Post by jonsdigs on Jun 14, 2007 17:03:18 GMT -5
The legend of Bear Trap Cave: Claw marks inside reveal struggle by grizzly to escape
By Tom Lawrence, Black Hills Pioneer
June 14, 2007
CUSTER - Some stories are based in truth. Some legends are real. Some near mythic locations exist.
Bear Trap Cave is one of those places.
The cave is located near Custer and west of Bear Mountain Lookout in what is now the Jasper Fire burn. It's a popular spot for Black Hills cavers, or people who enjoy crawling underground and exploring dark caverns. But most people have never heard of it, or only know of the legend.
Carl Clements, 85, remembers learning about the cave.
Clements remembers a cave in Gillette Canyon that he visited in the 1950s that was apparently the final resting place of a large bear, perhaps a grizzly.
He said he was working for the Forest Service a half-century ago when an old man who scratched out a living by cutting wood for posts high in the hills offered to show him a cave. The cave had been the final resting place of a bear, Clements said the old man told him.
A bear had entered the cave through a hole at the top but had found it impossible to get out of the living-room size cave, the woodcutter told him. Sure enough, there were deep ridges in the walls of the cave, Clements said, apparently from the bear's claws as it desperately fought to get out before it weakened and died.
The old woodcutter told Clements that a grizzly's skull and other bear bones were found in the cave. That explained the name the cave had gained: Bear Trap Cave.
Clements did more than listen to the story. "Oh yeah, I crawled in there," he said.
The claw marks were still evident but the bear remains had disappeared. "They were gone a long time before," Clements said.
Full Story
By Tom Lawrence, Black Hills Pioneer
June 14, 2007
CUSTER - Some stories are based in truth. Some legends are real. Some near mythic locations exist.
Bear Trap Cave is one of those places.
The cave is located near Custer and west of Bear Mountain Lookout in what is now the Jasper Fire burn. It's a popular spot for Black Hills cavers, or people who enjoy crawling underground and exploring dark caverns. But most people have never heard of it, or only know of the legend.
Carl Clements, 85, remembers learning about the cave.
Clements remembers a cave in Gillette Canyon that he visited in the 1950s that was apparently the final resting place of a large bear, perhaps a grizzly.
He said he was working for the Forest Service a half-century ago when an old man who scratched out a living by cutting wood for posts high in the hills offered to show him a cave. The cave had been the final resting place of a bear, Clements said the old man told him.
A bear had entered the cave through a hole at the top but had found it impossible to get out of the living-room size cave, the woodcutter told him. Sure enough, there were deep ridges in the walls of the cave, Clements said, apparently from the bear's claws as it desperately fought to get out before it weakened and died.
The old woodcutter told Clements that a grizzly's skull and other bear bones were found in the cave. That explained the name the cave had gained: Bear Trap Cave.
Clements did more than listen to the story. "Oh yeah, I crawled in there," he said.
The claw marks were still evident but the bear remains had disappeared. "They were gone a long time before," Clements said.
Full Story
