Tag Archives: Schoharie NY

JOHN GEBHARD JR.’s FUNERAL DRAWS LARGE, DISTINGUISED CROWD TO SCHOHARIE

The funeral of the late John Gebhard, Jr., at Schoharie yesterday was one of the largest ever held in the county. The remains lay in state at the courthouse on Saturday and were viewed by hundreds.

Yesterday morning a special train, which had been provided through the efforts of Hon. Elliot F. Danforth and Prof. James Hall, was run from this city to accommodate friends from this city who desired to attend the services. The party consisted of Prof. James Hall, State geologist; Prof. Charles H. Peck, State botanist; Prof. J. A. Lintner, State entomologist; Prof. Chas. E. Bucher, John D. Clarke and James W. Hall, representing the State department, Hon. Elliot F. Danforth, representing the State officials, and the following: James W. Hutt, general superintendent of the National express; F. G. Babcock, proprietor of the American house; Isaac B. Cross, H. P. Dprr, Frank J. Hildbrant, Sidney S. Mitchell, G. S. Wicks, E. F. Weaver, R. J. Boylan. Jr., I. P. Ladd, Martin C. Sheeny, Aid. Hitt and Dr. S. H Wells.

**JOHN GBHARD, JR., ABOUT 1840-50, from painting held at the Old Stone Fort Museum Archive, Schoharie**

The services were held at the Lutheran church, and the structure was scarcely adequate to o contain the immense congregation that assembled. An impressive voluntary, by Miss Kittie Boyce, preceded the brief and eloquent sermon by the young- pastor, Rev. Mr. Keller.

In eulogizing the virtues of the deceased, he said; “On October 22, 1802, there was born in this county one of those happy souls who seem destined to carry sunshine wherever they go. As he grew from childhood to manhood, he panoplied himself in the confidence of the people, which brought forth rich fruit in his afterlife. Holding positions of trust and confidence almost continuously from 1832 to the time of his death, he evidenced in all his true manhood.

“Throughout this long and useful life, there was one trait of character always prominent—the kindliness of his heart. No cry of distress ever fell unheeded upon his ears, for his heart answered. Imposed upon by some, he distinguished not between such and heaven-given opportunities, and thus impoverished himself. Believing that all nature is a commentary upon Divine revelation, he forced from the dumb lips of nature many of her secrets, and attained .to no mean eminence in the world of science. Without divorcing nature from science, as so many do, he was an interested hearer of the preached word. He will be missed in this congregation, for whose church he felt almost an idolatrous love, and for which he did many helpful things.”

The Rev. Edwin Vedder offered a feeling prayer, and the congregation sang “Nearer, My God to Thee,” after which the remains were borne to the hearse and consigned to their last resting place in the Lutheran cemetery.

Among the bearers were Judge Mayham and Martin Luther Schaffer. Many of the prominent officials of the county were among the congregation, including Judge Peter S. Danforth, of Middleburgh: Seymour Boughton, Hon. John B. Grant and Hon. Hobart Krum.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Items on John Gebhard Jr. posted this month here, and on the website’s landing page, “Cave Country news, updates, new posts & features,” add new details to the early geologist’s life. The remarkable life is featured in “The Gebhards of Schoharie,” Chapter I, Section IV of Underground Empires: Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure & Enterprise in NY’s Cave Country. The book is available through this website.

RETURN TO VEENFLIET’S CAVE, SCHOHARIE

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EDITOR’S NOTE: We return here to Schoharie’s Cave of the Tapir’s Tooth (see Nov. 1, 2023, post). This account offers numerous new details on the cave’s 1831 discovery, its rich history, and challenging exploration. We meet then-owner and namesake, Richard VeenFliet, and learn he once considered opening his cave along the banks of the Schoharie Creek to the public. VeenFliet’s Cave also figures prominently in Garden of Eden lore. See last month’s post by Bob Addis.

Originally published as “The Tale of an Ancient Tapir and His Abode in the Mysterious Caves of Schoharie,” in The Knickerbocker Press, Sunday, May 1, 1933. By Ray A. Mowers. The photographs used are from that article.

Hunting a title for this unusual story, there is one that seemed perfectly swell: “The Tale of a Tapir’s Tooth.”

There is just one discrepancy while a tapir’s tooth does figure in the tale, the tale itself is not so toothsome—which, if not gaudy, is a pretty fair pun as puns go, in this era of radio comedy.

As a matter of cold, dank fact, this story deals with the rediscovery of a cave in the age-old limestone of Schoharie County—a cave found a century ago by John Gebhard Jr. the first geologist New York state ever had¹.

The tooth of a tapir was. . . But it’s a little too soon to speak of that.

Now, for at least the third time since its discovery, this cave’s almost wholly virgin area is about to be explored. And this time, perhaps, it may be prepared for public inspection. If so, it will add another to the growing string of underground curiosities in the historic Schoharie Valley².

One sultry day in the summer of 1831, John Gebhard Jr.³, geologist extraordinaire, allowed his curiosity to get the better of him—a common fault with scientists the world over. He wanted to know where that ice-cold water came from that bubbled ceaselessly from the foot of a rocky ravine on property adjoining has own.

The investigation which he began led to a yawning cavern in the limestone rocks a few hundred feet from his home, then located on the Schoharie river shore. The opening is small but still large enough for him to penetrate within the side of the rocky surface walls.

What he saw that day caused him to take a few friends into his confidence. They accompanied him to the scene. As a consequence, Jr. Gebhard and his companions expended considerable energy in clearing away debris about the mouth of the cavern. They managed to explore back 500 feet before encountering a barrier.

**LEFT, The entrance to VeenFliet’s Cave along the Schoharie Creek, east of the Bridge Street, or “Gebhard” Bridge. Center, the tapir’s teeth found in the cave, and finally at right, owner** **Richard VeenFliet.**

Determined that someday they would blast out this barrier and see what lay beyond, the explorers of a century ago rested on their laurels and the work ended there.

EXPLORATIONS RENEWED

It seemed there had been little descriptive material dealing with the discovery prepared for posterity when Geologist Gebhard and his friends passed on. At any rate, it was not until 1867 that, according to existing records, another attempt was made to open the cavern.

Once more intervening years had clogged the opening, and it again was necessary to ply pick and shovel to provide easy entrance.

On this occasion, the cavern floor was covered with water ranging to varying depths but requiring the use of a boat to get in and about.

Again, the barrier was encountered and like their predecessor, the new set of explorers determined to blast it away and see what lay beyond. This was never done.

More than six decades have passed since this exploring party disintegrated and turned its attention to other things.

At that time, the cave was on property owned by Napoleon Clark and, what had once been locally known as Gebhard’s Cave, became Clark’s Cave for the time being.

