I felt chagrined at one of the NSS conventions a few years ago, when, having just given a slideshow about St. Paul’s Fountain Cave in the Spelean History Session, a well-known speleohistorian (who shall remain nameless) got up to speak at the American Spelean History Association lunch meeting that followed. He referenced, among other things, early show caves in the United States, and it was apparent from what he said that my own talk hadn’t clicked. Was he perhaps at another presentation during my talk? No, I had seen him in the audience. Did it just go in one ear and out the other? Or was the idea of Minnesota having a show cave so early just too novel?
I provide you with the following extracts from primary sources, in chronological order, describing tourist accommodations at Fountain Cave in the 1850s. They constitute the “smoking gun,” proving that Fountain Cave was a genuine show cave as early as 1852. For comparison, note that Wyandotte Cave in Indiana opened to the public as a commercial cave in 1850.
“The new retreat at the cave above town, will be opened for visitors in a few days. It will be a delightful place to pass a hot afternoon.” (Weekly Minnesotian, June 19, 1852).
“Ice cream and other nice delicacies in the way of confectionery, can now be had at ‘The Cave.’” (Weekly Minnesotian, June 26, 1852).
“A rustic pavilion stands in the woods, where lights can be procured to enter the cave. A footbridge over a narrow ravine, and a winding path descending into its depths and leading through it a short distance, brought us to the entrance.” (Mrs. Ellet, Summer Rambles in the West, 1853)
“As the light penetrates but a short distance beyond the mouth of the cave, you must depend on the torch of birch-bark which your guide manufactures for the occasion, for the means of exploration.” (Congregationalist, September 19, 1856)
“But that rapacity which exhibits itself in all the walks of life, has made its appearance here; and the spot, being ‘private property,’ now rejoices in a little seven-by-nine shanty, where, ‘for a consideration,’ you may obtain a ‘guide’ and a tallow candle, and upon returning from your explorations, for another ‘consideration’ some fiery brandy and a rank segar. Aside from that, the place has lost much of its old charm, for during the summer months it is thronged with visitors daily; the paths leading to it are dusty and travel-worn, and the soft, white sand-stone walls are marred all over with the names of the Joneses and Browns who have honored ‘the Cave’ in the ‘grand rounds.’” (The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, October 1857).
How long did Fountain Cave last as a show cave? I don’t know for sure. But read the following, which indicates that whatever was left of the commercial operation had melted away by 1871, the year the observations were made. Perhaps it had something to do with the American Civil War.
“Fortunately nothing has been done in the way of artificial embellishment, no obtrusive guide presents himself for service, and a person can enjoy peacefully and quietly the sight of this mysterious opening in the earth and see the obscure stream pour itself forth between the green banks and empty into the Father of Waters.” (Robert Watt, Fra det fjerne vesten, 1872; translated by Jacob Hodnefield)
As late as 1879, the Tourists’ Guide to the Health and Pleasure Resorts of the Golden Northwest depicts a well-dressed man in a top hat walking through Fountain Cave. (Strangely enough, he is isolated on a sandbar inside the cave. Did he actually wade through Fountain Creek to get there?) By 1880, however, the Omaha Railroad shops began discharging waste into the upper end of Fountain Cave through a shaft, and its tourist days were gone forever.