From Kenneth Lee's "Jacob's People" "Old-timers like Oliver P. Shackleford and A. B. Johnson thought Salts Cave may have been discovered about 1794 by William West who they thought patented that land. Oliver said that his father told him the cave was first explored by Peter Kinser who was said to have stayed in it about a week examining its passages. "Oliver P. Shackleford and his wife Margaret were still living when I was a small child but old enough to remember them. They lived to be past age ninety, remained alert and active. Because they had no children she was able to go with him on various trips more than housewives with large families. We called him "Uncle Shack" and called her "Aunt Maggie." Once when she was exploring with him in Salts Cave she found an ancient moccasin. At first these caves had no value as tourist attractions but did attract scientists and explorers and of course a few who were thinking about them for financial reasons. The War of 1812 created a great need for saltpeter to use in gunpowder. Even though there were large quantities of it in Salts Cave it seems that cave was not worked heavily for that purpose. Ancestors of mine who spent much of their time exploring caves in that area did find where much digging had been done in Salts Cave sometime in the past, but nothing indicated for what purpose it was done. Markings at the diggings showed it was done with a very sharp instruments a long time ago. Sticks of wood with very sharp ends were found many places in the cave and looked as if they had been used for this digging. "One entrance to Salts Cave which we were told about was said to be at the bottom of a sinkhole and just large enough for one person at a time to pass through. A small spring above trickled over the entrance and disappeared into the pile of fallen rocks which nearly closed the entrance. To look at such an unimpressive hole in the ground you would never suspect the giant avenue just beyond. The floor of the cavern was so covered with jagged rocks which had fallen from the roof above that you could wonder if they may have closed other entrances which may have existed sometime in the past. "Early explorers reported indications of an ancient village just above this entrance. There they found flakes of flint, axes, awls and other implements. A little over a mile north of this place there were indications of another prehistoric village site. "A few miles inside the cave there was a small spring but otherwise the cave seemed very dry. Just inside the entrance early explorers found a bed of ashes ranging from two inches to two feet in depth and containing both human and animal bones. These bones seemed to have been cast in a disorderly manner. There were several skulls and lower jaws containing all teeth, indicating those people were still young at time of death. In some cases the second set of teeth were forming under this set of first teeth indicating those people were still children. The temperature and dryness of the cave had preserved the bones very well but after they were brought out into the dampness they soon crumbled, while the animal bones lasted longer." Sandi To post to lists: [email protected] or [email protected] Sandi's Puzzlers: http://www.gensoup.org/gorinpuzzles/index.php Sandi's Website: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/