PROPERTY CHANGES HANDS

Long before those post-bellum days, the land had been added to the property on the southerly side of the Schoharie-East Cobleskill road, owned for more than a century by a succession of Gebhards.

Several years ago, the last of the Gebhards died and the property came into the possession of Richard Veenfliet, Jr., a man with a strong geological bent who had passed many hours with members of the Gebhard family, collecting valuable paleontological exhibits.

**A crude map of the cave frome a 1950s guide to the caves of Schoharie County. The entrance is at the right. an unknown explorer’s handwritten remarks at included.**

When the old Gebhard residence overlooking the Schoharie was burned, Mr. Veenfliet built a modern home upon its site. Back of it still stands the original John Gebhard barn of the early 19^th Century, held staunch by gigantic handhewn timbers.

Across the highway and back in the ravine, the new owner took his determined way one day about two years ago. There he espied the entrance to the cavern which State Geologist Gebhard had explored almost exactly a century ago.

For a third time shovels and picks were carried to the debris-choked entrance to clear away the deposits of 50 winters.

Finally forcing entrance, Mr. Veenfliet found his labor and time had been profitably spent so far as his concern in geological affairs went. He also discovered an antique lamp within the cavern portal, evidently left behind by Gebhard, the explorer of 1831. He found, too, other evidence of the work done by his successors of 1867.

Equipped with modern electric hand torches, Mr. Veenfliet was easily able to’ overcome the handicap of ineffective illumination from which his predecessors unquestionably had suffered.

What his lamps disclosed made him hold his breath in astonishment.

Not since Lester Howe took his eccentric self within the portals of his celebrated cave back in 1847⁴ had anyone beheld such an untouched, unmarred display of limestone stalactites and stalagmites. Here, he decided, was something well worthwhile.

ENTER TAPIR’S TOOTH

Returning to the sunshine outside, the new discoverer decided in the way of his predecessor to summon at least one friend upon whom he could depend for personal interest in such a project– Charles Helma, of Schenectady. Together, they set to work to dig away the remainder of the debris at the mouth of the cavern and conduct further exploration. While engaged in this work, they came upon one of the chief discoveries of their enterprise. It was the tooth of a strange animal together with what appeared to be a portion of a vertebrae.

The tooth was without roots. It had a creamy tint of old ivory and a high polish. Dispatched to scientists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and later to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, the tooth was pronounced that of a tapir.

The tapir now is confined to a habitat in Central and South America. Once, ft seems, it ranged the glacier-ridden terrains farther north.

The tooth, said the scientists, must have been dropped in the cavern or deposited in one of the strata now forming it not less than 25,000 years ago in what is known as Upper Pleistocene period.

FINDS INNER CHAMBER

Five hundred feet from the entrance, Mr. Veenfliet and Mr. Helma encountered the barrier which had blocked the explorations of both 1831 and 1867. It is of beautiful flowstone, not clay as Gebhard characterized it in the uncertain light of his antique coal-oil lantern.

On either side of the barrier, the new discovers found narrow passageways leading onward. One was found to be narrow and tortuous with a treacherous quicksand floor. The other was negotiable for a slender man lying prone and pulling himself along like a serpent.

Mr. Veenfliet essayed the passage. He discovered at the end of 30 feet that a magnificent stalactite barred egress at the farther end of the rocky tube. It resisted all hie efforts to break ft.

His electric flash lamp’s rays showed he was at the end of the narrow tunnel and beyond lay a gigantic room studded with translucent glories in limestone, never before seen by man. If he could have passed the obstinate stalactite, it would have been possible to turn about and crawl back to daylight head on, just as he had come. As it was, however, he was compelled to retrace his way by laboriously pushing himself feet foremost to where Mr. Helma was waiting eagerly.

One problem had been solved—there was a way to go on regardless of the flowstone barrier. But it left unanswered the question whether the newly explored passage led to the main cavern behind the barrier or to another independent branch of the subterranean mystery.

And so, the matter rests today while Mr. Veenfliet seeks ways and means to develop this thing of an earthly beauty which lies below the surface of his rugged land.

OTHER CAVES NEARBY

This cavern—once Gebhards, then Clarks and now Veenfliets—is the only one ever discovered in West Mountain, the towering limestone tablerock that divides the watersheds of the Schoharie from the Cobleskill Valley all the way from Central Bridge westward, until it loses its identify with mountains of the northernmost Catskills.

Those who would look into this rediscovery of Gebhard’s century-old find should cross the bridge at Schoharie on the road to East Cobleskill. An ancient watering trough will be found beside the highway. It was there the farmers of Cobleskill, Barnerville, and elsewhere on the north side of the divide were wont to let their horses drink on the long ride to and from the county seat.

The water supplying this trough comes from the boiling spring of icy water which John Gebhard traced to the subterranean source within his cave 100 years ago – the cave of the tapir’s tooth.

¹ Not exactly. He was the first curator of “Geological Hall” in Albany, which later became the NYS Museum. His field work before that supported the publication of the 1843 New York Geological Survey, Samples from the survey—taken from across the state—figured in the creation of the Hall, originally referred to as the state “cabinet.” See “The Gebhards of Schoharie,” Chapter 1, Section IV of my book, Underground Empires: Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure & Enterprise in NY’s Cave Country. Available here.

² Howe Caverns and Secret Caverns were open to the public just four years earlier, and a third cave, Schoharie Caverns, was being prepared at around this same time.

³ Born 1802, died 1889.

⁴ The correct date is 1842.

THE FORGOTTEN QUARRY IN COBLESKILL’S BACKYARD

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A ‘Farming with Dynamite’ Account of the Rogers Quarry

New research is proving the Rogers Quarry in Cobleskill to have been one of the largest among many during the 1890-1905 “stone boom.” It was also one of the shortest lived.

During New York’s building stone boom, Schoharie County ranked 12^th in the state, supplying millions of tons of both precision-cut building stone, crushed stone (aggregate), and cement for the prominent engineering marvels of that period. The history of the more than 30 quarries operating during that period is documented in Farming With Dynamite: The Forgotten Stone Boom in Schoharie County, published by the author in October 2023.

There were eight quarries in the Town of Cobleskill alone, six within village limits. The largest was the Klondike Quarry, which employed nearly 500, and was located about three miles east of Cobleskill, just north of the Delaware and Hudson rail line. Then came the Reilly-Weiting Quarry, which employed about 200. It operated at what is today Cobleskill Stone Products just east of the village limits; the company still operates today.

Then came the Rogers Quarry.

New York City contractor John C. Rogers’s quarry company, said the Albany Evening Times on May 20, 1902, “is the leading industry of Cobleskill.”

