Original subtitles

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DEMONIC VOICE: What is it you seek?

Riches?

Power?

Fame?

♪♪

What is it you would give to me?

It will take all.

Such a small price to pay.

Knights...

show him.

♪♪

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♪♪

WOLTER: The history that we were all taught growing up is wrong.

My name is Scott Wolter, and I'm a forensic geologist.

There's a hidden history in this country that nobody knows about.

There are pyramids here,

chambers, tombs, inscriptions.

They're all over this country.

We're gonna investigate these artifacts and sites,

and we're gonna get to the truth.

Sometimes, history isn't what we've been told.

♪♪

♪♪

I'm on my way to Shippensburg, Pennsylvania --

the oldest town in the state's Cumberland Valley,

known for its tireless support of the Patriot Army

in the American Revolution.

This area has a lot of historic homes and Colonial charm.

But I'm here to see something else --

the site of a mystery that has haunted a local man

for more than three decades --

a cave that he claims is filled

with clues to a clandestine past.

As a geologist, I can tell you

that there are thousands of caves

hidden in this part of Pennsylvania

thanks to massive amounts of limestone underground.

But a real-life chamber of secrets?

This is something I need to see.

Hey, Chris.

Hey, Scott. Nice to meet you.

Well, it's not every day I meet somebody

who's found something so interesting

right in their own backyard.

I mean, this was your house back then, right?

Yep, I grew up here.

So, tell me about the discovery.

Back in 1981, I was 12 years old.

I was hunting for salamanders in the backyard.

I pulled up a piece of rock, and I found a cave.

You must have been a rock star back at the time.

I mean, a young kid, you found this cave.

Yep, it brought in all the newspapers

and the TV back then.

That's me with hair. [ Laughs ]

I like that hair part in the middle.

I remember those days. The girls liked them.

I didn't like the hair part in the middle.

"Boy finds backyard cave.

Shippensburg -- Hundreds of people have come to see it.

Crowds flattened the grass in the Courtneys' backyard,

staring at the hole."

You know, people have lived in caves

for hundreds of thousands of years,

and they hide their secrets in there.

Probably the most famous is where the Dead Sea Scrolls

were found outside of Jerusalem back in the late 1940s.

And those scrolls certainly have changed history

in a pretty profound way.

But you probably don't have Dead Sea Scrolls here.

In 2013, I saw another cave a few hours from here.

I figured out that one was used by a secret society for rituals

after discovering an intricately carved basin

where people could have been baptized

to symbolize a spiritual awakening.

And after hearing about my work, Chris thinks I might be the one

who can finally shed light on his,

which lies just a few dozen feet

out the backdoor of his childhood home.

I think it's time to go take a look at it.

Let's take a look.

♪♪

This is to keep other 12-year-olds out now, right?

[ Laughing ] Yeah.

Chris says his family put the doors on,

but everything inside was there

when he found the entrance in 1981.

Oh, wow! Look at that!

So, what's that steel bar there?

That's one of two axles that were found

when we uncovered the rocks.

Above that was two metal wagon wheels.

Well, they were trying to cover it up. Right.

And the wagon wheel is interesting

because that tells us something about when that happened.

I would say late 1800s or so?

Yeah, I believe so.

Is there water down there? Yes, there is.

Was there water here when you found it?

It was here. It was much lower.

I have a map that was made for us back in the '80s,

and you can see there, the water level was much lower.

This year, we've had record-breaking rain.

I believe the water table's probably up 3 to 4 feet

as to what it was back in the '80s.

So this is high?

This is very high.

This puts a whole new sense of urgency

into this entire investigation.

Nothing has the potential

to literally wash away more evidence

than water.

And based on what Chris tells me next,

I'm really worried.

There was some additional information down in that cave.

There were writings.

I think they're covered up by the water now.

What were the writings? Two dates.

One was 1794. One was 1896.

