A Town Called Self "Unexplained Mystery"

[ambrosian_spelunker]

Has anyone checked this out? I would be interested in making a trip to see what all the ruckus is about! Seems as though it's a little far fetched on the giant lizard, but hey who am I to say it's not there.

So is anyone game for trying to locate this one? Glass C and WR I know you have to game for it! Road trip!! I'm sure there are some others in the area we can add to the trip!

In the northern part of the state is Boone County and somewhere within the county is said to be a small village called "Self', although I can't seem to find it on any map. There is reportedly a mysterious location here that has proven to be both elusive and fascinating.

Near the village is the Devil's Hole Cave, a strange and unexplored cavern. One day, an indeterminate number of years ago, the owner of the land where the cave is located decided to check out the place.

He climbed down a rope about 200 feet to a ledge where the shaft narrows to a point that can only be crawled through. He suddenly heard a vicious hissing from the darkness, perhaps like a large lizard would do, and he made a hasty retreat.

Some time later, he and some men from town dropped a flatiron tied to a rope to the same place in the cave. They heard a hissing sound and the rope was pulled hard.

When they pulled it back up, they found the flatiron had been badly bent and scored with scratches and teeth marks. They next tried a stone and the rope was pulled taut again. They pulled it back up and the stone was gone.

No one wanted to dare and climb down to see what was in the cave. Occasionally, local stories apparently come from the cave, but the "gow-row" as the natives supposedly call it, seems to prefer staying down in the darkness.

The story dates back to around 1900 and many believe the monster may be some sort of giant lizard.... but nobody knows for sure.

The story closely resembles another pit of this type that is said to be located near Hannibal, Missouri. I can not find any existing records of this hole either, although I have heard a number of stories about it. The tale of the land owner checking out the cave is also said to have occurred here also, but with a bizarre twist.

This time, the land owner was discovered by some friends shortly after his adventure in the cave....his hair had turned completely white and he was wildly insane. Whatever he had encountered down in the cave had broken his sanity.

anyone heard anymore about this story, any locals on the forum?

[White Rabbit]

I'd be game for doing it. For some reason, I'm thinking Sertile has been to this cave, but I could be wrong. It seems like I heard this cave isn't that big, too, but I could be mistaken about that as well. I'd still be up for it, though.

[ambrosian_spelunker]

Sweet any other takers?? I am ready to hit caving hard and heavy starting in May. I'll pretty much be doing it every weekend. I have accumulated a large list of caves. OH! and I got the hook up also, I am on another forum. Well I got hooked up with getting extensive maps and locations of caves from a very extensive library of them with a professor who mapped them and has done some studies on them!

So you know this cave rats chomping at the bits to dive in literally! I'll be cave diving in a few that have been mentioned on here! Uncharted Territory my friends! At least I hope so!! We definelty need to pin down some dates. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.

[gimpface]

You know, I'm pretty sure I remember him posting about that....

[ambrosian_spelunker]

Who posting about it? Regardless of any posting it's worth going and checking out there are other caverns in the area

[Sertile]

Yeah, there's already a thread on this somewhere on the Arkansas forums, and yes, I've been there. I met some interesting characters along the way, but I wouldn't really recommend it myself. The cave does exist, and is actually a large sinkhole, according to the locals. However, it's located on private land and the owner wouldn't allow me to view the cave personally. He just told me a tree had fallen down the hole, and there wasn't much to see (which was a nice way of telling me to get lost). I also was unable to locate any other caves in the immediate area.

If anyone else would still like to go, be my guest. You could always just trespass your way to the cave, assuming you can pinpoint it's exact location. I have an idea where it is, but trespassing on farmer's land - or in rural areas where landowners are apt to defend their property - is something I'm very hesitant to do.

[boston]

I would like to visit this cave, im even willing to be lowered down into the cave armed only with a high powered flashlight and camera. I have just returned home from Iraq and in 2004 I was in a special unit in Afghanistan where i went into many caves, so this should be like a walk in the park!

[ambrosian_spelunker]

Welcome home Boston thanks for what you do. I am planning a trip within the next couple weekends. Would welcome the company to anyone interested. Plan on trying to locate and get permission for this one and find a few others. So far I have had great success in getting private land owners permission. So speak up now and lets get the ball rolling and a date scheduled.

[slow_walker]

Welcome home Boston thanks for what you do.

Ditto, Boston. Thank you!

[Sertile]

Hey Spelunker, I know the approx. location of the Devil's Hole, and I should still have the landowner's home phone number. I never had much luck in dealing with the guy personally, but if you've had great success in the past, as you claim, I can just give you his number and let you talk to him. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did! PM'ing you...

PS: If you do get through to the guy, let me know when you're going, and make it soon. I'm leaving in a month, and I'd really like to finish what I started down in Self.

[GlassCurtain]

Yeah definitely let us know when you're going Ambro. I'm definitely in!

[ambrosian_spelunker]

Okay guys you wanted a date I am headed that way the weekend of August 28th. Any takers?? I have several caves I want to check out that weekend. Planning on doing some serious caveing. Plus trying to get back to Blowing to check out the system I found there a while back. (second entrance)