According to the paper, the quarry had a workforce of 150 men, and the “payroll for the month is $5,000. . . employes are paid every two weeks.” Col. William McRae was the quarry superintendent; John Murray quarry boss; William Keating led stonecutters; and Edward Karker the laborers.

Like other quarries in the area, recent Italian and Polish immigrants made up at least one-half of the workforce.

The Albany paper placed the quarry’s location “just east of the village and about half a mile north of, and is connected by, a track with the Delaware and Hudson railroad.”

The geology of the location allowed Rogers to quarry a lower-level sandstone beneath the more extensive layer of limestone. Most quarries were of limestone.

More than a century later, the location is hard to place, and any remnants of the operation harder still to find. At the beginning of the 1900s, North Street was the eastern edge of Cobleskill village.

A smaller quarry nearby, was referred to in a 1950s newspaper article as being “just off the present Legion Drive development.” The Rogers Quarry is believed, then, to be east and north of that, between Campus Drive and Burgin Drive. The elevated Granite Drive and the former Best Western Inn may be “benches,” created by quarry cuts taken into the hillside there.

Mother Nature has appeared to have reclaimed the Rogers Quarry property. The area includes Iorio Park, the Cobleskill Villag swimming pool, and dozens of middle-class and upper-income homes. There’s no remaining evidence of the short-line rail that once moved stone to the cutting yard across Main Street, either.

The Albany paper noted in its 1902 account that the Rogers Quarry had “been in existence hardly a year but already quarried some 10.000 yards of the finest building stone.” In fact, one of Rogers’s large contracts in New York City was secured after “specimens of stone were placed in competition and Cobleskill stone won.” At the time, the Rogers quarry had also furnished the Delaware and Hudson railroad with “a large quantity of stone.”

We share two news items from the 1901 files of Cobleskill Index to document the quarry’s growth in its first year of business.

The first news item describes the challenges of buying a steam locomotive for quarry use. From July 18, 1901: “The Rogers Company engaged [employee] Elmer Lawyer to go to Long Island and bring to Cobleskill a locomotive which they purchased of the Long Island Railroad, and which is to be used about the quarry and between the cutting yard and quarry.” (The cutting yard was adjacent to the D&H railroad, which runs east/west through the Village of Cobleskill. – ed.)

Getting the locomotive from Long Island to Cobleskill posed some problems.

The paper continues: “All went well until Central Bridge was reached when a wreck occurred, and the locomotive was hauled a half mile with one track derailed to the consternation and danger of Mr. Lawyer who occupied the cab.

“When the locomotive comes from the D&H shop at Oneonta, where it is being repaired, it will be used for work between the quarry and the cutting yard, Mr. Lawyer in charge.”

The month before Lawyer’s near catastrophic adventure, the quarry was getting ready for the train’s arrival. From the May 23, 1901,edition: “Eight Swedes arrived from New York and are erecting tressels [trestles] for the Rogers Quarry Company. Home workmen could not be secured to do the work.”

The Otsego Farmer of August 23, 1901, found a bit of quarry work of interest to their readers:

“Two spruce trees were felled at Summit last week and taken to Cobleskill to the Rogers quarry. One of the trees, stripped of branches and loaded, measured 50 feet in length, the other 62 feet. They are to be used as center poles for big derricks.”

ACCIDENTS MADE THE NEWS

Quarry work can be dangerous. We cite the Albany Evening Journal, June 18, 1902:

“Warren Karker met with what can be considered a very fortunate accident at the Rogers quarry last week. He runs a hoist engine and about 15 feet from where he was working several holes had been drilled, and ‘when the blasts were ready, he was notified and went to a safe distance.

“The first blast fired threw a stone weighing over 200 pounds, which struck and released the clutch of the hoist engine. letting the boom run down. Mr. Karker, thinking the blast was over, ran to his engine to stop the boom from falling; and as he did so a blast in the stone which was beneath his feet went off. He was only slightly injured, which under the circumstances was miraculous.”

The following month saw this happen, according to the Cobleskill Index of July 31, 1902

“Al Maretto. an Italian, had a leg broken at Rogers quarry about noon today. He operates a steam drill and was moving it when he fell off a rock and the drill fell on him, breaking both bones of his leg.” (The rock drills could weigh anywhere from about 180 to 600 pounds. – ed.)

Elmer Lawyer, whose locomotive misadventure described a few paragraphs previously, was seriously injured in August of that same year, the Cobleskill paper reported:

“Mr. Lawyer was engaged in firing an engine and near where he was working a gang of Italian laborers were unloading a car of coal. Mr. Lawyer was bending over in the act of picking up a large piece of coal to place in the engine, when he was hit on the back by coal thrown from the car being unloaded. The injury seems to have affected the spine, causing partial paralysis.”

WHERE THE STONE WENT

It is likely the Rogers Quarry was only a small part of the NYC-based John C. Rogers companies. At about the time he was opening the Cobleskill quarry, he was credited in one account as starting construction on the 145th Street—”Harlem River”—bridge. The bridge was one of several built across NYC’s East River during the first decades of the 1900s.

Stone and cement from Schoharie County quarries were used in the Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883; in the Manhattan Bridge, finished in 1909; the Williamsburg Bridge, 1895; and the Queensboro Bridge, completed in 1909. The stone and cement were used in a variety of ways; as anchorages, abutments, piers, and rip-rap.

Both the Rogers Quarry and Klondike quarries had contract for what at the time the paper referred to as the NYC “tunnels.” The tunnels were going to be the city’s subway system, started in February 1900. Rogers provided stone for “section 9.” The subway system spread north from New York’s City hall, near the southern tip of Manhattan. The streets Section 9 covered are not known.

And an item from an Albany paper, under “Cobleskill News,” captures the moment the industry began to shift away from building stone to aggregate products.

“The stone crusher, which for some time has been in process of erection at the Rogers quarry, is now completed and was in operation for the first time on Tuesday [June 16]. From the Albany Evening Journal, June 18, 1903.

Sixth months later, the Stamford Recorder (Delaware County) on Dec. 26, 1903, reported the stone crusher had resulted in a sizeable contract worth about $8.5 million today.

“John C. Rogers of the Rogers Quarry Company of Cobleskill has secured a large contract. $1,651,717. in New York City, for the extension of the roadway along the Hudson.”

Two photos of the Rogers Quarry appear in Building with Stones and Clays: A Handbook for Architects and Engineers, published in 1917 for the Syracuse University bookstores. A photo of beautifully carved sandstone blocks describes it as “designed for constructional work in New York City.”

The second photo is captioned: “Rogers Quarry, Cobleskill, N.Y., showing the sandstone beds and the thickness of the glacial till.”

