FROM THE CAVING COMMUNITY:

Reviewed by John Dunham, The Northeastern Caver, December 2021

Underground Empires is the latest work of northeastern caver, journalist, author, and Howe Caverns alum Dana Cudmore, whose former works include The Remarkable Howe Caverns Story (1990) and the shorter Unearthing Howes Cave (2005), as well as a dozen articles in The Northeastern Caver on various parts of Howe Caverns history and other Schoharie County caves and cave exploration. Cudmore draws effectively on these prior works, along with plenty of new material, to tell a comprehensive story of the discovery, development, reopening, management, and ongoing saga of Howe Caverns from 1842 to the present day. The book begins and ends with the cave but travels along the way to the surrounding caves and communities.

The basic story of Lester Howe’s cave, in outline, is well known among the northeastern caving community. Yet, in telling this version of the story of Howe Caverns, Cudmore takes us on many interesting and engaging side trips into the historical motivations and context. These include the personalities connected with Howe’s Cave and Howe Caverns both; the development and rivalry around Secret Caverns and its impact on Knox Cave and Schoharie Caverns; the geology and mystery around Howe Caverns’ connections to surrounding caves; the cement industry and local economy; the 2007 sale of Howe Caverns; and numerous other and sundry asides that make for a well-rounded and enjoyable read.

Of particular note, Cudmore deftly incorporates many contemporary writings and reports ranging from exploration to descriptions of the caves, to flavorful advertising copy. Historical photographs, some newly published in this volume, join the contemporary excerpts to immerse the reader in a compelling tale spanning 180 years. The interplay between historical material and Cudmore’s own research is a particular highlight and strength of Underground Empires.

In structure, Underground Empires is part new writing and part new edition. The book is broken into four sections, two reprinting and updating Cudmore’s older books, and two adding new history and context to the story.

Section I is an updated and expanded edition of The Remarkable Howe Caverns Story ,including the addition of new photographs. What’s more, those photographs included in the original 1990 version are here printed in far better quality. To my mind, Cudmore has effectively expanded some of the detail about Lester Howe and the cave, while retaining the delightful combination of historic writing and modern analysis (the 1990 version was reviewed by Mike Narducci in the June 1993 NECaver). Section I holds up well and the updates are generally careful and informative.

Section II, which revises the 2005 Unearthing Howes Cave, has seen similar updates to Section I, though the piece was shorter to begin with. Nevertheless, Cudmore incorporates some new material and context to make Section II a worthy accompaniment, and it adds the main context for understanding the caverns’ impact on the surrounding community and industry, and vice versa.

With section III, the story of Howe Caverns from 1990 to the present, the book enters new territory. Some small parts have been previously printed in The Northeastern Caver over the years as contemporary reports, but Cudmore has done an historical service by compiling and describing these past three decades of developments while the primary source material is readily available. We learn of the gradual decline in visitation over the 1990s leading to the development of adventure tours and some additional exploration. The sale of the cave in 2007 is well covered and described with fairness to all parties. Some of the new owners’ innovations and plans for the cave may raise eyebrows among cavers, as they have done historically, but Cudmore also does a nice job emphasizing the owners’ dedication to the cave and its ongoing accessibility. The future of Howe Caverns is unknown of course, but the feeling the reader is left with is one of history and hopefulness both.

Section III more or less concludes the story from the Howe Caverns side of things, but Section IV brings in several related stories that intersect with parts of the first three sections, mainly those in Section I. As a minor critique on my part, I feel this section would have been better placed after Section I rather than serving as an appendix, but that is somewhat a matter of preference.

Since I have broached the areas of critique, there are only two others I feel worthy of mention, related to some overlooked references, and the absence of a good map. My first quibble as a reader is that, in the author’s updating of some material, there are a few trifling references that appear to have been overlooked and thus seem out of order. For example, Cudmore tells a detailed story in Chapter 6 of noxious fumes from the quarry entering the show cave, potentially contributing to the deaths of two employees. The incident and one of the employees are referenced in much less detail a few chapters later as if they are new to the reader, lending a slight disconnectedness to the flow of the tale. However, there are only a few of these moments, and in most cases the author has added relevant notes and context to all older references (such as noting which caves are currently owned and managed by the Northeastern Cave Conservancy).

