913, showing conjectured rooms at the back end of the cave. Map courtesy of the Ramsey County Historical Society.




1837, and in his account we see hints o the natural process o cli retreat. Nicolletreported that “Its entrance has been, ormore than thirty years, closed by the dis-integrated debris o the limestone cappingthe sandstone in which it is located. . . . Isaw enough to satis y mysel o the accu-racy o Carver’s description.”15

Changes at theCave’s EntranceHere also we see a change o emphasis

rom internal changes at Carver’s Caveto those a ecting its entrance. In 1851

historian and ounder o MacalesterCollege, Edward D. Neill (1823–1893)wrote, “The cave has since then been ma-terially altered by the tools o time, rost,air, and water. Many years ago, the roo o the cave ell in, thus exposing to thelight the side walls.” 16 Writing in 1852,Daniel S. Curtiss, a journalist, was moreemphatic:

Among the most singular or attractive curios-ities in Minnesota, beside the great Falls, are

the caves, or subterranean lakes and creeks.Carver’s Cave is one o some note; but it canrarely ever be explored, as the entrance to itis constantly changing and being obstructedby sliding rocks and earth, which requently

ll up the ori ce, so that there is no accessor several days, till the little stream issuingrom it bursts out again, leaving a passage,

sometimes, through which a man can enterand explore, though it is a hazardous experi-ment, not o ten attempted; yet, within thecave there is a beauti ul crystal lake, withshining rock walls and inclosures [ sic].17

By 1867, the centenary o Carver’s pur-ported treaty with the Sioux Indiansat the cave, there is another change o emphasis. St. Paul historian J. FletcherWilliams reported that “The cave re-mained unchanged in appearance orover a century.” He goes on to say:“Within the past two years, however, sadchanges have taken place. The St. Paul& Chicago Railroad, having condemned

or their use the strip o land along theriver bank, including the ‘blu ,’ or cli

in which is the cave, have dug it downand nearly destroyed it.” 18 At this poiin history, natural changes were overtaken by human alterations.

The most amous reopening o CarveCave, which generated by ar the mopublicity, was that by John H. Colwellon November 5, 1913. 19 Since the caventrance was concealed by sand deposits that had allen rom the cli over years, one o the methods used by Colweto relocate the cave was to trace the springwater leaking rom the deposits at the oo the blu .20

On November 20, W.H. Emmons, heado the geology department at the Universito Minnesota, visited the cave along witother university men. “Pro . Emmonsit was reported, “ventured the theory tha

the cave was worked out in the limestone[sic] ormation in prehistoric times by underground waters and that the lake may extend a considerable distance.” 21

In the wake o Colwell’s activity, journalist Charles T. Burnley produced a con

jectural map o the cave that resemblethe gut chambers o a cow, showing several rooms beyond the present back eno the cave (Figure 2 ).22 Most mysteriouo all, and not even depicted on Burnleyimaginative map, was an alleged “ ourtchamber” at the remotest part o the cav

with “a ceiling nearly ty eet high. . A small stream o water gushes out oone wall about twenty eet above thfoor.” 23 In order or us to evaluate theclaims or a ourth chamber nowadaythe lake inside Carver’s Cave would needto be entirely drained, something not easily accomplished. 24 It appears likely thathese discovery claims were part o thso-called “War or Fame” that engul eColwell and his rival discoverers i1913.25 Consequently they have no reabearing on the geology o Carver’s Cav

Amid the perceptions o larger changat Carver’s Cave, however, what’s thereality? The best summary is given bthe local antiquarian and archeologistTheodore H. Lewis, in 1898. Lewis beganwith his own length measurements: “Abouthe year 1857 Dr. Edward D. Neill had asurvey made o the cave . . . total lengto the cave, 117 eet. . . . My own mesurements, made October 27, 1878, are a

ollows . . . total length inside, 113 eet.”

Figure 3. Interior of Carver’s Cave circa 1870. Photo by W.H. Illingworth. Notice the dome in the ceiling, which no longer exists. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.



RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORY 19

This throws doubt on the claim that about22 eet o the cave entrance was removedby the railroads in 1869. 27 Un ortunately,when the railroad expanded its roadbed,most o what was carved away held thecave’s petroglyphs.

“According to Dr. Neill,” Lewis con-tinued, “a portion o the roo had allen inmany years previous to the date o his sur-vey, and the cavity thus ormed was calledthe ‘dome.’” This dome can easily be seennear the entrance in classic photographstaken by William H. Illingworth, circa1870 (Figure 3 ). The dome no longer ex-ists, as the present writer can attest rompersonal observation, so the cave de -nitely has been shortened by this much atleast. St. Paul druggist Robert O. Sweenydra ted a map o the cave, presumably

about the time o the 1867 centenary, andwith certain exceptions it di ers littlerom today’s measurements and passage

con guration (Figure 4 ).28 In conclusion,the overall changes at Carver’s Cave (evenadding the results o human inter erence)appear to have been airly small.