It’s uncertain when the Rogers Quarry ceased operations, but like the Schoharie County quarries that provided cut stone for construction, it did not survive the advent of concrete. It is likely it closed sometime before 1906, when concrete had become the more commonly-used material.

A brief item in the Feb. 4, 1904, Cobleskill Index hinted at things to come.

“Owing to lack of orders requiring limestone, the Rogers quarry will open with only a small force, of perhaps 20 men. sometimes March. It is hoped that the receipt of orders, later, will increase this materially.

“Pierce Meade, who has been in charge of the office here, has been transferred to Deer Island Maine, the site of a large granite quarry where he will be in charge of the office. Many friends wish Mr. Meade success in his new field of labor.”

Like other quarries in the area, it took time to remove the evidence of a large, once-prosperous operation. While Mother Nature reclaimed the vacant site rather quickly, and owners could sell or move heavy equipment, it wasn’t an easy job. It is likely that steel and other heavy metal equipment no longer in use was melted down and salvaged to meet the need created by WWI.

It appears that work in 1937 removed all evidence of the Rogers Quarry in Cobleskill. It was not without mishap, reported the Cobleskill Index on April 29, 1937: “Ernest Resue of Ryder Avenue smashed the toes of his foot while working in the Roger Quarry here last Saturday, where a contractor is clearing up the old metal junk in the abandoned quarry.”

1928 WEDDING CHRISTENS NEW OWNERS’ NEW BRIDAL ALTAR

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The first wedding underground in Howe’s Cave may have taken place as early as 1852, as noted in my book, Underground Empires. The Howe children—Huldah, Harriet, and Halsey—were all married in the cave around that time, and weddings undoubtedly continued on a sporadic basis right up until about 1900, when the cave’s owners at the time discouraged the day-long tours.

Howe Caverns, Inc. was formed in 1927 and developed the back half of the cave as a tourist destination with an elevator entrance, electric lights, brick baths and handrails. The bridal chamber opened by the Howes was near the cave’s old entrance and not owned by the caverns’ corporation, so the new cave owners went about creating their own, naming it the “Bridal Altar.”

**Howe Caverns’ Bridal Altar – an artist’s rendition from a 1950s brochure.**

This new Bridal Altar’s key feature is a heart of pure white, translucent calcite illuminated from below, and intended for couples to stand on while taking their vows.

The first wedding in the new Howe Caverns took place before the cave was open to the public in 1929. The story, written for the press by the corporation’s boastfully eloquent publicist, follows. Here it is still referred to as the “bridal chamber,” not altar.

From The Cobleskill Index, Thursday, May 24, 1928

Bridal Chamber in Howe Cavern Again Scene of Wedding Ceremony

The marriage of Roger Henry Mallery of Owego, N.Y., to Margaret May Provost of Howes Cave, was solemnized in the Bridal Chamber of Howe Caverns on Thursday night. May 10th, 1928, at 11:30 o’clock.

The beautiful ring service was performed i by the Rev. Fred M. Hagadorn, pastor of the Cobleskill Methodist Church, in the presence of Mrs. Louise Provost, mother of ‘the bride; Francis Provost, brother of the bride, and John J. Sagendorf. of Howes Cave.

It was one of the most unique romantic weddings which has ever taken place in this section of the state.

Deep within the silent vaults of this second largest cavern in the world; far beyond all sound of the familiar world above: where the mighty grandeur of the World’s Supreme Architect dwindles the efforts of man into insignificance: here where He first saw the pattern of nave and groined ceiling; there the column, pedestal and capital were reared countless ages e’er man came to be; here where earth’s mightiest Cathedral—in contrast grows small, the clergyman’s voice broke the awful silence as he spoke the marriage ritual.

**A picturesque view from the Bridal altar, looking into Titan’s Temple**

The bridal party stood in the great balcony of Titan’s mighty Temple. Before them was the exquisitely beautiful “Lake of the Fairies” where stalactite formations are inverted in perfect reflections. Just at the left of the groom was the “Fountain of Somnus” glowing in its sleep. Back of them stretched the vast reaches of the Temple of this giant of the gods of mythology whose unbroken ceiling is probably the largest in existence. Here, great masses of calcite crystallization witnessed for the first time the sparkle of the queen of their kind as the nuptial ring glistened when placed on the finger of the bride. All of the lesser crystals must have blushed at the presence of their perfected sisterhood of gems, shining forth from the tremulous finger of she who was promising.

Vows plighted and promises made in the presence of such might and majesty; witnessed thus by symbols of eternity, cannot be broken or forgotten.

The bride who has spent her life near the great cavern is a graduate of Cobleskill High school, class of 1922, followed by a post-graduate course in the same school. Graduated from the New York State College for Teachers at Albany in 1927. specializing in French and English.

During the past year she has been a student in The American Academy of Dramatic Art, Carnegie Hall building in New York, the oldest institution of its kind in America. Later she specialized in dramatic art under the special instruction of Helen B. Carey. She also studied piano under J. Austin Springer.

Roger Henry Mallery is a member of Signi Pi Fraternity of Cornell University and is a civil engineer of marked ability. Among the great engineering feats of his career has been the re-conditioning of Howe Caverns.

The bridal couple spent their honeymoon in Albany, Philadelphia, Atlantic City.

Immediately upon their return, Mr. Mallery received the contract for the construction of the bridge at Schoharie, to replace the one which collapsed a few weeks ago.

The bride was the recipient of many valuable gifts while the groom was remembered by the employees of the cavern with a service of solid silver.

Their wedding was of outstanding interest and the prospects of a long, happy, and useful life stretch out before them through the vistas of the coming years.

—Chauncey Rickard

CARVED HEART OF CALCITE MARKS THE SPOT

On page 84 of Underground Empires is the version which ran in The Cobleskill Times, a competitor to the newspaper who carried the above. I’m sure the editor thought “I’m not running this gibberish” when Chauncey handed him his account of the wedding.

Also, it sounds as if Mallery’s no longer works at the cave, although construction underground continued, often in two shifts, for all of 1928 and early 1929.

The Mallery descendants say that Roger, Sr. was responsible for carving the calcite heart in the new Bridal Altar, as a symbol of his love for his young bride. Tour guides at Secret Caverns say the sizeable chunk of calcite for the heart was broken from a formation at their cave, known as ‘frozen Niagara.” That seems unlikely, as Mallery, Sr. was making plans to show Secret Caverns to the public around that same time.

For more information/recommended reading: UNDERGROUND EMPIRES: Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure & enterprise in NY’s Cave Country

A CENTURY LATER, PROF. COOK’S ‘MYSTERY CAVER’ IS REVEALED

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Author Clay Perry, a light bulb moment, and a quick Google search solved cavers’ decades-old mystery, “Who is Professor Cook’s mystery man in several of his 1905 photos?”

