devils hole arkansas.. makes you go hummmmm

[travcojim]

here is a story that just screams out for a road trip. Anyone ever been here. I will post the entire story.
DEVIL'S HOLE CAVE
Boone County, Arkansas


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.

A website visitor named Ted Roberts recently provided new information on the location of Self, Arkansas and about the Devil's Hole Cave. Ted writes: I can tell you that the small town of Self does indeed exist. If you look on a map and find Harrison, Arkansas, you will see State Highway 7. About eight miles east of Harrison on Highway 7 is a place where the railroad tracks intersect the highway. The town of Bergman is about 1/4 mile east of this intersection. These tracks go northwest through Wooden Hills, Myrtle and Self. The town of Self is about 15 miles up these tracks to the northwest.

You can drive to Self by going up Highway 65 north of Harrison about 12-15 miles or about 3 miles past the town of Prosperity (this town is very small like Self). There will be a small dirt or gravel road called Dubuque Road and you can follow it to Self.

[Jon]

oh wow that sounds crazy.

[ann_marie]

Yeah...HMMMMM....I'd check it out.

[White Rabbit]

Yeah, I'm actually a short drive from that place. The only reason I've never gone was because I figured it would be just a typical cave or something. I'll try to get on that, though.

[youthsonic]

Yeah, I'm actually a short drive from that place. The only reason I've never gone was because I figured it would be just a typical cave or something. I'll try to get on that, though.

Hmm... Do I smell a road trip for some KC people to assist?

[White Rabbit]

Hmm... Do I smell a road trip for some KC people to assist?

Sure. If you wanna drive all the way out to Bumblefuck, Arkansas for that, I'll go with

[youthsonic]

Sure. If you wanna drive all the way out to Bumblefuck, Arkansas for that, I'll go with

Can't find Bumblefuck, Arkansas anywhere on the map ... is it anywhere near Eureka Springs?

[caver]

Sounds like the kind of story people tell around a campfire.
I'm not aware of any deep pits around Hannibal.

[S1L3N7B0B]

If it was real, I'm sure some scientist would have jumped on it. Oh well.

[Anne]

If it was real, I'm sure some scientist would have jumped on it. Oh well.

Unless the scientist was afraid to go themselves. But that's why they have assistants right? hmmmm.......

[Willard]

If it was real, I'm sure some scientist would have jumped on it. Oh well.

Creditable Scientists don't check out stuff like this cave. Especially if it's on private property. Plus if anyone did try, the owner my be to spooked to grant anyone else access to the cave. You have to remember not a lot of profesionals are very adventurous when it comes to things inside the US... now if they went to Africa or South Americal... that's a different story... I guess things like this are more believeable in those areas then here to the professionals.

[caver]

Actually there is quite a bit of scientific cave research
going on in the US alone.
I've even assisted couple of the those scientists in data collection.

[S1L3N7B0B]

But that's why they have assistants right? hmmmm.......

Simple. He'd have three assistants. To test his hypothesis, he'd have each repel down one at a time. The results would be what came back up. Viola. Publishing the results would be sure to bring attention.

[Ford Prefect]

I recived a story via E-mail that was similar to the devil hole/hissing thing. This one was a great short story that ended right bofe the guy shot him self, and then goes on to be explained by some one close to him. Now that I think about it, it sounds lame. But any who, i'm going to call bull shit on this farce of an urban ledgend hissing lizzard. Stories seem to grow into great legends across rural areas, kind of like that Bill Brasky fellow. In closing I must say, the only oversized hissing lizzard is in my pants and caves are pretty cool, like a steady 55 to 60 degrees year round, sometimes.
Ford P.

[Willard]

Do you want to see my snake? It's really big! You can pet it if you like, it won't bite. It might spit on you though!