Cave-In-Rock, IL

Cave-In-Rock, IL

Saturday, July 7, 2012

We woke up this morning and were docked no more than 50 yards from the cave at Cave-in-Rock.  The cave is in the bluffs overlooking the Ohio River, and in the 1800s was  base for outlaws and pirates, particularly those intent on robbing keelboats, flatboats and steamboats of their valuables. 

The unusual geographic features of the cave also hosted its share of bandits and serial killers.  The cave itself is 55 feet wide and was created by wind and water eroding the stone and is now the centerpiece of Cave-In-Rock State Park.

But, in 1790, it was known as the operational base of counterfeiters Philip Alston and John Duff.  By 1797, it had become the haven for river pirates led by Samuel Mason who took the opportunity to expand the cave’s operations into the tavern business, a brothes and gambling den.

The Harpe Brothers were probably the most notable for killing the sole survivor of a pirate raid at Potts Springs.  The site of the atrocity later became Potts Inn which was known as “a human death trap for unsuspecting travelers” who would show up, spend the night and be robbed and then slaughtered.  The two brothers, known as Big Harpe and Little Harpe, were the first serial killers in the U.S.   There is a town a short way down the river from Cave-In-Rock called Harpe’s Head.  These two brothers were so notorious that when Big Harpe was killed, no one believed it until he was decapitated and his head was put on a pole in the nearest town, thus becoming Harpe’s Head. 

Walt Disney used the cave as inspiration for Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, and at Disney World on Tom Sawyer’s Island, riders of the Liberty Belle riverboat are treated to “Cut-Throat Corner” and “Wilson’s Cave Inn”.  MGM went so fare as to film a scene from its How the West Was Won at Cave-In-Rock itself.

The ship sailed at 1:00, and again, the temperatures are over 100, so sitting on the Front Porch is not an option.  We had another great lunch in the J.M. White dining room with outstanding sausage and chicken gumbo and shrimp and grits.  Tonight’s entertainment is a Mark Twain impersonator and we are having dinner with the CEO and the president of American Queen Steamboat Company.  This afternoon is for relaxing and reading in the cool, quiet of our stateroom.  More tomorrow from Henderson, KY

Oh, and to our son-in-law, Jim T., Charlie brought you a rock from Cave-In-Rock.