We talked about the wheels, and probably this cave

was covered up back in the late 1800s,

but that date of 1794 pushes it back another century.

I've got to get inside, where I'm hoping

I can still find those dates and even more clues

that hopefully haven't been washed away.

This is definitely work stone, all this rock here.

This is natural but definitely modified by man.

The question is, why?

Oh, hey, right here.

Looks like a fish symbol with a little curl

at the end on the right side.

Could be a Christian symbol

associated with some type of religious ritual.

Christian religious groups played a big role

in each of the British colonies,

including here in Pennsylvania, but I'm not 100% sure

that this isn't just the letter "L."

I see a "W" here, and then could be an "R," possibly a "T."

Yeah, I can buy that as initials.

Maybe that might tell us something about

who was using the cave.

Do we know who that might be?

I have no idea who that is.

There's a lot of water moving in this cave

and condensing on the ceiling,

and it's flowing down from these cracks.

I need to figure out a way to get in there.

I want to see the rest of this cave, for sure.

I want to see it, but it's really hard to navigate.

This water really is a big problem.

I couldn't see the dates Chris told me about at all.

As I come out of the cave,

I'm trying to come up with a plan

and thinking about the clues we have so far.

1794 is interesting because in this area,

I think you had the Whiskey Rebellion.

People making whiskey weren't interested in paying taxes.

That led to a conflict, and President George Washington

actually led a group that came in here

and tamped down that rebellion.

That was the first time and only time

that a sitting president actually led troops into battle.

Really? Yeah.

Just maybe this cave could be associated

with that production of whiskey.

I mean, you also need water to make whiskey.

We've got clear groundwater here.

Right now, I've got three solid clues

to when and who used this cave.

There are two dates, 1794 and 1896, that are documented

but that I'm hoping to find in person

and one set of initials, W.R. or W.T.

It's tough to make out.

So, are all of these clues part of the same story

or three different stories?

I ask Chris about the house on the property.

Do we know who might have built it?

Edwin Hamilton built this house in 1890.

The cave's inscribed 1896 date

might fit with Edwin Hamilton,

but right now, I need to know if there are more clues

hiding where we can't see.

What I'd like to do is take an ROV --

it's basically a miniature submarine

that has a camera on it -- put it in the water

and try to get some more information.

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So here we are, basically a controller for a video game,

except it's for the rover.

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WOLTER: Kind of bumping against the wall here.

I got to back up. Okay, there we go.

Boy, it's tight in there, isn't it?

Yep.

Okay, there we go.

Wow.

♪♪

Can't see any dates on here.

So, where would they be -- on the right side or the left side?

They're on the right side.

A lot of silt. Yeah.

Well, we're gonna kick up silt.

We're just near the bottom there.

Oh, wait. Look at that. See that?

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Look at that! What is that?

See that? It's like a ring or something.

Well, there's a lot of silt in there.

It's hard to tell. I know.

♪♪

Oh, I think we're at the back.

I don't think we can go back any more.

WOLTER: This cave is tight.

There's silt everywhere.

No matter what I do, I can't get a better look with the ROV.

But a person might be able to grab whatever that ring is,

and it could be another clue to what this cave is all about.

What we really need at this point is

to get human eyes and human hands

in that cave to see what those things are.

I am a certified diver,

but I'm not a certified cave diver,

and there's a big difference.

WOLTER: Cave diving requires intense training.

In fact, there are only a few thousand cave divers

in the entire world.

Even then, an average of 10 of these brave souls die each year.

Luckily, there is a local family, the Berkepiles,

who are experienced cave divers

and experts on Pennsylvania caves in particular.

Hi, guys. Scott Wolter.

Dan Berkepile. Hi, Dan.

This is Chris.

Okay, guys. You're gonna like this one.

In 1981, this guy, Chris, who was 12 years old at the time...

Right.

