My People The Archaic Shawnee
Ash Cave is named after the huge pile of ashes found under the shelter by early settlers. The
largest pile was recorded as being 100 feet long, 30 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The source of the ashes is unknown but is
believed to be from Indian campfires built up over hundreds of years. One other belief is that the Indians were smelting silver
or lead from the rocks. Still another theory claims that saltpeter was made in the cave. No matter the source, several thousand
bushels of ashes were found. A test excavation of the ashes in 1877 revealed sticks, arrows, stalks of coarse grasses, animal
bones in great variety, bits of pottery, flints and corn cobs.
It is obvious the cave was used for shelter by early inhabitants. The recess shelter also served
as a workshop for Indians where maidens ground corn and prepared meals, and where braves fashioned arrow and spear points
and skinned and dressed game. The cave provided a resting place for travelers along the main Indian trail which followed the
valleys of Queer and Salt creeks. This trail connected the Shawnee villages and the Kanawha River region of West Virginia
with their villages along the Scioto River at Chillicothe. The trail was used after the start of the frontier wars to march
prisoners captured along the Ohio River to the Indian towns on the upper Scioto River. The old Indian trail is now State Route
56.
The Indian Salt Trail, from the Pickaway Plains to the salt springs where Jackson, Ohio is located, entered Hocking County
near the Perry and Good Hope Townships line. It passed by Cantwell Cliffs, Rock House, Old Man’s Cave, Cedar Falls and
Ash Cave. It was about 100 miles from one end of the trail to the other. The visitor walks along part of this trail from the
parking lot to Ash Cave. The Indian salt workers would walk from their villages to the salt springs, where they would set
up a salt camp. It took several days of grueling work to evaporate the salt water. The workers would then load the dry salt
onto their backs and trudge the 100 miles back home.
The Ash Cave trail has been used by man in a recreational and commercial way for centuries. It was a communications link
between Indian villages. It was a hunting trail for the Indian tribes who came to this area for elk, buffalo, deer and black
bear. In more recent times, this trail became a part of the Buckeye Trail.
Ash Cave is the largest shelter cave in Ohio. Everyone who sees it is overwhelmed by its grandeur, and they vow to return.
More recent uses of Ash Cave were for camp and township meetings. Pulpit Rock, the largest slump
block at the cave’s entrance served as the pulpit for Sunday worship service until a local church could be built. The
cave lends itself well for large gatherings due to its enormous size and incredible acoustic qualities. In fact, two spots
under the recess have the qualities of a “whispering gallery.”
John DeBoer,http://www.soundclick.com/johndeboer
professional flutist pours out beautiful spirit enhanced music and has a magical connection to
the Ash Cave Galleries.He has joined me in starting an annual mass prayer for the Earth Mother.
The event is held on the Sunday
of Mothers Day Weekend and begins with a potluck dinner at noon at the shelter house adjacent to the cave trail
on the other side of State Route 56, and the prayer starts at 3 pm in the cave area. Ash Cave is located in the Hocking Hills
State Park Approx. 10 miles off of State Route 33 in Logan Ohio on State Route 56 between the towns of Hue and South Bloomingville
Ohio.
