PAPERS ON GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 393 



MARENGO CAVE, MARENGO, INDIANA 

 W. N. Speckman. Elmhurst College 



Marengo Cave is situated within the corporate limits 

 of the town of Marengo, Crawford County, Indiana, on 

 the Louisville, Evansville, and St. Louis Division of the 

 Southern Railway, thirty-eight miles west of Louisville, 

 Ky.. and twelve miles north of the Ohio River. 



It is said to have been discovered accidentally by hunt- 

 ers in pursuit of a rabbit which took refuge in a hole 

 which led into the Cave. Others say that parents, missing 

 their children while at play during the clay, watched their 

 disappearance into an opening in the ground which was 

 found to descend gradually into the mouth of the Cave, 

 the first room of which had furnished an excellent hiding- 

 place and playroom for the children. 



The formation of the rock about Marengo is of lime- 

 stone. A large limestone quarry has been opened on an- 

 other side of the town adjoining the railroad track and 

 a considerable quantity of material has already been re- 

 moved. The existence of the Cave has been known but 

 forty years, having been discovered in 1883. A writer 

 says, "Although this land has been the center of civiliza- 

 tion for more than three fourths of a century, and a little 

 town with its places of trade and shops of industry had 

 existed for nearly half a century, yet not until the year 

 1883 was it known that this grand work of Nature lay 

 hidden beneath the surface here." 



The hill under which the Cave lies is rolling and grad- 

 ually elevated above the surrounding country. On its 

 sides are outcroppings of limestone formation. The 

 present entrance is near a beautiful grove about two 

 hundred yards north of a sparkling stream which is 

 fed by the water of two large springs in North Marengo. 

 These springs issue from small caves in the sides of ele- 

 vations. The one has a semi-circular entrance with slop- 

 ing stone ceiling from which stalactitic formations de- 

 pend and is in itself worth seeing. Quite a stream of 

 water flows from it and plants grow at the entrance. 

 The original entrance to Marengo Cave has been closed 

 and another made, which descends at an angle of about 



