Lost River - Karst Information Portal

Deep below the hills of Crawford County,
Indiana, lies Wyandotte Cave. For
centuries it has intrigued explorers with its
depth and beauty. It once was used as a valuable
mineral source by American Indians and early
pioneers. Parts of Wyandotte Cave have long
been a commercial attraction, sporting guided
tours for visitors from around the world.
Those tours continue to this day, provided by
Wyandotte Caves LLC, under contract from
the Indiana Department of Natural Resources,
which manages Wyandotte Caves. The cave
also serves as a hibernaculum to the endangered
Indiana bat, keeping it closed during the
winter months. Numerous stories and books
The Saga of Easter Pit
(The Connection to Wyandotte Cave)
Easter Pit Cave entrance.
Story and Photos by Glenn E. Lemasters
exist about the cave. Since the recording of
history began, names like Bentley, Jones,
Curry, Rothrock, Sears, Jackson, Louden, and
Siebert ring with stories of exploration within.
But this story is about the 1987 connection of
Wyandotte Cave to Easter Pit, a cave that lay
nearly a mile from Wyandotte’s entrance.
Easter Pit Cave was discovered by a longtime
local caver named Leo Schotter. In 1967,
Leo showed the entrance to Ted Wilson.
The entrance, a 38-foot pit, led to a passage
extending for a few hundred feet. Below this
passage, in an obscure lower level, they found
another passage containing many tight canyons,
pits, and crawlways. Over the next few years,
Ted and others explored and mapped what
they thought was the extent of the cave.
About 17 years later, on October 26, 1986,
Ted revisited Easter Pit with me and Danny
Dible. Our goal was to re-check the lower-level
passage. It required negotiating tight canyons,
pits, and crawls that led to a lower level where
we came to a small slot in the floor. It appeared
to drop into a larger passage below and seemed
impassable without enlarging it a bit. A strong
air current billowing from the crack beckoned
us to return. The three of us, with the addition
of fellow caver Joe Oliphant, did return. After
a small amount of enlarging the slot, and with
the aid of a rope, Wilson made the initial drop
through to the floor that lay 5 feet below.
It was the beginning of many return
exploration and survey trips to the cave. Below
the slot was a short passage that led to the top
of a big room. A steep slope of breakdown
boulders led down to a large borehole below,
where a void of blackness beckoned us on. It
was a large trunk passage, reminiscent of those
in Wyandotte Cave. With no survey gear in
hand, we elected to explore.
It continued as a flat-floored, sandy walkway
21