19 LIMESTONE CAVES IN EASTERN NY STUDIED

Professor John C. Cook produced “Limestone Caverns of Eastern New York” for the 60th annual report of the New York State Museum. published in 1906. His report documents the karst development of the Onondaga, Becraft and the Manlius limestones in Schoharie and Albany counties. He produced nine maps with surveyor James. F. Loughran, and 40 photos on 4×5” glass-plate negatives¹, with his brother, Harry C. Cook.

In all, Prof. Cook mentions 19 caves, most of them familiar to cavers of the northeast.

“The work was prosecuted with vigor though it was arduous and venturesome, involving risks to persons which few would care to take,” wrote Museum Director John M. Clarke. He was evidently pleased with the work of the Cook team: “The results have been entirely satisfactory. . .”

Cook’s work in old Howe’s Cave is particularly noteworthy. His map of the cave’s portions that were lost to quarrying is all historians have to help recreate the famous cave in its entirely. With the report are several photos of the cave’s outstanding features prior to its 1929 development and reopening as Howe Caverns, Inc.

Perhaps the most well-known photo from Cook’s report is of a solitary young man in muddy duck-bibbed coveralls and beaten pork-pie hat, his eyes closed, resting next to a huge and beautiful stalagmite. Twenty-plus years later, Howe Caverns’ developers placed this formation—nearly 12 feet high—upright on a solid base and named it “The Chinese Pagoda.”

The photo has been well used. I’ve used it in both my books on the cave, and it was turned into an historic souvenir postcard sold in the caverns’ gift shop.

The mystery caver has always been described as “unidentified.” His image shows up in several of the younger Cook’s photos in the report (some with his eyes open). At various times, it’s been suggested this mystery man was a hired laborer mentioned in a 1906 newspaper account or a knowledgeable local caver acting as a guide, or maybe even a young D.C. Robinson of Knox Cave fame. But who is he?

AHA!

Surveyor James. F. Loughran rests against the ‘Chinese Pagoda’ in Howe Caverns during a surveying trip in 1905. The name of this caver who accompanied Prof. John C. Cook for the State Museum was lost to history, until recently.

I was reading again through Clay Perry’s 1948 Underground Empire², chapter 10, page 98, and he credits (and names) Prof. Cook, his surveyor Loughran, and photographer Harry Cook.

THE LIGHTBULB MOMENT: The lightbulb went on over my head: The photographer is not taking pictures of himself! My palm hit my face.

And so, a five-minute Google search found James F. Loughran (1884-1954) on the history page of the New York Bridge Authority, here: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=164465

Loughran’s bio notes he was chairman of the state Bridge Authority from 1949 until his death. He was a civil engineering graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a master’s degree in highway engineering from Columbia University.

His bio confirms: “after a brief stint surveying caves for the New York Geologist’s office,” he was appointed Ulster County superintendent of Highways. Loughran held the job for 44 years and became “widely known as an expert on rural roads.”

Our “mystery caver” would have been 21 years old at time of Cook’s survey. There’s a photo of the older Loughran on the website, and although hard to reproduce, it is clearly one and the same man.

# # #

¹Specials thanks to Chuck Porter of Troy for his work with the Cook photos and invaluable help with this article. Porter and the late Jack Middleton saved the photos from Cook’s work from relative obscurity in the bowels of the NYS Museum and painstakingly reproduced them for the 21st Century. In the mid-1990s, Jack was working with the museum’s Geological Survey and had access to the original 4 x 5-inch glass plate negatives.

Writes Chuck: “Jack and I placed these glass plates on a light table at the museum and took close-up photos with 35mm SLR cameras held on tripods. Attempts to print from these closeups with film techniques at that time were very disappointing, but years later, digitally scanning the filmstrips—and then adjusting with Photoshop—made a huge difference. I processed 40 plates in all.”

²Not to be confused with my book, titled in homage, Underground Empires: (plural) Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure & Enterprise in NY’s Cave Country.

MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS

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The Klondike Quarry, three miles east of Cobleskill along the D&H Railroad line, was the largest of the Schoharie County quarries during the stone boom. It held a contract with the City of New York to provide stone for the foundations of the Brooklyn Bridge, a contract today worth more than $65 million. Run by the NYC-based Cobleskill Quarry Company, the Klondike employed nearly 500, many of them recent Italian immigrants.

**The abandoned Klondike Quarry on a Fall Day in 2022.**

The full story is told in Farming With Dynamite: The Forgotten Stone boom in Schoharie County, available here and at local bookstore.

We add to the remarkable story of the Klondike with two reports which appeared separately, yet on the same page of the May 18, 1898, Cobleskill Index. We can’t help but consider them somehow related. Let us know your thoughts on the deadly incident.

The first story, headlined simply, ‘Cobleskill Quarry Co.’ describes a NYC policy that created financial challenges for the Klondike and its employees:

“Mingled surprise and regrets were everywhere manifest Monday morning. when the Cobleskill Quarry Co. paid 378 hands and shut down the works.

“Eleven thousand dollars was paid. A state law prohibits any city from creating debt over a certain per cent of assessed valuation. There is a dispute among N Y. City officials as to whether or not the city has reached the debt limit, and as a consequence work on all public works has been suspended and 60,000 laborers are thrown out of employment.

“The Cobleskill Quarry Co. has the contract from the city for foundations for the East River bridge. They have received no money from the city for labor and material furnished in the past eight months, and their dues now, on contract, is said to be $250,000.00. Hence the “shut down” of the Cobleskill Quarry.

“The company, which now has the contract to furnish stone for the D&H, formerly supplied bv Reilly & Weiting, intends to run the quarry with about fifty hands, on smaller outside orders.

“The company says they may start at any time on full force—any time the entanglement in N. Y. City is unraveled.

“There are rumors that the company will be running within a few days with over 100 hands.

“Since putting the above in type it is stated that the Quarry Co. has received $200,000 on indebtedness from the City of New York.” (Italics added. – ed.)

The second item in that day’s paper was headlined “Injured by the Cars,” tells of a tragedy at the Cobleskill train depot that apparently followed a scuffle the day before with the Klondike’s paymaster. We can only guess the cause.

The paper reported:

“Yesterday noon an Italian, about 20 years of age, employed by the Cobleskill Quarry Co., attempted to catch on a freight going east, intending to go to Klondike.

“He swung under the cars and both legs were horribly injured. Dr. Frasier was quickly on hand, and he decided to send the man to the Albany Hospital, and he was placed on the next train east.

