The Bean Cave in Marion County, Arkansas

        Recently I wrote a series on a skirmish that occurred during the Civil War on the White River entitled  Crude Invitations to the Civil War Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3. In this series, the major point of contention was a prime piece of real estate called the Bean Cave. I have found a newspaper  article from 1861that substantiates this location and its significance for the Confederacy, before it became a site for the Union Army to raid. Additionally, other locations along the White River are also mentioned.

Enjoy your Ozarks' History.

Vincent

 

Gunpowder for the South.

We were yesterday on board the steamboat New Moon, and seeing a large lot of kettles, between twenty and thirty, some of great size, and the men at work getting a steam engine on board, we inquired what these articles were for, and were informed by the captain of the boat they were intended for the manufacture of saltpeter at a spot in the mountains some sixty or seventy miles distant from Jacksonport, Ark., to which town the boat would convey them. We learned that Mr. Brinkley, of this city, and Mr. Jones, who resides down the river, opposite the town, of Commerce, have bought from Capt. James Smith, who lives on Black river, the saltpetre cave about to be worked, it is said at the price of $25,000. The purchasers, in the present contingency, have determined, patriotically, to spare no pains or expense to supply the South with an article she so much requires as saltpeter for the manufacture of gunpowder. As soon as thirty or forty hands can be obtained, they will be set to work, and it is believed that a large amount of saltpetre will be procured. Jacksonport is situated at the junction of Black with White river.

         Black river divides the eastern border of county from the neighboring county of Jackson, in which Jacksonport is situated. In Independence county Col. John Miller owns a saltpeter cave situated two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet up in a ridge of sub-carboniferous limestone. it has passages in it extending from two hundred to three hundred yards in length, and eight or ten in width. We are not aware of the percentage of saltpeter the earth of this carbon contains. 

          Newton county also contains saltpeter caves. It is one of the most mountainous counties in the State of Arkansas, the Buffalo fork of White river takes its rise in it. On Cave creek, in the county, are several saltpeter caves; the principal one is the property of J. S. Thompson, Esq. The dark brown niter earth which forms the floor of the cave is rich in saltpeter owing no doubt, to the large quantities of organic matter with the earth. This nitre earth has been traced fifty or sixty yards back into the cave, to the depth of seven or eight feet; it is mixed with broken rock. With a very rough mode of manufacture, five pounds of saltpeter to the bushel of earth have been obtained in a hopper of two hundred bushels netting a thousand pounds of the salt. Many remains have been found in this cavern; the entire skeleton of an infant was exhumed on one occasion. What is perhaps more curious, a broken sea shell was once dug up here. For a hundred and fifty feet back from the mouth, this cave probably contains a larger proportion of saltpetre than almost any in the State. It has several branches, which may probably also contain saltpeter. The earth of them has not been examined.

In Washington county, which borders on the Indian territory, north of Van Buren, there is a saltpeter cave, near the Benton county line. 

Immediately on the West bank of White river, in Marion county, which borders the Missouri line, among the dins and overhanging ledges of limestone, is a little cave known as "Bean's cave." It is said that a man of that name once made saltpeter there along with another man, who he killed in a quarrel. The entrance is thirty feet wide; it runs back over a hundred feet. The sides of the cave are formed of tough earth or clay; this is dug down and left for some time to dry at the bottom of the cave, where it loses its moisture and crumbles into a powder. It has then acquired sufficient saltpeter to be worked with profit. The earth itself makes a good brown paint, especially after being burned, which deepens the color. The amount of saltpeter extracted from the Bean cave is from three to six per cent. 

The artificial niter plantations of France afford on an average four per cent of saltpeter. The dry earth's or Bean's Cave ought therefore, to be profitable to work, as they are abundant in quantity, even in times of peace. On the same bluff as Bean’s cave, a hundred yards off is another one a hundred and sixty-five feet wide at the mouth, and nearly as many feet deep; here the earth yielding saltpetre is from four to seven feet thick, and probably connects with that in Bean's cave. Several other niter caves of smaller extent are found in the same neighborhood. These caves belong to Smith & Co., of Elgin, in Jackson county, who have made saltpeter there. This point is deserving of special attention from its accessibility; Jacksonport can be reached at all times, and Bean's cave by small steamboats during a great part of the year. The cave is so near the river that by a chute it could be thrown on it banks where water for the manufacture could be obtained; fuel is abundant. These particulars are of special Interest at the present moment.

 Sources:

Nashville Union and American. (Nashville, Tenn.), 17 Aug. 1861. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.