...hair parted in the middle -- he looked great... [ Laughs ]

...was looking for salamanders, and he found a cave,

and we spent all day yesterday

trying to get to the bottom of --

literally to the bottom of this cave

and what might be in there.

Thing about caves is they hold a lot of secrets.

This cave certainly holds some secrets.

We know there's been some activity there.

We might uncover some things that'll tell us more

about the history of Shippensburg,

maybe even American history.

We don't know.

You had us at water-filled cave.

[ Laughter ]

We saw some very interesting things,

maybe some more artifacts.

There's a gold ring down there.

Well, let's go over and take a look at it.

Alright. Sounds good.

♪♪

WOLTER: There it is.

BILL: Looks beautiful.

Beauty's in the eye of the beholder.

Yes, it is. [ Laughs ]

You can see the steps going down.

Even the last couple steps are underwater.

The water is crystal clear, but the ROV --

when I went down near the bottom,

it silted up really fast.

I couldn't see anything.

Once I got going back into it, it cleared up,

but you're gonna have to deal with the silt, for sure.

Well, we have a line. The line is important.

It shows your way back out again.

People have died for that simple thing,

not having a line in the cave.

They just got lost, right? They got lost.

It looks to me like it's pretty tight.

You're not gonna be able to swim together down there.

I think it's just gonna have to be one person.

This gives you a little better idea

of what we're looking at here.

Here are the steps, so it goes down right here, and, you know,

it goes pretty much off to the left here a little bit,

and then it takes a turn over towards that tree there.

This is all water.

I'm not even sure, once you get in there,

if you'll be able to turn around to come back.

Well, guys, it's time to get wet.

WOLTER: Everyone is suiting up in case there is an emergency,

though only Bill plans to get in the water.

Once inside, he won't be able to hear or talk to us.

Right now, we know that someone used this cave enough

to want to build steps leading down to it.

Was it a ritual cave for a secret society,

a source of water for whiskey?

Was it both?

Pennsylvania has a rich history of other things

I also need to consider.

It was pivotal in the American Revolution

as the political center of the 13 Colonies

before Washington D.C. was established.

Fast-forward just about 100 years

to the time of Abraham Lincoln

when Pennsylvania's southern border

made up part of the Mason-Dixon Line,

which separated free states in the North

from slave states in the South.

But the question is, does any of this come into play

in Chris Courtney's backyard discovery?

WOLTER: Well, guys, you look like you're ready to go.

How's the rope gonna work?

If he tugs on the line once,

then I know to pull it in a little bit.

If he tugs on it three times,

then I know he's ready to come back.

Now, if he starts tugging on that line...

A bunch of times?

...a lot, then I know he's in trouble,

and we need to send Dan in.

I can be in the water in 30 seconds.

How about you, Bill?

I'm ready. Got my backup guys here.

This camera here -- these are my eyes.

These are for you to wear down there.

And I've got the tablet right here,

so whatever you see underwater, whatever you point to,

we'll be able to see it up here.

So, let's all bring it in, huh?

Alright.

1, 2, 3 -- ALL: Success!

BILL: Alright.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Metal clangs ]

Alright. There he goes.

Do you see any artifacts?

It's hard to tell. There's a lot of silt.

A lot of silt, yeah.

How far in do you think he is?

Oh, maybe 15 feet now.

15? Yeah.

Okay. So he's about halfway. It's just murky.

Well, you can see it, but you can't see it... Yeah.

...because it's so murky.

Now you can start to -- see the roots there?

There's the ring.

Okay, there's some roots and things around that.

Grab that ring.

♪♪

God, can he get it?

Come on, Bill. Can you get there?

Yes!

What is that?

I don't know, but he's got it.

♪♪

♪♪

Well, Bill, I know it was a tight squeeze,

but you did a really good job.

I could see some things on the tablet,

but did you see any carvings, any writings?

What'd you see?

Well, I could probably see a little better than you did,

but no, I couldn't see anything on the walls.

