Manitou Cave is a cave in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

, near the town of

Fort Payne Fort Payne is a city in and county seat of DeKalb County, in northeastern Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 14,877. European-American settlers gradually developed the settlement around the former fort. It grew rapid ...

, in the side of

Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain is a mountain ridge located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain was the scene of the 18th-centu ...

. In the early 1800's, the Fort Payne area was a Cherokee settlement named Willstown. This was the home of Sequoyah during his time of creating the Cherokee syllabary. Later, Sequoyah's son wrote on the walls of Manitou Cave using this syllabary, documenting ceremonial events and other culturally significant information and history. In the 1830's, Cherokee people were forcibly relocated from this area along the Trail of Tears, leaving the cave empty for some time. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

, the cave was a source of

saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nit ...

for the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

. The mineral was mined by laborers to provide the essential ingredient for

black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate ( saltpeter) ...

. The cave was also designated

fallout shelter A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designated to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War. Durin ...

during the Cold War. In 1888, Manitou Cave was opened by the Fort Payne Coal and Iron Company and became a tourist destination. Management of Manitou Cave later shifted to the Walter B. Raymond, Sr. family, who operated it through the mid-1970s. It closed as a tourist attraction in 1979. For many years Manitou Cave was neglected and closed to the public. In 2015, Manitou Cave was purchased and a 501(c)3 non-profit, Manitou Cave of Alabama, was founded by Annette Reynolds to protect and conserve the cave and surrounding property. Repairs, renovations, and conservation efforts followed, including the installation of an eco-friendly cave gate for safety and security. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians helped to secure the gate's purchase. During these conservation and revitalization efforts, the Manitou Cave Snail, called the Antrobis brewerii, was confirmed to still exist in the cave, making Manitou Cave the only place it is known to exist in the world. In 2021, Manitou Cave received certification as a Trail of Tears National Historic Trail Interpretive Center from The National Park Service National Historic Trail Office, Sante Fe, NM. As of 2022, Manitou Cave of AL, Inc. stewards the cave with a mission is "to respect and protect this historic, sacred site through conservation and education so that the cave, land, and water are preserved for visitors and wildlife as a place of peace." To preserve the cave as a living record of history and to protect the fragile ecosystem, public access is limited to annual community tours a couple times a year and educational research.

References

Caves of Alabama Landforms of DeKalb County, Alabama Tourist attractions in DeKalb County, Alabama {{DeKalbCountyAL-geo-stub