Mixerr Reviews: Exploring the Indian Caves in New York City, New York. One of New York City’s lesser known attractions.

Tucked away in a corner from the hustle and bustle of New York City on Manhattan Island is one of New York City’s lesser known attractions which is a plethora of caves called the Indian Caves which are located in a park called Inwood Hill Park. These caves provide shelter and solace for those wanting to escape the busy hustle and bustle of New York City. A sanctuary for those wanting to escape the noisy crowded inner city.

Now not many people know about the plethora of caves which are located on the eastbound perimeter of Inwood Hill Park. Not even longtime residents. Which is why the Indian Caves is one of New York City’s lesser known attractions.

Indian Caves was created by the tumbling of rocks during a glacial retreat more than 30,000 years ago. That is why there is water in some parts of the caves. That also explained the moisture in the environment. (Ref: https://myinwood.net/the-indian-caves-of-inwood-hill-park/)

Indian Caves serve as the prehistoric roots to New York City and to the State of New York. Indian Caves had once served as dwellings. The Rechgawawanc clan of the Weekquaeskeek tribe of American Indians used the Indian Caves as a place of residence. The Rechgawawanc clan of the Weekquaeskeek tribe had been using Indian Caves prior to the 1600s. (Ref: https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park)

The majestic “Indian Caves” of Inwood Hill Park were once used as a seasonal camp by the Lenape people who lived in the region before the arrival of explorer Henry Hudson. These caves were also used as a historical Indian gathering place. (Ref: https://myinwood.net/the-indian-caves-of-inwood-hill-park/)

The Lenape Indians lived in various structures throughout the year. During the summer months, the women and children lived in wigwams in Inwood Hill Park. They also found shelter in natural rock caves located on the east side of the park. The caves ran very deep and had a network of tunnels. (Ref: https://manhattanstepbystep.tumblr.com/post/43930723680/native-american-caves-inwood-hill-park-manhattan)

Although the majority of the native population left the area by 1715, several of these native New Yorkers continued to live in the Inwood Hill area. (Ref: https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park/highlights/12342)

Young people going off to look at and explore Indian Caves was a part of life in New York City during the 1890s. Carriages were always waiting at the station and young people would jump into them to go explore cemeteries and caves. (Ref: https://www.newspapers.com/image/50446066/?terms=%22Indian%20Caves%22&match=1)

Alexander Chenowith (Alexander Crawford Chenoweth) uncovered and rediscovered Indian Caves while doing some archaeological digging in Inwood Hill Park with local historian William L. Calver in 1895. They discovered Indian Caves had once served as dwellings. Local historian William L. Calver first discovered Native American tools and middens (heaps of shell and refuse) in Inwood Hill Park. (Ref: https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park/highlights/12342)

Chenoweth’s 1890 exploration of the caves was carefully documented by the New York Sun.

[Mr. Chenoweth dug away the dirt until he found an easy entrance to a chamber in which a man in stooping posture might crawl about with some difficulty. The chamber was dry, and the dirt on the floor was soft. Mr. Chenoweth began turning it through with his trowel. Many pieces of pottery, some as large as a man’s hand, a few as large as a man’s two hands, lay in little pockets of the sediment. After six hours of digging Mr. Chenoweth had all the fragments of six pots of curious forms and unique manufacture. As he pushed ahead the next day he found a dark exit from the first chamber to a second one. The exit was a hole in the rocks; half filled with dirt, and altogether so small that before being cleaned a man would have to crawl through it. With a torch Mr. Chenoweth discovered that the second chamber was about eight feet square by five feet high… The comparative regularity of the walls of the second chamber, its considerable size, and its difficulty of access led him to believe that it was the main room of a cavernous retreat.

In the meantime, he has been cleaning out the first chamber. The removal of the dirt has left it a rough room about 4 ½ feet high and 6 feet square. On the rocks at the beginning of the passage to the second chamber, and down below the level of the original layer of dirt, Mr. Chenoweth found evidence of repeated burning of hot fires. On the floor of the chamber at the foot of the burned rock, he came upon rude hearthstones, a dozen or more pieces of deer’s antlers, some eight or ten inches long, and all burned, several big sturgeon scales yellow with age and scorched, and scores of bones of many other animals that Mr. Chenoweth has been unable to identify from the scanty and burned remains. Above the burned rock and bones there is a crevice in the rocks that apparently served as a chimney for the inhabitants of the cave.