One and possibly both legs will have to be amputated above the knee. It is rumored that the young man had trouble at the quarry and drew a knife on the paymaster.

The name of the Italian is Guiseppe Ophallete of New York. The wheels passed over his left ankle, crushing the bones. There are two fractures, one below the knee and one at the hip, The right leg is badly crushed, He is bruised all over his body. There may be internal injuries.

(Editor’s Note; In the same issue, the paper later reports Mr. Ophallete died of his injuries.)

HOWE FAMILY COLLECTION GIVEN TO MUSEUM

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Fossil Collection, Gift to Museum, Goes on Display

SCHOHARIE, June 19, 1936—An outstanding fossil display including the first formations ever to have been taken from Howe Caverns, have come to Schoharie for display at the Old Stone Fort Museum on North Main Street for inspection by the thousands from every state of the Union who annually visit this historic shrine.

The collection is the gift to the museum by Mrs. M. J. Miller of Baltimore, Md., a great granddaughter of Lester Howe, who discovered the caverns in May 1842.

The formations were taken from the caverns in several successive years, during which they were exploited and conditioned by Howe, who made a private collection, which has remained in the Howe family until this time.

Mrs. Miller is one of the last survivors of the Howe clan.

Among the outstanding specimens of the collection, placed in charge of Chauncy Rickard, curator of the museum, are the fossil remains of a Trilobite, the creature in which the first eye was said to have been developed and which existed in the ancient Silurian sea.

Included also are beautiful specimens of calcite crystal formed of countless transparent pyramids and regarded as being 150 million years old.

—From the June 20, 1936, Schenectady Gazette, likely submitted by Chauncy Rickard, curator of the Stone Fort Museum.

WHAT’S ON DISPLAY AT THE FORT

The display case containing the Howe exhibit is in the northeastern corner of the second floor of the Stone Fort Museum. It contains the calcium carbonate “brain” coral shown here, a few cave formations and invitations to two events at the cave.

**Brain Coral from Lester Howe’s collection at the Old Stone Fort Museum**

The first, headlined “Schoharie Cave Party,” invites a gentleman and lady guest to a New Year’s Day, 1845 “Cotilion Party” at Lester Howe’s Assembly Room, starting at 2 p.m. Cotilions are typically a southern affair meant to introduce young ladies to both society and eligible young men. Howe’s daughters, Huldah and Harriet, were pre-teens in 1845, so perhaps the word was used differently in that era.

The invitation begins with an odd quote: “Live while we live the managers say and sport the pleasures of the present day.” Fourteen “managers”—all of them local men—are listed.

In the 19^th Century, most entertaining was done at home. An “Assembly Room” in a home was the gathering place for members of the higher social classes, and open to both men and women.

The second invitation is to a “House Warming (sic),” to be held Thursday, Sept. 5, 1849, at the Cave House. Other than noting “Good music will be furnished,” there are few other details. History records Howe as a violinist; his daughters played the piano.

This may have been to show to visitors the second Cave House. The first was destroyed by fire in 1847.

THE PROVENANCE: Following Lester Howe’s death in 1888, the collection was first held by the Howes’ son, Dr. Halsey John Howe, a dentist practicing in Dunkirk in western New York. It was displayed in a local library for several years, according to the Stone Fort’s records. Halsey and his wife were childless, and the collection then went to one of the Howes’ grandchildren.

The description in the display case does not match what was written for the newspaper by Curator Rickard. The exhibit notes Frances Miller of Chevy Chase, Md., donated the collection given her by Dr. Howe to the fort in 1936. Miller was the daughter of Harriet Elgiva Howe Shipman.

SCHOOL RECESS? LET’S GO CAVING!

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**Artwork from a 1920s brochure on the caves of Schoharie County depicts a big-city artist’s bias. The young explorers are barefoot and their sleeves are rolled up in the 50-degree cave!**

Field trips to Howe Caverns for students of all ages, and from around the region, are common in the last few weeks before summer vacation. There were no such luxuries for children attending any of the one-room schoolhouses more than a century ago – unless you lived in the Cave Country.

In my book, “Underground Empires: Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure & Enterprise in NY’s Cave County,” I suggested the rural, sparsely populated Sagendorf Corners hamlet was the nexus of NY’s Cave Country.

Near the hamlet’s old one-room schoolhouse, “there are quite a large number of rock holes¹,” reported the Greene County Windham Journal on Sept. 18, 1876. “. . in which the children often play at noon and recess.”

The article headlined, “Schoharie County: Its Cavernous Character,” was picked up from The Albany Argus and gave a good description of the known caves of that period.

While it didn’t identify which caves Sagendorf Corners school children spent their recess or lunch breaks in, there are several they could have chosen from, including one that later became Secret Caverns. Others nearby were later found to connect to Howe’s Cave, nearly an underground mile away.

¹The author likely means “sinkhole.” A “rock hole,” as any farmer in the cave country can tell you, is a sinkhole where rocks unearthed during plowing are thrown.

TWO DIE IN 1872 CAVE HOUSE FIRE

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Two employees of the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad died in the Jan. 18, 1872, fire that destroyed the Cave House hotel at Howe’s Cave. A newspaper the following week suggested it may have been caused by an “incendiary”– the imprecise term meaning something—or someone—ignited combustible materials in the basement of the hotel.

At the time, the Cave House was one of the few remnants of the Howe family’s underground empire built around their patriarch’s 1842 discovery.

This Cave House was the second hotel that the Howes—Lester, Lucinda and their children Huldah, Harriet, and Halsey—opened to welcome visitors to the cave Lester made famous. The first hotel, built as early as 1843, was also destroyed by fire in 1847.

The second Cave House was a plain, three-story wooden building with about 40 rooms, unadorned with porches, columns, or other fashionable Victorian-era home décor. Built over the entrance to the cave, guests readied in the basement for their day-long underground adventure. There, they donned well-worn clothes, hats, and boots, and were provided with oil lanterns. From there, they entered the cave.

A photo, taken some time between 1865-1872, entitled “Scenes from The Albany and Susquehanna Railroad,” shows the hotel in desperate need of painting. In fact, it looks as if half of the building’s paint had been scraped to prepare it for a new coat.

At the time of the fire, the Cave House was owned by the Howes Cave Association. The Howes sold the property as early as 1869 to the association, created by Joseph H. Ramsey, the president of the Albany & Susquehanna. History records Ramsey’s purchase of the property as being of dubious ethics; Howe accepted stock in the new association valued (by Ramsey) at $12,000 after rejecting a $10,000 cash offer.

The blaze must have been a frightening affair. According to the Jan. 27, 1872, Cobleskill Index, the proprietor, a Mr. Eldredge, was awakened in his room around 1 a.m. by smoke so dense he was “obligated to escape through a window.”