They were silt-covered.

And really, until I got back to the back of the room --

is where the visibility improved a little bit.

So you didn't see any more inscriptions?

You didn't see any more writing on the cave?

In the water, no, you couldn't see anything on the walls.

WOLTER: The fact that the dates are gone tells me

history has already been lost.

If other carvings were down here,

those were washed away, too, meaning I can't date anything

deep inside the cave to prove when people were here.

Sites like these need to be paid attention to and preserved

before critical clues to our past disappear.

What about my golden ring?

Your golden ring -- right there.

[ Laughs ] That's my golden ring.

It's actually a root.

I couldn't tell it was a root until I got right up on it.

It did look like a ring.

Okay, so we've checked it out, so I feel good about that.

We still have our two dates -- 1896, 1794.

They're documented in the newspapers,

even though we couldn't see them.

I think these initials could be important.

Is there anything else that you can think of?

COURTNEY: Well, Scott, when we talked yesterday,

I forgot completely about this medallion

I found in the garden about a month after everybody left.

WOLTER: We'd been so busy looking for clues inside the cave,

Chris didn't realize this find outside of it

might be just as important in solving this mystery.

Well, that looks like a fraternal medallion of some type.

I believe it says "K.G.E." on the top.

"K.G.E." -- Knights of the Golden Eagle.

That's what it's got to be.

The Knights of the Golden Eagle were a fraternal organization

in the late 1800s, early 1900s.

This cave could have been a place

where they performed rituals.

You know what, guys?

This could be a really important clue.

Do you mind if I hang onto this for a little bit?

Sure, you can hold onto it.

♪♪

WOLTER: The medallion Chris gave me could be the best clue yet

as to who used this cave,

if the Knights of the Golden Eagle used caves for rituals.

♪♪

♪♪

I'm on my way to meet David Beito.

He's a historian who knows all about

the Knights of the Golden Eagle.

I told him about Chris's cave, and he's excited to help.

So, David, what I really want to know

is if there's a connection between the cave and this.

BEITO: This is fascinating.

Knights of the Golden Eagle was founded in 1872.

It grew to be a very large organization,

about 70,000 members in 250 lodges.

More than half of them were in Pennsylvania.

They would provide insurance, unemployment benefits,

sickness benefits, and a way for somebody

to kind of build connections in the community.

Here's a picture of a gentleman who's a member of

the Knights of the Golden Eagle with his sword.

You know, I noticed something.

If you look on his hat... Oh, yeah.

It looks an awful lot like...

It looks like a match to me.

This was something that was fixed

and must have fallen off somebody,

maybe in the backyard where this was found.

That's really interesting.

Let's go back to our cave.

The original landowner, we know, was D. Edwin Hamilton.

Is there any possible connection

with him and the Knights of the Golden Eagle?

This is an article from 1892.

Down there, we have a name of one of the first members

of the organization in Shippensburg,

and it was D... D. Edwin Hamilton.

That's right. You've gotta be kidding me.

It's quite possible that either Edwin Hamilton

or one of his brothers in the order

could have lost this medallion on his property.

Yes, it's very possible.

Is there anything else that might make this

come together more that you might know?

Part of their ceremony focuses very much on a cave.

Here is Lucifer with his trident in the middle.

[ Thunder cracks ]

Here is the fallen knight.

This is someone that had gone astray.

[ Chains rattling ]

Here's the most interesting character here.

This is the venerable hermit.

[ Thunder cracks ] This is the man in charge of the cave.

He leads them to the cave. He provides this lesson.

And the lesson includes things like a human skull.

They'll have a symbolic skeleton

of the founder of the organization.

They were trying to teach various moral lessons.

Don't get on your high horse.

Realize that we're all gonna end up like this.

Well, you're hitting on all cylinders, David,

because what you just described is something

that I've actually experienced.

It's not quite the same, but in Masonry there is

something we call the chamber of reflection,

where you go into a dark room, in some cases a cave.