The Cave TodayThe present writer, who began mak-ing regular visits to Carver’s Cave in1988, can a rm that the entrance hasde nitely been slowly eroding back-

ward, primarily due to a combinationo natural erosion (accelerated by rootwedging) and human activities—per-haps local cave seekers trying to dig past

the steel doors that were used to sealthe entrance in 1977. Much o the inte-rior sur ace o the cave has been scoredover with chisel marks, perhaps datingto the occupation o the cave by home-less men during the Great Depression. 29 Owing to the unnel-shaped morphol-ogy o the cli ace above the cave,which channels cascading debris, an al-luvial cone ormed in ront o the steeldoors over time. While the outer hal o this cone—outside the cave—wasscooped away several years ago duringlandscaping or the newly establishedBruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, theother hal —inside the cave—remains.As you proceed arther into the lake in-side the cave, you come to a drop-o into deeper water, marking the edge o

the debris cone.The spring water, which fows romCarver’s Cave at 25 gallons per minute,refects the average, year-round tempera-ture o the groundwater at the latitude o St. Paul, a chilly 52° Fahrenheit. 30 Whilea ull biological survey o the cave hasnever been conducted, the author hasregularly observed amphipods, a sort o crustacean more commonly known as ascud, or reshwater shrimp, in the lakethat lls the cave, along with white pla-narians (fatworms), snails, minnows,

and rogs. Indeed, a garbled report o these amphipods, common in cold springwaters in Minnesota, may have led to thereport o “blind cray sh” in the cave in

1913.31 The Carver’s Cave ecosystem,lacking photosynthetic inputs, is basedon organic detritus, chiefy decayingleaves that have blown in through thecave entrance, providing ood or theamphipods, which in turn serve as prey

or shes that happen to enter the cave. 32

The most unusual creature observedin Carver’s Cave, however, was a beaver,in 1999, which had assembled a cacheo sticks on the beach just inside the en-trance (Figure 5 ). The present writer haso ten wondered whether the beaver’spresence in the cave actually strength-ens the argument or the existence o themysterious inner rooms beyond the sumpat the back end o the cave, as that is thesort o situation where beavers pre er tomaintain their lodges, when they do in-habit caves. Sometimes beavers will evenconstruct arti cial sumps in caves, where

none previously existed, just or the pro-tection it a ords them.33

Greg A. Brick has contributed severalarticles on caves for “St. Paul Under-ground” over the years. He is a collegegeology instructor and editor of the Jour-nal o Spelean History. His latest book,Subterranean Twin Cities, published bythe University of Minnesota Press in2009, contains an extended account of thehistory of Carver’s Cave.

Figure 4. Sweeny’s map of Carver’s Cave,circa 1867. This is very similar to a map of the cave that was drafted in 1981. Map courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Figure 5. Interior of Carver’s Cave, 1999, showing cache of sticks left by beaver on beach inside cave entrance. Photo courtesy of the author.




NOTES

1. Alan R. Woolworth andNancy L. Woolworth, “Carver’s Cave: An Enduring

Landmark on the Upper Mississippi River,” in E. Calvin Alexander, Jr., ed., An Introductionto Caves of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Guidebook for the 1980 National SpeleologicalSociety Convention (Huntsville, Ala: NationalSpeleological Society), 50–58.

2. Greg A. Brick, “Historical Percep tions o the Rateo Geological Change at Carver’s Cave,” MinnesotaSpeleology Monthly 38 (November–December2006): 110–12.

3. Jonathan Carver, Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America (Minneapolis: Ross &Haines, Inc., 1956), pp. 63–65 ( acsimile reprint o the third London edition, 1781).

4. David D. Owen, Report of a Geological Surveyof Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota (Philadelphia:

Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1852), 69. The name“St. Peter” was rst used by Owen in an 1847Congressional report.

5. Greg A. Brick, “A Piping Voice: Theorieso Cave Genesis in Minnesota Prior to 1880,”

Journal of Spelean History 38 (January–June2004): 22–23.

6. Greg A. Brick, “Classi cation and Morphologyo St. Peter Sandstone Piping Caves in Minnesota,”

Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 59 (December1997): 168.

7. Newton H. Winchell, “The Geology o RamseyCounty,” in The Geology of Minnesota, Final

Report, v. 2 (St. Paul: Pioneer Press Company,1888), 374.

8. R.K. Hogberg and T.N. Bayer, Guide to the Cavesof Minnesota (St. Paul: Minnesota GeologicalSurvey, 1967), 12–14, 20–21.

9. Stephen H. Long, “Voyage in a Six-Oared Ski to the Falls o Saint Anthony in 1817,” Minnesota

Historical Society Collections 2 (1889): 7–88.

10. Henry R. Schoolcra t, Narrative Journal of Travels through the Northwestern Regions of theUnited States (Albany, N.Y.: E. & E. Hos ord,1821), 208.

11. Elliott Coues, The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike (Minneapolis: Ross & Haines,1965), v. 1: 198–201, n. 30. Even many years later,other nearby caves were still being con used withCarver’s Cave; or an example, see “Carver’s Caveand Its Black, Bottomless Abyss,” St. Paul Globe,May 24, 1903.