My second quibble is the absence of any readable and complete map of Howe Caverns, in particular labeled with all the historic and modern place names. Since so much of the story revolves around Howe Caverns, and so much of the historical and modern text refers to specific parts of the cave, it would have been extremely helpful to be able to look at a full map showing where, for example, the Bell of Moscow/Giant Beehive sits in relation to the elevators (relevant to the fumes incident mentioned in the previous paragraph), or to see the different positions of the historic and modern Bridal Chambers. This is also a minor quibble because I know that no such comprehensive map exists, and Cudmore would have had to undertake creating it, or at least relabeling it, based on several historic maps. Portions of the historic maps are included in Underground Empires, but they are mainly printed too small to be intelligible.

A locator map of the main places and caves, at the community scale, is included in the beginning, and that includes a line plot of Howe Caverns. However, the plot does not have any of the in-cave places marked, and the locater map is slightly hampered by being printed into the binding.

Overall, I found this an enjoyable and compelling read, and for northeastern cavers interested in the history of our caves and our area, it is indispensable. I already had a passing familiarity with the history of Howe Caverns and its place in the history of northeastern caving, but I feel that Underground Empires presents that history comprehensively, with fascinating detail, and with careful attention to its subject and all persons involved.

In sum, I consider Dana Cudmore’s Underground Empires well worth a place on the shelf next to Roger Brucker’s The Longest Cave. In that respect as well as in history, it puts Howe Caverns and Mammoth Cave side by side.

FROM THE NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

By Roland Vinyard, NSS News, March 2024

Underground Empires is the Howe Caverns (Schoharie County, New York) story, told in a way that both cavers and the public can enjoy. Dana Cudmore was a Howe Caverns guide and a local caver in his youth and has kept in touch with many of those local old timers. Many are still active and connected to the local caving community, and Dana treats caving in the same way that we do. It works. Primarily written for tourists and local folks, care was taken to appeal to cavers as well. For instance, there is none of the usual “spelunker”, followed by an explanation. He says “caver,” which anybody can understand. If you thought that Clay Perry’s title was stolen (Underground Empire, first published in1948), Cudmore clearly explains this was done to pay homage to Perry’s classic cave book.

Intertwined with the Howe Caverns story is the account of the adjoining quarry, and the ups and downs of both enterprises. Meticulously researched, mostly from primary sources, this is an easily readable history of both businesses. Their story is brought forward to today. There were earlier editions published in 1990 and 2005, but this one is far more comprehensive and covers events never dreamed of when first published. Both businesses unexpectedly now have new owners and quite different management than was exercised in the past. Located in the quarry, the historic Cave House is now dedicated as a museum of quarrying, caves and geology. I know of no other such place (or general readership book) that deals with these so closely related subjects, ones which now operate somewhat symbiotically.

However, the book goes further than that. There is a fair amount of information on Secret Caverns, Howe’s rival just up the road. Lester Howe’s purported “Garden of Eden Cave,” if it exists, is discussed thoroughly. And, as former show caves, the NSS’s Schoharie Caverns and Knox Cave are both covered, though in less detail. In addition, several wild cave names appear here and there, along with references to the NSS, where appropriate. A bit to my surprise, two of the state’s largest, Barrack Zourie and Skull Cave, are not mentioned. Both are tightly closed now, which may explain the omission. He does occasionally speak of our own McFail’s Cave. But in reality, 90% of the text is concerned with the currently operating public attractions. Visitors to these caves are the people who Cudmore must envision as his primary audience.

The book is profusely illustrated with black and white historical photos and illustrations. There is no slick paper or color to make them pop, but they are reasonably well reproduced. Missing are cave maps, not even for Howe/ Baryte’s or Secret/Benson’s caves. To make up for this, there is a good two-page area map which illustrates the relationship of these caves with overlaid line drawings. The NSS’s first owned cave, McFail’s and its exit at Doc Shaul’s Spring along with the area’s roads, rivers and mountains are also represented. The book includes a list of his sources and a second list, a fun and useful cast of characters. Among them are several cavers whom I know or knew, along with families whose members or descendants are people I know. It was fun to be reading along to find, suddenly, he’s talking about one of your friends or acquaintances or their ancestors.

Cudmore also makes extensive use of quotations, ones which are frequently too long in my opinion. Had they been edited it would have been a shorter book, or there’d have been space to cover other subjects. If you have interest in show caves with a very long and colorful history or have a connection to the area from caving visits, Underground Empires is a book that cries to be added to your collection.