It involves a skull for the very same reason that you mentioned.

It's to remind you of your mortality,

that life is short, to make the most of it.

And you could do all of that in a cave

with just a small number of people, I think.

Everything seems to fit, at least in my mind.

And really the clincher for me is this medallion,

and maybe it came off some of the regalia

as they were walking in or leaving,

and they just lost it,

and Chris found it almost a century later.

I can't prove it, but it seems to me like a possibility.

WOLTER: Just when I think I have one thing figured out,

David sends my investigation in a whole different direction

toward a possibility that had been lingering

in the back of my mind ever since I realized

how close this cave is to what was the Mason-Dixon Line.

I have heard that caves in Pennsylvania and Franklin County

were used for another purpose -- to hide things.

To hide what?

People.

♪♪

♪♪

WOLTER: When it comes to solving the mystery

of what Chris Courtney's backyard cave was used for,

David hints at a possibility I'd already been thinking about.

I have heard that caves in Pennsylvania and Franklin County

were used to hide people for the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad is the term

for the chain of safe havens that slaves in the South

used to escape, on foot, to the free states in the North.

But even once they reached free states, like Pennsylvania,

slave catchers could capture and kill them on the spot

or bring them back to face the judgment of their masters.

It reached its height around 1860,

and it's estimated more than 100,000 people

traveled that way to places like Pennsylvania seeking freedom.

And Shippensburg, the site of Chris Courtney's cave,

is just 28 miles from the border with Maryland,

which was a slave state until 1864.

It was a key stop.

It probably was as big as any part of Pennsylvania

in the Underground Railroad.

There were a lot of slave catchers,

and if you were a slave, yeah, you got in here,

but you weren't home free yet,

maybe not till you got to Canada.

You had to have a hiding place.

These people have escaped, right?

They're desperate. They want freedom.

So the cave could very well have been used for that purpose.

WOLTER: It could have been used that way, but was it?

Before I leave my meeting with David to figure that out,

I check the roster of K.G.E. members,

looking for anyone with the initials W.T. or W.R.

like I saw in the cave.

No luck.

But with this new lead, I'm wondering if they match up

to slaves who could have used this cave as a hiding place.

Pennsylvania had a very important figure

in the history of the Underground Railroad.

His name was William Still.

He was really one of the pioneers

in the Underground Railroad,

and he was a meticulous record keeper.

Harriet Tubman -- she would often go to Still

with slaves and say, "Get them out of the country."

♪♪

♪♪

WOLTER: In Pennsylvania, Rocky may be considered

a contemporary hero,

but real heroes are people like William Still.

I know Still helped almost 1,000 people

find their way to freedom while working for

the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery.

What I don't know is if Still had any specific information

about any of them using caves as hideouts.

But I track someone down who might.

Not just any historian, but a Still family member

who was motivated so much by his work

that she pursued a master's degree

in African-American studies.

And Valerie Still also has her own

quite-different claim to fame.

WOLTER: You did play in the WNBA the first year, right?

I played in the ABL -- was out before the WNBA,

which is the American Basketball League.

And then the WNBA came out,

and then I eventually played in that as well.

Okay.

Well, we're not playing hoops today...

Ah. ...so you won't embarrass me there.

[ Chuckles ]

So, Valerie, I've been investigating this cave

in Shippensburg.

This cave was found by a guy who was 12 years old in 1981.

Here's the thing about that cave.

It's probably had multiple uses.

Maybe they stored booze.

It could have been used as part of a fraternity

that the original owner of that property was a founder of.

And then I'm wondering if there might be a connection

with the Underground Railroad.

Well, I know that there's cases where these individuals say,

"I was in a cave for a while."

Any escapee that comes through up from the South --

basically, it's gonna come through William.

He documents everything, writes down their name,

and most of the time, that's really important for people

because they always asked him,

"Will you reach back to my family?

