Colorado's Marble Mountain Caves; Myths and Reality

Gary Ziegler

Recently, while giving an illustrated program on what I call selected elements

of local history at the Westcliffe Library, I was asked about Marble Cave.

Although an interesting subject of regional notoriety, I realized that I had left

out mention of this geological and historical enigmatic anomaly. After a bit of

prodding from interested friends, I moved the topic forward on my ever

growing ‘things to write about list’. With free time before the serious onset

of the coming winter, here it goes.

Reaching far back in personal history, several classmates at Colorado

Springs High School (now Palmer) and I became interested in cave

exploring, joining an organization called the National Speleological Society

(NSS). This was an early metamorphosis for the direction my education focus

was going, coupling scientific discovery with wild adventure. Along with

technical rock climbing, we utilized weekends to launch explorations of

lesser known Colorado caves. These getaway sorties were a needed relief

after struggling through Mrs. Zinn’s english class or Dean Moon’s chemistry

lab experiments and exams during the studies week.

Close by home we could slip into Manitou’s William’s Canyon to party and

explore ‘Hucky Cove’, a local cave well known and frequently visited.

Although attempts were made to seal it, someone always broke the entrance

open again. It was finally, permanently sealed in the 1970s as the growing

risk of legal Liability of this new age mandated.

There were several other caves of interest in the local geological formation of

Mississippian age, Leadville Limestone and underlying Ordovician age

Manitou Limestone. One favorite, the name of which I have forgotten is

located in the canyon leading up from William Palmer’s Glen Erie

Castle complex, north of Garden of the Gods. It was particularly challenging

requiring a rock climbing approach to gain entrance. I suspect that it too has

long been sealed.

Another challenging cave closer to Custer County opens in a steep

limestone wall near an old, wagon route which runs from Ca?on City to

Cripple Creek called the Shelf Road. It was particularly difficult and scary,

requiring several hundred feet of crawling and frequent squeezing through

very tight places to reach a main grotto chamber. Of current interest

is that the area has become a popular rock climbing destination in recent

times. I mention in another story about driving a herd of long horn cattle

up the Shelf Road in the 1990s.

Now to the essence of this story; the mysteries, legends and

explorations associated with Marble Mountain and It’s assortment of

high altitude cavities, caverns, mining claims and abandoned camps.

Marble Mountain is a sort of geological anomaly. The bedrock limestone is

a fault block created, isolated remnant of the Pennsylvanian age, Minturn

Formation. It is wedged between elements of differing geomorphic structures

of the Sangre de Cristo Formation extending to the north and south.

A cave system can only be created in a water soluble material like

Limestone. The thick, extensive mass of Marble Mountain is unique to the

range in offering this environment. Other than a few thin bands of limestone

elsewhere unsuitable for cave creation, the mountain presents the only cave

forming possibility.

My involvement with the mountain and it’s caves goes back to previously

mentioned early caving and climbing years in the late 1950s. A high school

classmate, Bob Doane and I loaded up camping gear into my ‘hot rod’ 1949

Ford, flat head V-8, NSS stickers on the rear window. We bounced up the

dusty, rough dirt road over Hardscrabble Pass, through Westcliffe and on

south to South Colony Road.

Turning off the road, we joined a small NSS group camped at a ranch just

before the National Forest near Crystal Falls Creek. As the youngest and

least experienced, Bob and I joined in with considerable awe and trepidation.

The next morning we sorted and helped pack what seemed an excessive

amount of equipment. I remember big coils of World War Two vintage, OD

green, 7/16 inch braided nylon climbing rope that was in use at the time.

There were several canvas bags of rope ladders, a supply of carbide, used in

flame illuminating headlamps, and assorted camping supplies. A tough

looking packer, I believe it was Harry Diekmann, from near Alvarado

Campground, showed up with a string of pack horses to carry all this up to a

high campsite on Marble Mountain.

