The Story Behind One Of North Dakota’s Only Caves Is Mystifying
Due to the nature of North Dakota’s land, you can’t find many caves in the state. In fact, any place in the state that is called a cave and is accessible from the surface is not a cave at all. The kind of caves you may be thinking of are usually formed by erosion of water and other materials through different minerals and stones, hollowing out parts of the earth to form tunnels and caverns. North Dakota “caves” are usually made from slope failure, or the land of buttes and hills shifting and leaving gaps.
Regardless of that, there are a few sites in North Dakota that are known as caves and have been explored. One of these sites is on the Killdeer Mountains and has a fascinating story that has made it somewhat famous. It is known as the Medicine Hole Historical Site.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This site is CLOSED. It is currently on private property and trespassing is forbidden. The Killdeer Mountain Battlefield Historic Site near it remains open, but the owner does not allow visitors to the cave. Please do not attempt to explore it yourself.
We’re aware that these uncertain times are limiting many aspects of life as we all practice social and physical distancing. While we’re continuing to feature destinations that make our state wonderful, we don’t expect or encourage you to go check them out immediately. We believe that supporting local attractions is important now more than ever and we hope our articles inspire your future adventures! And on that note, please nominate your favorite local business that could use some love right now: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nominate/
This cave is located near the top of the Killdeer Mountains.
This lofty butte is one of the highest points in North Dakota. Important parts of the state's history took place here, including a very long battle fought between a large group of Sioux and the army of General Alfred Sully. The Sioux were forced to flee when it became obvious the battle was not going in their favor as they had hoped, and they disappeared. But where they disappeared has kept people wondering for years.
The rumor was that they escaped into the Medicine Hole cave.
The army could not find them, only spotting some stragglers a week later in different area of the mountains. The theory was that many of the Sioux had found their way through the Medicine Hole and a network of underground passages until reaching another way out.
Many people attempted to explore the cave back in the day, and the outlook of there being another passage to the outside seemed likely. Wind currents were felt in the caverns, indicating that there must be another opening to the surface. But that opening has yet to be found, and left people wondering all these years later if that is where the people fled through. Many would say yes, but some people are still skeptical.
The fascinating geological formations that make up the mountains are both beautiful and fascinating, as you can see in the picture above, and the stories this place holds just adds to it. It really is a mystifying story.
As mentioned before, the cave historical site is closed until further notice. It is still interesting to discuss the story that lies behind it. What do you think happened?
Leah moved to North Dakota when she was 12 years old and has traveled from the Red River Valley to the badlands and many places in between. She loves small-town life and currently enjoys living on a small farm in the ND prairie. She's always had a passion for writing and has participated in novel writing challenges such as NaNoWriMo multiple times. Her favorite part about this job is recognizing small businesses that deserve a boost and seeing the positive affect her articles can have on their traffic, especially in rural areas that might have otherwise gone overlooked.
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