There were 10 employees of the railroad staying at the hotel while they constructed a water tank at the Howes Cave Depot, just a short distance from the cave and hotel. All were in their rooms at the time the fire broke out.

After Eldredge sounded the alarm, all but two of the men made their escape through their windows, the Cobleskill Index noting “leaving behind most if not all of their clothing.”

**Construction of the third Cave House, above, began after the fire and used limestone from the Howes Cave Association’s quarry. It still stands.**

Killed in the fire were Edward Kelly, a mason from Albany and D. W. Hare, a carpenter from Richmondville. The charred remains of the two men were found the next morning in the ruins.

According to the Index, the fire “is supposed to have originated in the oil room at the entrance to the cave, in the basement of the building, and is supposed to have been the work of an incendiary.” No other details were provided.

The Cave House was valued at $5,000, the paper reported, or about $118,000 today. There was insurance on the building for about one-half of that. Eldrege lost about $7,000 in personal property but was fully insured.

Finally, said the Index, “We learn that a new building is to be erected immediately.”

The third Cave House, built of limestone from the expanding Howes Cave Association’s adjacent quarry, still stands, despite going through numerous renovations and owners. Today, it is a museum-in-the-making, The Cave House Museum of Mining and Geology.

Special thanks to Kevin Berner, a vice-president of the museum, for finding and sharing this gem from the old news reports. Have something to contribute? Contact me here.

SCHOHARIE’S CAVE WITH THE TAPIR TOOTH

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By CHARLES J. HANOR, National Speleological Society

Without a doubt, one of the prettiest and wilder caves of Schoharie County is Clark’s Cave or Veen Fliet’s Cavern. It is owned by Richard Veen Fliet and has been in his hands since he and friends started exploration and opening during the early 1930s.

During this time, Mr. Veen Fliet found the tooth of a tapir and several newspaper accounts were published. It was one of the most amazing finds of the century. Mr. Veen Fliet has the tooth and several other interesting pieces of formation from the cave at his home. The newspaper articles are also in his hands. His home is the old Gebhard estate on the west side of Schoharie bridge.

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An interesting by-line, not pertaining to caves, is the most unusual and fine collection of fossils rock and mineral specimens, and Indian relics, all from the vicinity of Schoharie county, that I have ever been permitted to see. This collection is by far, better than any in New York state museum that deals with the geological and paleontological eras of the county. Mr. Veen Fliet goes out of his way to explain and tell the visitor the history of each and every specimen. This collection should be labeled and on file so that in the future it is not broken up or separated but kept in the fine state that it now is.

Our attention was directed to Veen Fliet’s cavern by John Wilbur, now residing in Chatham. We arrived at the home of Mr. Veen Fliet and upon asking about the existence of a cavern were welcomed and personally conducted to the entrance. Mr. Veen Fliet has not been into the far extent of the cavern for a number of years.

The entrance to the cavern is in a small, wooded gully that empties into the Schoharie river. Through years of work and efforts by Mr. Veen Fliet and his group a walking entrance has been blasted out of solid limestone. Armed with equipment and mapping facilities we started our journey into another underground paradise. The first 151 [feet] follows the natural stream bed that flows from the entrance. This passage is of typical New York state cave variety. Here the water has found the most soluble rock and for past ages has worn a walkable passage into a mountain of solid limestone.

At the far end of the walkable passage a real obstacle is encountered. The height of the passage lowers to about 2.5 feet and water covers the floor for as far as the eye can see. This is the lake. At this point the explorer must lie on his stomach and crawl along with his head and shoulders above water for a distance of 30 feet. Suddenly the passage opens cup again where the explorer can walk upright with plenty of room.

The first sign of formation is now to the right of the explorer. Here a small alcove of pin stalactites, 3 to 10 inches in length, white as alabaster, coral shaped and lacy are found and directly opposite this alcove is a beautiful bank of blue-grey flowstone. The base of this bank flows out into the floor of the main passage like a huge river of molten lava. At the top of this mass is a small column, stretching upward until it joins the ceiling. Continuing on the explorer can hear the sound of splashing water. Two bends are made in the passage and two rooms are penetrated when at last one finds himself standing in a large size room.

The walls of this room are coated with flowstone of all hues. Beehives and frozen cascades of every description, and the most amazing sight of all, a waterfall pouring out of a passage at a level 10 ft. higher than that on which the explorer is standing. Directly in the center of this waterfall and hanging from the upper level is one of the most amazing formations I have ever seen. It is a huge heart, complete with both sections. As the beamsfrom our light shone on this formation the colors shone with all their grandeur. We immediately named this formation “The Bleeding Heart” because the water from the falls splashed onto this formation and then gracefully dropped to the floor of the cavern.

It was not an easy matter to scale this waterfall in order to negotiate the upper level. After 15 minutes of boosting and standing on the shoulders of our companions we were all setting in the passage directly over the falls. The water from the falls did not dampen our spirits as they had already taken a solid dunking when we crawled through the lake. I will say that we were very cold and our speech was rather shaky when we conversed with each other.

The passage went on and after a short distance a branch passage came into the main from the left. Two of our party entered this and shortly word came back that a huge stalactite came down to almost five inches of the floor blocking their entrance. The smaller of the group squeezed under this obstacle and entered another small room. Here nature really went to work. Stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone and the very rare formation called “Tripe” was seen. This cave tripe has been found in only one other cave in New York state, Howe Caverns. Probably most of the readers will be familiar with this formation. Further exploration of this passage is impossible as it is what cavers called a passage killed by formations.

Continuing on in the main passage the explorers found themselves in a long slender fault. Over their heads, under their feet, and on both sides of them was formation upon formation. After 200 feet of walking and crawling through narrow passage way the remainder of the path was water. Philip Johnson, one of the slimmest of our party entered this water passage. Soon he disappeared from sight and I shouted to him what lay ahead.

His response came back that he was in a passage about the same width as when he started but that he was standing about knee deep in cave mud beneath the water. There was a huge formation that had dropped from the ceiling or that someone had tried to remove. This was a flow-stone block resembling an organ. He said it was very beautiful. After climbing over this obstacle the passage widened somewhat and made a right angle run. Going on Johnson made three more right angle turns. I again called frantically to him. My words came back in echoes. Three times I shouted and finally a voice was heard coming back to me from far away. After about 15 minutes of shouting we were able to understand each other. As Johnson had no companion with him I advised him to return to where I had remained. I knew he had gotten into something very interesting as I could hear him cussing me off for making him come back.

