Odd, Old News: A Wondrous Cave Continued…

Bear Buttes. [Source unknown]

PART THREE—Wherein Gustavus Schumacher, the heroic conqueror of the “Man-eating Snake of the South Fork” saves a life and has another surprise encounter…

[Our story from last week continues]

DEMOCRATIC STANDARD

MAY 15, 1880: 

So intent was Morse in watching the torch as it descended like a meteor that he leaned far over the precipice, farther and farther as it seemed like the torch went down, into what now seemed like a bottomless pit. Suddenly the torch went out with hissing sound, accompanied by a splash of water.

Morse strained his balancing powers to their utmost, and the suddenness with which the light was extinguished seemed to snap the tension of his nerves and cause them to relax. He felt himself following the torch had had been watching to intently, without the power to save himself, and certainly would have fallen had not Gus Schumacker, who had instinctively recoiled when the torch was thrown, seen the situation and made a timely demonstration, exclaiming “Ach, vat you do?” at the same time seizing the falling man by the shoulder, hurling him back and prostrate to the floor.

For a few moments the whole party were speechless. The imminent peril had come so suddenly, so awful in its nature that every nerve seemed perfectly paralyzed. The circumstance effect fully quenched all desire for further exploration that day, and with a common impulse they all now made movement to retrace their steps. They found little difficulty in doing this, as they had kept their course well in mind, and noted landmarks as they proceeded. They returned through the chamber of many columns, through the narrow fissure, through the wild, broken apartment, up the ladder, crawled on their hands and knees through the low tunnel and stood in the chalky chamber of niches.

Securing the image which they had deposited here they made their way in the great hall, their cheerfulness increasing as the placed distance between them and the scene of the nearly fatal accident. Emerging into the narrow ravine they found that daylight was nearly gone, the sun having set half an hour before. Procuring wood and water they selected a place inside the cave and made camp for the night.

The next morning they set out to explore some of the remaining cavers which led off from the large hall. It would take too much space to follow the party in their intricate meanderings for second day. Suffice it to say that the remaining six chambers connecting with the large hall all seemed to be confined to the chalk formation. They found many evidences of human occupation in various forms, some which were easily understood, others were an absolute puzzle. They spend the second day in a really pleasant manner, and turned their steps toward the outer world much elated with their discoveries.

Arriving at the end of the last chalky passage where by an elbow it connects with the outer passage way, they entered the latter directly facing the small low aperture which they had noticed in the right hand wall upon entering the cave. Though thinking that their explorations were at an end for time, yet they approached this hole to make some casual examination of it.

Upon nearing the spot they became aware of a cold draft of air which was strongly tainted with a disagreeable, musky smell. No one paid any particular attention to this, however, but Gus Schumacher who, as soon as he got into the draft suddenly raised his eyebrows and commencing snuffling the air and muttering to himself, “I schmells someding!” The passage was low, but could be entered by stooping a little. The floor was quite damp; the strong current of air which met them gave promise of a considerable cavern with which this passage connected.

After a few moments consultation the party concluded to camp another night and in the morning take another look and see to what extent it ran. This they accordingly did.

Gus Schumacker shook his head and kept muttering, “I schmells somedings!” and though Morse and Craig were talking over their discoveries til a late hour of the night Gus relapsed into a state of moody uneasiness and kept silent.

He did not sleep much, and in the morning he got up with a discontented scowl on his forehead. He mechanically started with the others through the first entrance way. An indefinable dread seemed to have fallen upon him, yet some morbid desire, some strange attraction impelled him forward, keeping as silent as if he had been hermetically sealed.

His companions noticed this and asked if he was ailing. This only seemed to disquiet him all the more and with an impatient gesture exclaimed: “Yust you go on!”

They then proceeded, carrying only the two torches as they did not propose to push their way over any serious difficulty. Stooping over they entered the narrow passage, Morse first, carrying a torch, Gus next, followed by Pete Craigie carrying the other torch.

The cavern floor, as they proceeded, descended very perceptibly and they were soon able to stand erect. The walls were black and much resembled the chambers at the furthest extremity of the first day’s explorations. The passage continued narrow, though the trip was higher by reason of the descending floor, which became more wet and slippery as they advanced. The moisture smell before-mentioned became more and more offensive, which brought forth copious remarks from Morse and Craigie, while Gus was evidently getting more and more excited and watchful though he uttered not a word.

They had proceeded thus through a somewhat irregular passage when they turned abruptly to the left. It appeared to Morse that the structure of the floor had been disturbed by something being dragged over it, but the marks were indistinct. After proceeding about twenty feet from the marks mentioned they emerged suddenly into an extensive apartment, black and dingy, and here the musky stench became almost stifling.

Gus Schumacher was sniffing the air and seemed almost wild with apprehensive and excitement. Just then they heard a peculiar sound emanating from the darker portion of the cavern. It sounded something like the croaking of a frog, only that it must have proceeded from a creature as large as an alligator. There came the sound of something subtly beating upon the wet, moldy floor. The party instinctively retreated. They stopped to consider. Each had a camp knife and navy revolver strapped to him. It seemed absurd for three men to run away from a little noise in the dark. They therefore braced up with some the Dale & Ward’s medium, and cautiously re-entered the room again. Again the disturbance commenced. Three men slowly advanced torch in one hand and pistol in the other. Another croaking bark and slapping of the mud.A single red eye was discerned through the darkness down close to the ground. A few steps more and they could see a horrible looking head, twelve or fourteen inches across, flat and shaped like a round pointed shovel, the underlip hanging over like the underlip of a plow horse. One eye, the right one, seemed to be closed, but the other one glared with intensified malignity.

Gus Schumacker, who had been keeping somewhat the rear, snuffling and muttering to himself, now ran his head under Morse’s uplifted torch arm and frantically pointing to the hideous creature exclaimed:

“Mine got! Dat ish my schnake. You see him! You see dat blind eye! I shoot him out! Yust look at him! I shoot him four, five, six times. You see him.No one believe me. You see him now. Dat ish my schnake!”

From what could be seen it appeared more like an alligator than a snake. They moved to the left to get a better view of the body. The reptile kept up a croaking growl which kept them in constant fear of attack. Getting to one side they found it to be some fifteen or sixteen feet in length, or a dark brown color, with two legs or arms on each side very much resembling the arms of a mud turtle. His tail was thrashing the floor showing the displeasure of the monster at the intrusion. He appeared to be very slothful in action.

Craigie threw a piece of rock which struck him on the nose, but he only responded by a more savage growl. Having inspected the famous snake of South Fork to their entire satisfaction the party were very glad to get out of the stifling stench which his snakeship emitted. Upon emerging from the low narrow hole into the large outer passage they set to work to wall up the passage so as to corral the reptile.

This done they started for Garberville to tell of their wonderful discover.

The mouth of the cave is at the elevation of only about seven hundred feet above the bed of South Fork and it is thought that during the high last winter, while the water was running in at the mouth of the cave this animal must have taken refuge in its chambers, the water suddenly receding left him a prisoner.

Other exploring parties are fitting out for a trip to the underground world.

Earlier Odd and Old News:

• Odd, Old News: A Cave in Bear Buttes
• Biggest Rattlesnake Ever?
• The Legend of Humboldt’s Loch Ness Monster
• Return Of The Man Eating Snake Of The South Fork (First ‘Viral’ Story From SoHum)
• Schumacher’s Snake as Caught by the Press
• A Curious Cave in the Eel River Valley
• Séance Shortened by Spirited Spirit
• Odd, Old News: A Cave in Bear Buttes (Parts One and Two)