Among the many implements found by Mr. Chenoweth near the entrance of the interior passage, the most curious is probably a knife with a flint blade and a bone handle… The knife was complete when Mr. Chenoweth uncovered it. As he raised it the flint blade dropped from the hollow end of the antler bone in which it was fitted.

Near the knife Mr. Chenoweth uncovered a flat oblong piece of polished slate, two by four inches, with three neatly bored holes in it. Near it was half of a similar bit of slate…The gorget found by Mr. Chenoweth is worn away in little corrugations from one side of the middle by some soft substance.]

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, many families lost their homes and found shelter inside of these caves. Sometime during the 1930s, the city filled Indian Caves with cement so nobody could live inside. However this method of prevention did not prevent homeless people from living there. (Ref: https://manhattanstepbystep.tumblr.com/post/43930723680/native-american-caves-inwood-hill-park-manhattan)

Although the majority of the native population left the area by that point, several of these native New Yorkers continued to live in the Inwood Hill area until the 1930s when Parks Commissioner Robert Moses used Works Progress Administration (WPA) money and workers to initiate a massive reconstruction of Inwood Hill Park. (Ref: https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park/highlights/12342)

The Indian Caves are still used by Native American Indians today. Homeless people also use Indian Caves as a place of shelter. So be careful not to disturb them. However the park rangers make sure they don’t stay long. Of course that doesn’t stop the occasional homeless person from squatting inside a cave.

Know this before you go visit and explore the Indian Caves. If you continue along the path to the left and head southwest, you'll eventually pass the Indian Caves on your right. Some caves, actually rock overhangs, are still visible. (Ref: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/shorakkopoch)

When entering via the North end the park where Shorakkopock Rock is take a left, walk about 500 feet and then take a right up the final dirt path which leads up to the caves (fourth dirt path up to the right in all, the first one doesn't lead to the caves). Walk straight up the path and the first boulder you come to on the path is Indian Cave. (Ref: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/120164501/indian-cave)

There have been cases of people using the Indian Caves at Inwood Hill Park to live in them over the years. Residents of New York City would use Indian Caves as shelter.

One example is the case of Miss Hattie Barnes.

Miss Hattie Barnes was using Indian Caves for shelter as she had lost her position as a stenographer and typewriter at General Electric Inspection Company because she could not do the character of work required. She had sent most of her money to her brother which left her penniless without any amount of money. She used Indian Caves as shelter. Miss Hattie Barnes was arrested on the afternoon of Thursday, September 1, 1904 at Central Park and was committed to Bellevue Hospital by the courts. (Ref: https://www.newspapers.com/image/468719045/?terms=%22Indian%20Caves%22&match=1)

She had survived by eating refuse of food left over from/by picnic parties. Doctors feared that exposure and trouble have affected her with a form of paresis. There was an examination of her sanity ordered by the New York State Court. (Ref: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/345070281/)

Brooklyn had lost sight of the famous Miss Hattie Barnes during the early part of the 20th century as confirmed in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper. Miss Hattie Barnes had been missing for quite some time. Brooklyn Daily Eagle had no clue as to her current whereabouts. (Ref: https://www.newspapers.com/image/55323699/?terms=%22Miss%20Hattie%20Barnes%22)

Another example is the case of Summer Lee.

Summer Lee had been taking a solitary journey during the summer of 1925 with a legislator named Lord John. Him and Lord John took refuge at the Indian Caves while out on their solitary journey in New York City. (Ref: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/24071432/)

One great regret they had, and that was to leave their old camp behind. Not only for the sake of the others which remained there, but even more because we were losing touch with friends, family, and workers. They hoped to return to the Indian Caves in the near future. (Ref: Galveston Daily News, Page 6, Wednesday, July 29, 1925)

One famous example is the case of Princess Naomi, the last surviving Indian on Manhattan Island. Anthropologists and archaeologists believed Princess Naomi was living in Indian Caves in 1936. (Ref: New Yorks Times, November 15, 1936)

Princess Naomie went on to tell the reporter, “Back in the woods a bit is what’s called an Indian cave, but between you and I and the gate-post, I don’t believe Indians ever lived there. It leaks. Oh, here comes Chief White Eagle. My tribalman.”