by mtwebb96 » Apr 22, 2012 7:34 pm
I am sure no historian but I believe the fence in Marengo Cave and the dispute in court happened around 1929. This event led to the closure of a part of Marengo with a fence put up inside the cave that the landowner had no access to. Much more famous disputes can be found in the cave wars around Mammoth Cave. George Morrison and his crew knew Mammoth cave extended far outside of the owners property. Problem was the estate kept the maps close to the heart. If my memory from Brucker and Watson's book "The Longest Cave" are correct, Morrison sent in people to trespass and set off explosives where he could observe in suspected sinkholes on property he controlled for a possible "New" Entrance to the cave system. His motives (it seems) were a attempt to siphon off the "very limited tourist dollars" that were being spent on the "Famous Mammoth Cave". This was also in the teens and twentys of the last century. Morrison found his new entrance to Mammoth. However, I dont think he found a ton of wealth from these adventures. (Another famous ruse from the Mammoth area was when Bill Austin blasted an entrance into what he told the National Park Service was a back door to Crystal Cave even though it went directly into Unknown Cave in the 50s)
This was a time when we had very little data avaliable to the public and the surrounding land owners. Cave owners kept these maps secret. They didnt want a neighbor to take money out of their pockets by opening an entrance to a very well known and popular attraction with so few dollars to go around.
How does all this relate to Binkleys Cave? First off its 2012 not 1929 and with social media and the internet much more information is avaliable today! For over 50 years Binkleys has been explored and recently proved to be a very significant cave. The website that Dave Everton has is transparent, no one has tried to mislead or keep info from anyone, not just cavers but even local landowners. Second, developing and running a commercial cave is at best a risky venture. Most likely its easier to open, maintain and turn a profit from a new restraunt. With the failure rate of restraunts this is not a get rich venture period! Outside of the caving community and I would say even in Corydon Indiana not many people have even heard of Binkleys Cave. I feel fears of a fence or a cave war over a commercial Binkleys Cave could happen but the odds are not too great. Knowing Gary, Fig, Benton and many of the key figures in the exploration of this cave the last 50+ years I doubt the motives are to get rich but to only protect a cave they have spent a lifetime in and hold close to their hearts!