By late afternoon, we arrived at a small level meadow just below timberline.

This ended the trail as far up as the pack horses could go. The route on to

our objective, Marble Cave* climbed steeply up an eroded gully to a small

north side shelf about a thousand feet above camp. We staggered up this

with heavy back packs the next morning. I was happy that I had learned the

valuable mountain rest step. Stretching memory a bit, ( geez, it has only been

sixty-seven years), it may have been several trips to hump up the equipment

needed to explore the reportedly deep, downward plunging cave system.

Finally, equipment in place and team organized, we descended into the

cave. Again, from distant memory, the cave opened into a small walk in

tunnel partially blocked by ice. The date must have been sometime in the fall

as Ice reportedly closes the passage until then. An unusual item observed

outside the entrance was a painted, badly faded, red colored Maltese cross*.

After some distance, around fifty feet, the passage ended overlooking a

broad open pit. The temperature was very cold with a strong upward draft

coming from below. With belayers securely anchored above for justifiable

roped protection, we had a choice of descending with a ‘carabiner and over

the shoulder repel’ or climb down the wobbling, unstable rope ladder. We

young hot shot climbers of course chose the repel without protection.

To shorten the story, we worked several hours daily for a couple of days,

exploring and mapping the winding passages. Most of these were almost

filled with freezing, down-plunging water streams. We did have newly

designed neoprene diving suits and gloves which made the work possible.

1. Marble Cave is also know as Spanish Cave and La Caverna del Oro

Our exploration produced the first detailed map and scientific description of

Marble Cave. I had a copy of the map diagram and would love to have it for

this story. Sadly it is now lost. Researching the Internet, I could not find any

studies of substance. The Forest Service in conjunction with the Colorado

Mountain Club sponsored a visit in the 1920s. Neither organization

responded to my inquiry for information. I also contacted the NSS asking for

anything they might have including our 1950s NSS project without result.

However the story does go on; As it turns out, I later visited the mountain

and poked around other caves on many occasions looking at all with a

geological and archaeological focus. With our Bear Basin Ranch guide and

outfitting business, we visited the area many times over the years, camping

at that same high meadow. It gave me a good opportunity to examine the

many remnants and remains of past human activity there.

At some point in time, probably during the Silver Cliff mining boom in the late

1870s, a wagon road was built up to a small mine works close to the camp

meadow. A collapsed tunnel and small tailing pile indicate that they gave it a

good try but it eventually failed. Samples from the site indicate that the ore

was mainly copper which did not justify the expenses and effort involved. A

leveled area nearby probably contained a simple log cabin or canvas tent.

The remains of the road is evident and was the trail up for many years. Other

more recent mining claims were staked out nearby but never worked beyond

a small prospect hole.

There are a number of small prospect pits on the ridge top east of and near

the camp site meadow. These indicate that the area was extensively

prospected for likely gold and silver. This was probably motivated by old

treasure legends along with general mineral

searches prompted by successful mining at

nearby Rosita and Silver Cliff.

A few curiously shaped old pines which I identify

as having been culturally modified (CMT) are

scattered around the area. In respect to the

regional ethnohistory, these trees, when young,

probably were shaped by visiting summer bands

of mountain Ute. I have collected a few chips of

imported obsidian and jasper and a point or two,

indicating that on some past occasion, stone

tools had been made there. Anyway, that pretty

much describes what I have observed and

remembered.

As for gold mining, stashed treasure, Spanish explorers, armor-clad

skeletons, forts, mysterious monks and enslaved Ute, I’ll come back to

that later.

I do want to tell the story of my last visit to Marble Mountain in August, 2005.

My later to be wife, Amy Finger and I were actively involved with Custer

County Search and Rescue (CCSAR) As described elsewhere, I was one of

the founders of the unit, along with Dan Riggs and Ken Perschbacher back

in the mid-1970s. Now in these later times, we had organized a horse

packing unit to pack in equipment and for any other use that might be

needed.

