Post by Sharon Faulkner on Aug 13, 2007 17:36:08 GMT -5
Local Ezell’s Cave has a long story
August 11, 2007
By Susan Smith
Q. Can you help me locate information on the man Ezell’s Cave was named after? Do you have a photograph of him?
A. Yes, we do have his photo.
On January 18, 1968, the San Marcos Record reported on Ezell after an interview with his great-granddaughter, Betty Sue Strickland: Greenberry Ezell (1817-1904) certainly proved to be one of San Marcos most interesting citizens. He was credited with making the original survey of the city in the early 1840s.
“He then left San Marcos and headed for California to seek his fortune. According to legend, he found it. He returned to San Marcos with a sizeable sum of money he had earned by selling water, bear grease and other such necessities to miners.
“Ezell retained his interest in hunting gold and buried treasure. While treasure hunting in the company of an old Indian (whose life he had once saved), he discovered the entrance to Ezell’s Cave. ‘They just lifted up a big rock and there it was,’ said Mrs. Strickland.
“After Ezell and his Indian friend poked around and failed to discover treasure, they opened the cave to the public and placed a boat on the small pond. The boat is still in the cave. It was found there by skin divers several years ago when the cave was purchased by T.J. Mostyn.
“The cave that bears Ezell’s name has proven to be a biological treasure. The Nature Conservancy has purchased the property and is seeking to protect the 38 species of underground creatures. Eight of them are found no other place in the world.”
The cave, sealed and no longer open to the public, is still owned by the Nature Conservancy which works to preserve the cave itself and the endangered species within it.
If you’d like to see some great photos of Ezell’s Cave inhabitants, check out “Texas Caves” by Blair Pittman. It has clear pictures of the Texas blind salamander, the Purgatory Creek cave shrimp, and the Texas cave isopod.
For a description and complete history of the cave, see “The Caves and Karst of Texas” by William R. Elliott and George Veni.
Article
August 11, 2007
By Susan Smith
Q. Can you help me locate information on the man Ezell’s Cave was named after? Do you have a photograph of him?
A. Yes, we do have his photo.
On January 18, 1968, the San Marcos Record reported on Ezell after an interview with his great-granddaughter, Betty Sue Strickland: Greenberry Ezell (1817-1904) certainly proved to be one of San Marcos most interesting citizens. He was credited with making the original survey of the city in the early 1840s.
“He then left San Marcos and headed for California to seek his fortune. According to legend, he found it. He returned to San Marcos with a sizeable sum of money he had earned by selling water, bear grease and other such necessities to miners.
“Ezell retained his interest in hunting gold and buried treasure. While treasure hunting in the company of an old Indian (whose life he had once saved), he discovered the entrance to Ezell’s Cave. ‘They just lifted up a big rock and there it was,’ said Mrs. Strickland.
“After Ezell and his Indian friend poked around and failed to discover treasure, they opened the cave to the public and placed a boat on the small pond. The boat is still in the cave. It was found there by skin divers several years ago when the cave was purchased by T.J. Mostyn.
“The cave that bears Ezell’s name has proven to be a biological treasure. The Nature Conservancy has purchased the property and is seeking to protect the 38 species of underground creatures. Eight of them are found no other place in the world.”
The cave, sealed and no longer open to the public, is still owned by the Nature Conservancy which works to preserve the cave itself and the endangered species within it.
If you’d like to see some great photos of Ezell’s Cave inhabitants, check out “Texas Caves” by Blair Pittman. It has clear pictures of the Texas blind salamander, the Purgatory Creek cave shrimp, and the Texas cave isopod.
For a description and complete history of the cave, see “The Caves and Karst of Texas” by William R. Elliott and George Veni.
Article