The+Fort+Armstrong+Caves

Original Author: Aimee Tacey, ENG340 FL10 Revision:
 * The Fort Armstrong Caves**

Before the Lock and Dam system was in place near Arsenal Island, three caves were visible beneath Fort Armstrong. The caves can be seen in artwork such as //Old Ferry - View of Rock Island Blockhouse// by John Caspar Wild and //A View Of Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, Mississippi River// by an unknown artisit. These caves were home to spirits, used as escape routes, and integral to the layout of a very clever yet foiled plan of destruction. Chief Black Hawk told of spirits who dwelt in the caves: “In my early life I spent many happy days on this island. A good spirit had charge of it, which lived in a cave in the rocks immediately under the place where the fort now stands. This guardian spirit has often been seen by our people. It was white, with large wings like a swan’s, but ten times larger. We were particular not to make much noise in that part of the island which it inhabited, for fear of disturbing it. But the noise at the fort has since driven it away, and no doubt a bad spirit has taken its place.” (75-76) All the native Indians of the area held these guardian spirits in high religious sentiment. These spirits were holy to them, as were the places in which they lived. A large cave directly under the western tip of the island was such a dwelling. The current of the Mississippi formed the cave by carving out the soft, yellowish, magnesian limestone. The cave was so large that a small rowboat could travel through it for a distance of a hundred feet. This was the cave that Black Hawk spoke of as being the home of the guardian spirit of Arsenal Island. (252). So the place was sacred to the Indians. They did not dare enter it if they wore footgear or unclean clothing. The soldiers at Fort Armstrong dug into the cave and built a staircase so they could access the water as an escape route in case of attack. The white man’s disturbing the cave upset all the Indian tribes. (135-136). They believed, as Black Hawk stated, that this disturbance drove the guardian spirit away. Another one of the caves was dry. Its floor was above the reach of the river. The cave extended all the way under the eastern gate of the fort and beyond to the guardhouse. In the fall of 1832 there were prisoners being held in that guardhouse. Being rather innovative, they dug their way under the east wall and into the cave underneath it. Once in the cave, they proceeded to follow it to their freedom. (252-253). When the escape route was discovered and the cave was examined, an even greater discovery was made. Three kegs of gunpowder were strategically placed within the cave. They were directly under and around the eastern gate of the fort. A trail of gunpowder ran from the kegs all the way to the mouth of the cave where the devious designer of this plan (who Armstrong claims to have been Black Hawk) could stealthily light the fuse and sneak off into anonymity. Which would not have been difficult considering the banks of the island “[rose] abruptly up some fifteen feet, forming a perfect shield or protection against discovery”. In fact, it was thought that a whole fleet of canoes could have passed along the shoreline without triggering any alarm whatsoever from the fort. (253). And if not for the escaped prisoners, the plan may have remained undetected, ending with destruction and a hostile takeover. These caves are a piece of Quad City history. They existed, accessible, until the Lock and Dam system was built. Once that system was in place, the water levels rose and engulfed the caves.