The date was August 13, a cell phone call came in to the Sheriff’s Office that

a caver was injured and in need of evacuation from what they called Spanish

Cave at Marble Mountain. Fortunately, I do have a official report of this

incident so can accurately describe the events.

Amy and I gathered our SAR trained horses and needed equipment then

trailered up to the parking lot at the end of South Colony Road where it

becomes a rocky, steep 4X4 road. After several hours of upward riding, we

met a small group camped just above the old campsite meadow. The injured

party had been successfully extracted from the cave and helped down to the

camp. A tough, fit gal named Marty had twisted a knee climbing out of the

cave and could not walk. The group had helped her down to the camp the

day before. When we arrived, she was in pain but good spirits. She told her

story of the accident as the team generously shared their supper with us.

Marty was climbing up the deep shaft near the entrance. Her partner had

become chilled and wet going down, deciding to quit the decent. Although

comfortable in a wet suit, Marty decided to accompany her friend.

As she swung against a projection something popped in her left knee leaving

her in great pain and an unusable leg. She was virtually trapped there, half

way up for several hours.

As fortuitous events happen, A father and his son arrived at just that moment

with more rope and pulleys. With help from others outside she was

extracted, able to crab walk and slide, down to camp.

After a radio conference with the SAR office we made the decision that a

helicopter evac was not necessary. We always tried to avoid these when

possible because of the risk created by steep terrain, wind gusts and

altitude. Over the years we had several helicopter accidents.

Marty said she was totally willing and capable to be taken out on horseback.

The next morning, we saddled up to begin a careful ascent down

the old wagon road trail. Amy rode her favorite gray gelding, an extremely

trustworthy, sure footed , Paso Fino called Sentinelo. I was riding a big 16

hands quarter horse appropriately named Ouray after the famous Ute Chief. I

was in charge of the Sheriff’s Mounted Posse at the time, training and riding

the big horse. Ouray had been trained for almost everything, parades,

directing traffic in Westcliffe and Pueblo, mountain trail packing, cutting

cattle and most important, search and rescue.

With suitable braces and emergency wraps in place we carefully lifted Marty

up onto my secure, doubled-rigged, old Heiser Saddle. I walked along in

front, leading Ouray by a lead rope. Several hours later, we arrived safely at

the Rainbow Trail which traverses the base of the east side of the long range.

A SAR team was waiting, greeting us with a motorized, liter mounted ATV.

Marty went on to treatment and full recovery She remains involved with

caving activities, telling her rescue story on special occasions.

Myths and Fantasies

1. The legend of La Caverna del Oro, the Cave of Gold, was passed down

from generation to generation by the Indians…monks translated the legend,

and the explorers eagerly sought the gold.

2. In 1541, three Spanish monks from the Coronado expedition forced the

Indians into slave labor to extract gold from the cave.

3. Vast amounts of gold were brought forth from the underground passages

by enslaved natives.

4. Monk De la Cruz from the Coronado Expedition and a group of Spaniards

killed the Indians, loaded up their treasure on pack mules, fleeing south back

to Mexico.

5. The cave was discovered by Elisha Horn around 1870. He found an armor

clad skeleton with an arrow in back near the entrance of the cave and next to

a painted Maltese cross.

6. The 1920s Colorado Mountain Club - Forest Service exploration found a

200-year-old ladder and a hammer made in the 1600s. Lower down, hidden

in aspen trees, the group found the ruins of an old fort with arrowheads

scattered about.

7. Many people have explored the cave uncovering old items, a windlass

rope, bucket, a clay jug, and a shovel left by earlier explorers or miners.

8. One group found a human skeleton chained by the neck to a wall deep

down in the cave.

