The Upper Midwest Rock Art Research Association (UMRARA) is actively looking for a cave described in only one rather tantalizing sentence in an obscure letter between Theodore H. Lewis and Alfred J. Hill written from Wabasha, Minnesota and dated October 26, 1884. In this letter Lewis states that: "There is a cave & some mds. [mounds] about 10 miles from Kellogg on head of W - indian Creek. The cave is full of pictographs & has never been fully explored." Our research to date indicates that T.H. Lewis probably never published anything on this "lost" cave and it is not clear if he ever personally visited the cave. At other locations he actively recorded petroglyphs.It is also not entirely clear if Lewis was using the term "head" as in "headwaters" or if he was referring to the "mouth" of West Indian Creek where it flows into the Zumbro River in Theilman, Minnesota. As a surveyor we think it is more likely that Lewis probably understood the term as referring to the headwaters area.
A bluff in the valley of a tributary of West Indian CreekWest Indian Creek is in Wabasha County, Minnesota and is in an area of high limestone bluffs and many caves. West Indian Creek has many caves along its banks and there are at least four main tributaries that each could have been considered the "head" of the creek.
Charlie Bailey and Amy Becker along a trail next to a cliff in the West Indian Creek valleyOn April 18th, 1998, Deborah Morse Kahn, Charlie Bailey and I took a day trip to the area. On Highway 52 north of the village of Zumbrota, Minnesota we stopped to look at six possible unrecorded mounds that both Deborah and Charlie had seen on previous drives through the area. We viewed the mounds from the road and Charlie took videotape of their present appearance. The weather was sunny, clear and warm and the leaves, ticks, mosquitos, and flies had not come out yet so it was a perfect season for this type of field survey work.
Deborah Morse-Kahn in one of the cliff caves near W. Indian CreekWe then stopped to examine some possible grooving petroglyphs on a sandstone wall near the Sherwood Campground. It was not possible to say, one way or the other, if these vertical markings covered with lichen and moss were natural or cultural in origin but we wondered what natural phenomena could account for such vertical marks. We have seen vertical grooves elsewhere in Wabasha County and in the far west there is significant ethnography about the religious meaning of vertical "grooving" of sandstone.
We then took Highway 52 to 60 east through the town of Mazeppa to 4 south to the town of Theilman (pronounced "tile-man"). We went to the picnic area and gravel pit by the farm owned by Stanley Wilson and noted that the road crosses W. Indian Creek very near to where it flows into the Zumbro River.
Wild leeks carpet the West Indian Creek valleyTheilman is located in a beautiful valley and has many historic buildings including an Opera House. The railroad went through Theilman until the 1930’s. If you go into the local bar there are photos of the early town and the railroad depot on the wall. There we met Russ Meyer who owns a beautiful house up the street and who has retired from the trucking industry. He indicated that his family had been in Theilman since 1925 and he liked it very much and he had chosen to retire there even though he was only 45 years old. We also met Delmar Becker, and his lovely daughter Amy Becker, of Plainview, Minnesota. Delmar and Amy offered to show us a large cave that Delmar knew of that was on one of the tributaries of West Indian Creek. After walking perhaps 4 to 5 miles through beautiful valleys filled with wildflowers, and carpeted with leeks (like a wild onion or chives) we came to a large cave that Delmar thought was called Kruger’s Cave after the former property owner. This is an area of mixed land with both private and state land. There are no fences, markings, or anything else to tell you where anything ends or begins. The hike took about four hours.
The entrance to Kruger's CaveCharlie Bailey and I went into the cave and did not see any petroglyphs or pictographs except that I found what looked like some modern scratches with a metal object like a nail or a key about 60 to 80 feet into the cave. We took video of the cave’s interior. Kruger’s Cave is a large cave that is about 15 feet wide at the mouth and about 4 ½ feet high. The dirt floor gets higher and higher the further into the cave one goes. I went in about 80 to 100 feet and shone a light down one of the tunnels. At that point I was crawling on my stomach. I could see about another 50 to 80 additional feet into the cave with the flashlight and it appeared to curve and to keep going. To the right of the main entrance area was also a long tunnel that was very wide that we also could not see the end of.
Inside Kruger CaveThe dirt base of this cave would probably be archaeologically excavatable. The cave is generally dry although I did see one stalagtite that went from the ceiling to floor and the roof was actively depositing limestone where it was wet. I did not encounter any rattlesnakes, bats, raccoons, badgers, or bears and surprisingly no animal droppings either. There are many other smaller caves and openings along the cliff walls here. I did not have caving equipment with me such as knee and elbow pads, a helmet, etc. and I struck my head on the ceiling hard enough to draw blood. The tunnel became so narrow that I declined to crawl any further into it but with the right equipment this would be a great cave for further cave exploration. Delmar indicated that he thought that Boy Scouts had probably visited this cave.
Charlie Bailey examining the roof of Kruger CaveWe also went to two caves in the canyon that went all the way through the cliff face and provided a cool breeze like a fan while sitting in it. Another small cave south around the cliff face from Kruger’s Cave had fresh air coming out of it and it was obviously connected internally to another outlet.
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Some of the caves go right through cliff faces.
Delmar Becker at one of the caves in the valleyIn the valley directly below Kruger’s Cave was a creek bed with water in it and a blue plastic drum. The easiest access to the area of the valley where Kruger’s Cave is located would probably be to take the road that goes east out of Theilman that is not Co. road 4. This is a strenuous hike and we crossed many beaver dams and the creek several times to get to it.
Amy Becker in one of the caves.Although this is a large and significant cave it may or may not be the one Lewis described in his 1884 letter near some mounds. There are also other caves along the creek. On our next visit we will focus on the headwaters of each of the four main tributaries to West Indian Creek which are all close to the roads. We especially want to thank Delmar Becker and Amy Becker for a wonderful day and showing us the valley and caves. We very much appreciate their taking us there and we all had a great time.
The August 8, 1998 Field Trip to Kruger Cave
(c) 1998 Kevin L. Callahan
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Charlie Bailey found the following reference in the 1854 book "Wilderness Home:"
THE NELSON CAVERN In a little valley on the Nelson farm was a forty foot depression which formed an entrance to the Nelson cave consisting of several chambers with ceilings and sidewalls of solid rock. The entrance chamber was the size of a small house. Each succeedng chamber became smaller with low openings leading into the next chamber. Torrents of water from rains and melting snow found their through openings in this subterranean passage were discharged from a solid stone wall on Indian Creek, a mile away. The cave had many visitors who enjoyed the coolness of the place and its very unusual rock formation. Silt from the nearby cultivated fields has since filled the cavern and all traces of it have disappeared.Another natural and very interesting formation on West Indian Creek, not far distant, was a rock ledge projecting into the valley, and was known as the "Old Fort". The surface of this formation was on the same level as surrounding land and it projected into the valley nearly a thousand feet with the point of the projection only twenty feet in width. The face of the cliff was perpendicular and several hundred feet in height. In the upper portions of the cliff were cavities that resembled portholes of a fort. On the lower side was talus piled up in past ages that made it possible to enter the portholes of the fort from a lower level. The old fort was used as a lookout and signal point by the Indians for it commanded a clear view of the entire valley for a considerable distance. While the old fort was unknown to the general public, however, its unusual formation attracted many visitors.
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