The Secret Cave On The Hill

“Wild country, land hungry pioneers, angry native Indians, a vicious attack in the dark of the night, stolen gold, a secret hiding place, the mysterious death of a treasure hunter — they’re all in the legend of The Secret Cave On The Hill.”

A legend is a popular story that is handed down from one generation to the next.  It is believed to have a basis in truth, although it can’t be verified.  The basic truth of this story is that there is a real cave in Brown County where one should not exist.  Professional geologists at Indiana University in Bloomington said that the bedrock under all of Brown County is sandstone and caves never form in that kind of rock.

Somehow, I knew that there was a cave and I believed I could find it regardless of what the geologists said.  Listening carefully for clues when I heard older family members tell the story, I slowly began to realize that my grandfather’s twin brother, Otha Roberts, seemed to have first hand knowledge of the cave.  I repeatedly pestered him to share what he knew about it.  Eventually, he told me that it was located in a cow pasture on a hill a short distance from his house.  He had found the opening when a big rainstorm washed away lots of dirt and uncovered the entrance.  He had kept all of that information secret and watched the legend grow for more than fifty years.

Like most legends, this story was enriched by the creative imaginations of successive storytellers.  I exercised mine when I wrote this book by adding a fictional account of the story being told by my youngest daughter in an outdoor theatre setting at an old Brown County summer camp.  Abby deserves such recognition because she repeatedly pestered me to publish the Brown County Stories I had told her at bedtimes and around campfires while she was growing up.  She said the stories should be captured in print so they wouldn’t be lost and other kids could enjoy them.

The Secret Cave On The Hill was recently featured as one of the Brown County Democrat’s local “Page Turners” – click here to read the article.