Analysis and Conclusions

This is a story based on personal experience and knowledge. I have not

included a bibliography which a professional paper requires and have not

read probably related books. Sadly, published articles I did find seem to be a

re-hash of the same rumors and unsubstantiated myths previously

published. Several more thoughtful writings are out there: Michael

O’Hanlon’s 1999 “The Colorado Sangre de Cristo: A Complete Trail Guide” is

a reasonable but limited source. His focus for a guide book is on how to get

there and what the area offers but he does reasonably discount most of the

mystical stories for lack of credibility. There may be other useful studies but I

have not been able to find them. It is unfortunate that the organizations I

contacted did not respond.

A claim that three monks led a group branching off from the Coronado

expedition to the Sangre de Cristo mountains is highly improbable. The

Coronado expedition is well documented. The goal was to find gold, not to

mine it. These second generation Conquistadores; then twenty years after

the conquest of Mexico, were looking for their own conquest, searching for

the reportedly gold rich, Seven Cities of Cibola. The expedition separated

into several groups to visit different regions. One group reached Western

Colorado and another discovered the Grand Canyon.

Spanish adventurers did find and work mines in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico

and southwestern Colorado but much later. It is likely that the Marble

Mountain caves were visited and explored during these later times..

The Ute, Arapaho and others visited, camped and hunted the Marble

Mountain slopes revealed by modified trees and cultural artifacts found

there. The Sangre de Cristos were a sacred earth feature for the mountain

Ute. It would have taken a considerably strong force to maintain a presence

there. The Ute were well known for repelling outsiders. Establishing a mining

operation would have been very unlikely

Geologically, gold is rarely found in a limestone environment.“Vast amounts

of gold were brought forth from the underground passages” is pure fantasy.

if a pegmatite or other source containing significant amounts of gold existed,

it would have been extensively worked during the later mining boom days of

the late 1800s. The NSS project I was with saw no evidence of mining.

If reported data from the 1920s exploration can be trusted, remains of a

ladder, hammer and other like items were found in Marble Cave, it suggests

that the cave was explored by recent prospectors. These items would not

have survived in the wet interior over several hundred years. Someone

dated the ladder as over 200 years and a hammer as from the 1600s. I have

strong doubts about this. The 1920s group reported the ruins of a fort

somewhere in an aspen grove below. This is likely the remains of an old

cabin site at the camp meadow. A number of small prospecting pits are

nearby. These have been mistakenly described as defensive fortifications by

some imaginative visitor.

Several articles repeat a a claim that a skeleton was found chained to a wall

in the cave. This story must have originated during some gala miners party

at a Silver Cliff saloon. Neither a skeleton nor chain would long survive intact

in a wet cave. Skeletal remains quickly fall apart except when contained in

a burial or like situation. Fragmented bones would quickly disintegrate.

This brings me to the reported visit by pioneer valley settler, Elisha Horn.

He well may have visited the mountain but no reliable documentation exists.

A first reporting of the Maltese cross is attributed to him. I’ll return to that.

Perhaps the most absurd claim is that he found a skeleton, inclosed in armor

with an arrow stuck in the back. Whew…as in the cave, human remains do

not last long exposed to the elements, Animals and birds attack the flesh,

bones are quickly detached and scattered. Several hundred year old armor

would have long rusted away. A wood shafted arrow would have long

decayed. As my Peruvian archaeologist friends would say “es puro caca del

toro”.

Coming back to the entrance side painted cross. It may well have been there

but had to be fairly recent. Paint on an exposed outside wall does not last

long. It is now faded to a point that it is barely visible. Spanish adventurers

left similar features throughout the Southwest but they were carved, not

painted. If any were painted outdoors, none have survived

All that being said, the mountain and it’s unique high altitude cave system

is a rare, interesting, natural phenomenon enhancing our unique mountain

community. Myth, mysteries and legends are an enriching aspect of life in

the old west. A visit to the mountain is well worth the effort.

Who knows, maybe Coronado’s ghost along with Ute guardian spirits of the

sacred landscape still roam the mountainside when the full moon rises.

.