MANITOU CAVE
HISTORY & TIMELINE
Manitou is an Algonquian concept; it represents the fundamental life force or spirit which exists everywhere and in everything. This prehistoric cave, formed millions of years ago when Alabama was under a shallow sea, has served as a place of shelter and ceremony for indigenous peoples, including the Cherokee. After the forced removal from their land, the cave was mined for salt peter during the civil war and was later developed as a tourist attraction. In 2016, Manitou Cave of Alabama, Inc. formed to save and preserve this living natural museum and world treasure. Learn more about the life of Manitou Cave below!
1782 - 1838
Cherokee Inhabitance
Chickamauga Cherokee moved southwest from their native lands to create distance between themselves and European settlements. Cherokee cave use has not been well documented, but primary source documents by Brainerd missionaries mention Cherokees hanging meat and preparing lodgings in caves. Recent scholarship on the cave has indicated that it may have been the site of significant rituals, possibly both in and outside of the cave.
1794
Willstown Founded
The area surrounding Manitou Cave had been named Will's Valley, after an auburn-haired, mixed-race Cherokee subchief Will Weber. A settlement was created on these lands, named Willstown. Willstown acted as a major trade center along an ancient Native American trade trail.
1809 - 1821
Sequoyah invents the Cherokee Syllabary
For the first time, Cherokee Indians have a way to communicate via written language. Syllabary inscriptions can be found on Manitou Cave walls.
Video: The Cherokee Syllabary, The Language and Life Project
1813
Sequoyah moves to Willstown
He moved with his mother to the Willstown area by 1813, when he enlisted as a private in the Cherokee Regiment to fight in the War of 1812.
Artwork: Sequoyah, Cherokee Inventor by C.B. King 1836, Wikimedia Commons
1821 - 1828
Widespread Adoption of Cherokee Syllabary
Sequoyah's syllabary is quickly adopted by the Cherokee people. There is strong evidence that by 1828, almost all young and middle-aged Cherokee men could read and write syllabary.
1831 - 1850
Trail of Tears
The federal government forces Native Americans to walk thousands of miles out of their lands into specially designated "Indian Territory" west of the Mississippi River. An estimated 4,000 Cherokee, nearly 20% of the entire Cherokee population, died due to cold, exhaustion, hunger and disease on the journey westward.
Artwork: Trail of Tears, 1942, Robert Lindneux
1838
Captain John G. Payne arrives is Willstown
Willstown becomes Fort Payne when an internment fort is built there to hold the Cherokee for their forced removal. Local legends tell of Cherokee hiding in surrounding caves, including Manitou, to avoid removal from their lands.
May 1861 - 1964
Manitou Cave is mined for saltpeter
Few details are known about Confederate mining for saltpeter at Manitou. The mine appears to have been operational by September of 1862. The leaching portion of the operation was conducted outside, near the spring. Payroll records for the mining between September of 1862 and January of 1864 indicate between seven and twenty men worked at the site, including some slaves. The cave was vulnerable to Union raids, and during 1863 the cave was raided at least twice. Confederate mining operations resumed by late 1864. An attempt to match payroll rosters of known cave workers with graffiti names etched into the cave walls was successful with nine of the names: S. M. Rowan, J. C. Anderson, J.W. Whorton, M. Y. Scott, J. Coleman, Tom Black, J.W. Palmer, D. B. Carr, and H. S. Rowan.
1888
Manitou Cave developed by Fort Payne Iron and Coal Company
The land surrounding Manitou Cave is landscaped into a park, and a ballroom is constructed roughly half a mile into the cave. The candelit ballroom becomes a favorite meeting place for dances and galas.
Entrance of Manitou Cave, Landmarks of DeKalb County, AL
1889 - 1892
Fort Payne Boom Days
Fort Payne becomes an industrial boom town, due to the coal and iron resources in Alabama.
Fort Payne and Eastern Railway Train, Landmarks of DeKalb County, AL
1903 - 1976
Manitou Cave Purchased by W. B. Raymond Family
The Raymond Family purchased Manitou Cave in 1903 from Fort Payne Coal and Iron. During the 1950s, the Raymonds spent a decade developing Manitou Cave and surrounding property into a "Show Cave" by installing metal bridges and electricity, building a gift shop, and adding picnic tables to the grounds. By the early 1960s, The Raymond Family hosted hundreds of visitors daily. Manitou Cave continued to operate as a commercial cave until the late 1970s when it was sold to local dentist and historian, Dr. Steven Brewer.
1937 - 1964
Manitou Cave hosts annual art shows
September 2015
Restoration Begins
Manitou Cave and its surrounding 10 acre property is purchased by non-profit Manitou Cave of AL, Inc. with help from anonymous donors. Kristen Bobo designs and builds a state of the art 3,000-lb. cave gate to protect the cave entrance. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians offer to help fund the $5,000 new cave gate to protect the contents of the cave.
May 2016
Places in Peril
Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation designates MCAL historic Visitor’s Center as one of the five 2016 Places in Peril.
MCAL Visitor's Center, circa 1960