When I finally saw his light through the darkness, I breathed normal again as cave exploring alone has very dangerous possibilities. When he joined me he told that he had gotten through the toughest part of the passage and that when I called he had started into a larger part of the passage for parts unknown. It continued on for as far as his beam would carry with a stream running towards him. He reported the same beautiful formation lined passage all the way.

As we were thoroughly soaked we started our return trip to the entrance knowing we had to crawl through the lake again. We started out but to our amazement when we reached the lake we couldn’t get through. There was only three inches of air space. Our thought went back to Floyd Collins and we wondered where our companions were and how they had gotten out.

Neither of us was alarmed and we started checking the floor and walls of the passage. Soon it became evident that we had never been in this part of the cave before.

We had found a new lake. Retracing our steps we suddenly came to a right hand passage of considerable width and height. We took this and then sighted the first formations that I described earlier. Next came the lake leading to the entrance. After getting out we told our companions our mistake and found that they also had fate play the same trick to them.

Mr. Veen Fliet has a beautiful cavern and the farthest extent has as yet been unseen and undiscovered. We hope to make a complete study of this cavern. It is our belief that this cavern will eventually be penetrated until it joins the famed Sitzer’s cavern at Central Bridge. It has been reported in the county that Tim Murphy and some of Morgan’s riflemen used an extensive cavern on Terrace mountain to baffle the Schoharie Indians during the Revolution. They were called the ghost men as Indians following their trail would come to the mouth of a cavern, where they were afraid to follow, and after a short length of time the same Indians would be surprised to find themselves in an ambush by Murphy and his scouts. They just appeared from nowhere.

If Veen Fliets cavern can be connected with Lasell hell-hole, Strontium Mine cave, and Sitzer’s cavern approximately seven miles of underground passageway will be discovered. At present writing neither of these caverns has been explored to the farthest extent. It is hard work and the nerves of a cave explorer must have their rest also. This particular area will again be very active the latter part of ’49 and the early part of 1950.

This article was originally published in Albany County Post 9 Sept. 1949

MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING

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How Two Early Show Cave Promoters Pitched Potential Investors

Two of Schoharie County’s hardest-working cave entrepreneurs had bigger dreams than they were able to realize in the early days of the area’s show cave boom.

**SHhhhhh, , , ,It’s a Secret! The Elves promoted Secret Caverns in the 1930s on billboards and in brochures. There were three caves open to the public until the 1950s, and compeition was tough.**

Roger H. Mallery, Sr., the owner of Secret Caverns, and Delevan Clarke—”D.C.” or “Dellie” — Robinson, owner of Knox Cave, both boldly announced plans that, if brought to fruition, would have changed forever the business of touring caves in upstate New York.

Competition was tough. They faced Howe Caverns, famous for almost a century, and a bigger, more decorative cave, run by a well-heeled corporation with a big advertising budget.

The opening of Secret Caverns in August 1929 (late in the tourist season) wasn’t greeted with a lot of fanfare. About 100 people toured the cave, most likely family, and friends of the owner.

Mallery’s operating budget for Secret Caverns for the following season was probably as strained as any first-year business. Undaunted, he wrote “In spite of the fact that lack of capital has permitted little advertising, ground improvements, building construction, or conveniences for public comfort, Secret Caverns were visited during the season of 1930 by several thousands of people who were astonished to find that there existed in this section of the county such a truly merited natural wonder.”

That was the opening pitch in a sizeable ad that ran in January 1931 to announce the sale of $200,000 worth of stock in Secret Caverns. The ad ran several times in the Schoharie Republican and Cobleskill Index, the two local weekly newspapers.

In comparison, Howe Caverns, Inc. (in which Mallery owned about five percent of the stock) was capitalized at $225,000.

Mallery offered 5,000 shares of stock in Secret Caverns to raise funds for ambitious plans that included:

**ROGER MALLERY,** Developer of Secret Caverns

Opening “recently-discovered, large, beautiful chambers”
Creating a second entrance at the end of the cave, “so that several thousands of people can be handled orderly and efficiently each day”
Enlarging and completing the entrance lodge, including a “large new pavilion.” (An artist’s sketch of the “Cavern Cabin” is included in a 1930 brochure.)
Landscaping the grounds to “made as attractive as possible.”

“But by far the biggest undertaking,” Mallery continued, “will be an advertising campaign handled by experts that is certain to attract many tens of thousands of visitors annually.”

It is easy to admire some of the bravado of a show cave showman. Mallery adds: “It was the general opinion among those familiar with the more important caverns of the country, that Secret Caverns is without exception one of the finest and most interesting attractions of its kind in the north.

Then humbly, and without mentioning the competition by name, Mallery closes the pitch: “We have faith in and believe that the people of this community are broadminded and big enough to give their support to more than one of their caverns, providing they are satisfied that it is worthy.”

History doesn’t publicly record how well stock in Secret Caverns sold. The cave today is still a Mallery-family company, now it its third generation.

Mallery also tried to open Schoharie Caverns, off Shutters Corners Road between Schoharie and Gallupville. He announced the opening in September 1935, but a severe storm and flooding closed the cave almost immediately after and the project was abandoned. The story is told in my book, “Underground Empires: Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure, and Enterprise in NY’s Cave Country.”

Gambler Wanted

“Wanted – A Gambler,” announced Dellie Robinson in late January 1947 in the Cobleskill Index.

Robinson had run Knox Cave nearby in Albany County for the dozen years prior and must have felt it was time to expand his empire. He too had his eyes on Schoharie Caverns.

/A young **DELEVAN CLARKE ROBINSON**, developer of Knox Cave, Albany County

Robinson started by convincing the owner to sell the cave, cave [surface] rights and 20 surrounding acres. The owners (likely the Cook Family at that time), agreed to the sale for $3,500 cash. That’s about $46,500 today.

“I have studied this cave and its floods for 17 years and believe that I can develop it.” Robinson’s ad read.

He described the deal: “I will give any person, or group, who will buy and own and permit me to develop and operate, a royalty of 10 cents each on the first 100,000 admissions,” adding a caveat: “if they will agree to deed the property to me when they receive the $10,000 [the total of royalties on 100,000 admissions] in full.”

In exchange, Robinson would develop the cave, and pay all operating and advertising costs. He didn’t provide an estimate of what those costs might be.

Royalties would be paid monthly, Robinson stipulated, and closed, “Your only gamble is in time it takes to draw 100,000 paid admissions to that cave.”

Robinson never found his gambler. About eight years later Attorney James Gage purchased the well-known wild cave, developed it, and may have opened it in July 1958. It closed almost immediately. That story is also told in “Underground Empires.”

Today the property is the Schoharie Caverns Nature Preserve of the National Speleological Society.”

POSTED SEPT. 29, 2023