12. Giacomo C. Beltrami, A Pilgrimage in America (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, Inc., 1962), pp. 191–93 (reprint o the 1828 edition).

13. A.S. Mercatante, The Facts on File Encyclopedia

of World Mythology and Legend, 2nd ed., re-vised by J.R. Dow (Facts on File, Inc., 2004), see“Trophonius.”

14. Despite the con usion between Carver’s andFountain caves among explorers, it is airly easy totell them apart in the literature even when they havebeen misnamed. Carver’s Cave is the short cavebelow town containing a lake, whereas FountainCave is the long cave above town containing astream. Stratigraphically, the two caves di er in thatCarver’s Cave is located near the middle o the sand-stone layer, whereas Fountain Cave is located near itstop. There are subtle di erences in the character o the sandstone itsel at both locations, as was percep-tively noted by Long, who visited both caves on thesame day in 1817.

15. Joseph N. Nicollet, Report Intended to Illustratea Map of the Hydrographical Basin of the Upper

Mississippi River, 26th Cong., 2d sess., Doc. 52(Washington: Blair and Rives, 1845), 72.

16. Edward D. Neill, “Wakon Teepee. Grant o Land at the Cave in Dayton’s Blu ,” Annals of the

Minnesota Historical Society (1851): 61 .

17. Daniel S. Curtiss, Western Portraiture, and Emigrant’s Guide: A Description of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa; with Remarks on Minnesota,and Other Territories (New York: J.H. Colton,1852), 125.

18. J. Fletcher Williams, “Capt. Jonathan Carver, andHis Explorations,” Collections of the Minnesota

Historical Society I (1872): 348–67.

19. Greg A. Brick, “‘Charon Trimmed His Lamp’:Carver’s Cave and the De nition o a Show Cave,”

Journal of Spelean History 41 (January–June2007): 23–26.

20. “Think They Are Near Cave,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 26, 1913.

21. “University Men at Carver’s Cave,” St. PaulPioneer Press, November 21, 1913.

22. Charles T. Burnley, “Case o the VanishingHistoric Site, Or What Happened to Carver’s Cave?”

Ramsey County History 4 (Fall 1967): 8–12.

23. “Discover Fourth Chamber,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, December 15, 1913.

24. Greg A. Brick, “Beyond the Sump: The BurnleyMap o Carver’s Cave,” Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 62 (April 2000): 40. In 1991 a scuba diverunsuccess ully attempted to dive through the lakeinto potential passages beyond; see Don Boxmeyer,“The Mysteries o Carver’s Cave,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, July 29, 1991.

25. “War or Fame on at Carver’s Cave,” St. Paul Daily News, January 6, 1914.

26. Theodore H. Lewis, “Sculptures in Carver’sCave, St. Paul, Minn.,” The Macalester Monthly I(November 1898): 37–42. By “sculptures,” Lewisis re erring to petroglyphs, among which that o therattlesnake predominated.

27. Woolworth and Woolworth, “Carver’s Cave.”Another account asserted that “The mouth [o thecave] was rst cut by the grading o the St. Paulroad, and a terwards ty to seventy- ve eewas again taken o about the year 1887, by theBurlington road” (“Pioneer Tells o Old Carver’sCave,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 26, 1913).Even more extreme, some “old settlers o Ramseycounty” told Colwell that “Carver’s cave has beenhauled away” (“Facetious Critic Daunts Him Not,”unidenti ed clipping).

28. A copy o Sweeny’s map was published in

Woolworth and Woolworth. This 1867 (?) map,which closely matches the cave now known asCarver’s, is important in establishing the true iden-tity o the cave, as there are similar caves nearby,such as Dayton’s Cave, which have been con usedwith it over the years.

29. “Carver’s Famed Cave Now Houses Colonyo Homeless, Jobless Men,” St. Paul Daily News, April 11, 1934.

30. Temperature and fow measurements were madeat Carver’s Cave on several occasions by the authorin the late 1990s. Other values measured includepH, electrical conductivity, and the amount o dis-

solved oxygen in the cave lake. While it is uncertainhow extensive the subterranean spring-shed is orCarver’s Cave, it is known that in 1913, when thelake inside the cave was drained, the water level inDayton’s Cave, located about 400 eet upr iver, wasa ected; see “Blind Cray sh in Carver’s Cave,”St.Paul Pioneer Press, November 13, 1913.

31. “Blind Cray sh in Carver’s Cave,” St. PaulPioneer Press, November 13, 1913. Another un-usual report was that “There is a curious vegetablegrowth in the water. Several bunches were takenout yesterday and Mr. Colwell will nd out whatit is” (“Mouth o Carver’s Cave is Reached by

Workmen,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 6,1913). It is likely that these were simply tangledmasses o tree roots, which invade the cave along

ssures in the sandstone.

32. Greg A. Brick, “Amphipods in MinnesotaCaves,” Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 62(April 2000): 31.

33. Greg A. Brick, “Beavering into Cave History,” Minnesota Speleology Monthly 39 (September2007): 108.

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Carvers Cave