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Show 228 nl8 settlers of t h i s mountain region. ~ And so the mystery was correctly solved. "I am satisfied," concluded Bean, "they [the human footprints] were made by Indians in former times, going into the cave to get clay t o make earthenware, as numerous pieces of broken ware are scattered over different portions of the country. It was probably a t r i b e called Moquis (or white Indians of the Colorado Valley); as we learned they once inhabited this country." ° The cave discoverd by the White Mountain Expedition is the one known pre-sently as Cave Valley Cave, one of the longest single shafts in the west. 20 Its entrance on the property of the Cave Valley Ranch is in the foothills of the Schell Creek Range on a low h i l l jutting into the valley. Despite i t s size, Cave Valley Cave i s not well known today because of i t s remoteness, being far from paved roads and c i t i e s . But the cave is accessible to the determined and is well worth the effort. Its 2,200 foot length, although not as ornate as many of the more familiar caverns in the west, has many beautiful formations and curiosities along the way. 21 After exploring the cave without reaching i t s end, Dame's pack t r a i n camped for the night at the nearby White Mountain Camp. Bean's encampment was situated by four or five good springs, and the ground was free of a l k a l i . A meeting was called, and Bean's men were informed of the decisions and plans made the previous night at Dame's camp on Desert Swamp Springs. Dame and his party would cross the mountains into the next valley east, breaking a new t r a i l to Meadow Valley. The twenty-eight Iron County men in Bean's expedition would follow Dame's t r a i l south to Meadow Valley, and from that point they would be piloted to Cave Springs in Badger (Clover ) Valley southeast of Dame's settlement. There they would establish a farm under the command of Charles Hopkins of Cedar City. Captain Bean would take the Beaver company with him to the Wah Wah Mountains to attempt a settlement somewhere in that region. And Barney was t o return to his post at Snake Creek. |