Let them know I'm okay."

One of the clues that I'm looking at is

there are some initials that are carved on the wall of the cave.

Looks like a W.R. or a W.T.

Do you think maybe William,

when he was writing down his information,

possibly some of those names match these initials?

Be kind of interesting to look and see.

♪♪

♪♪

WOLTER: Valerie and I walk to the Pennsylvania Historical Society

to see William Still's original journal --

something she has never seen.

And it shares a vault with something else

very important to our nation's past --

a document that strives to create a more perfect union,

not one divided over slavery as it was in William Still's time.

The very first draft of the United States Constitution.

WOLTER: The Constitution?

The Constitution of the United States.

Wow. No way. That Constitution.

The one we all know about.

It was folded down the middle,

and so then they wrote on the right-hand side,

made corrections on the left, so this is page one.

Ah. This is page four.

Pages two and three are on the flip side.

So, this was done probably late July of 1787.

The day the Constitution was approved

by the convention was September 17th, 1787,

so this is a good month and a half before the final.

WOLTER: Laying my eyes on a draft of the Constitution is amazing,

but now it's time to see what we came here to see.

Well, this is the Underground Railroad journal

kept by your ancestor William Still.

It's absolutely the original -- the original cover,

and there's something here I really want you to see.

♪♪

♪♪

Laying my eyes on the handwritten words

of William Still,

who painstakingly documented the journey to freedom

for hundreds of slaves,

is a moving moment for me and for Valerie.

This is from 1852 to 1857.

Wow. Look at all that.

♪♪

This is dated December 29th, 1854,

and here it says "Harriet Tubman" on the top...

Oh!

So this is William Still -- he wrote this,

but he's saying that Harriet Tubman

brought through this group of people.

[ Sniffles ] "Arrived -- John Chase, now Dan Lloyd."

That's right.

"Benjamin Ross, now John Stewart."

This is "Henry Ross, now Levin Stewart."

So he lists all the names...

Wow, that's what he always did.

...of the escaped slaves, as they came,

and then also their new assumed name.

That's why William's so important --

because he documented all that

'cause they didn't want to leave their family,

and so the whole point was... That's right.

...maybe William could connect them, or...

Absolutely, and that's one of the projects

we're trying to do at the historical society

is to try to create a names database that links everything.

This is an American hero...

Yep. Exactly.

...if there ever was one.

This is not just African-American history.

This is the... Exactly.

...history of our country, and something that we, you know,

as a country still need to deal with.

Yes. We still need to grapple with it.

[ Chuckles ] Now more than ever.

Now more than ever.

There is something I would like to do, if we could.

There was a cave that I've investigated,

and there are a couple of initials down there,

and I'm wondering if maybe some of those initials

could match some names in here.

Could we take a look?

Not in this item.

This item is very fragile.

We do have published versions

that are down in our reading room.

♪♪

WOLTER: Together, Valerie and I check William's writings

for the initials I found in the cave -- W.T. or W.R.

Right now, it's the only clue I feel I haven't figured out.

Oh, whoa.

This is crazy. What?

Yeah, on the front page here. There's a "W" --

First page -- table of contents?

Yeah. You said W.R., right?

Willis Redick.

He was owned by S.J. Wilson.

Let's see here -- a very dark hue, thickset, 32 years of age,

possessed a fair share of mind.

He is supposed either to have made his escape North

or attempted to do so.

You want to check the other...

I'm gonna keep looking on the online version here.

I'm gonna turn to this page and see if I can't...

Man, I wish all research was that easy.

[ Chuckling ] Yeah, really.

W.T. -- William N. Taylor.

Look at this.

$100 reward.

Ran away from Richmond City on the 2nd of June,

of gentle and easy manners,

about 5-feet-10 or 11 inches tall,

and is about 35 years old.

At least we found some names, and admittedly it's a long shot.

But it could be that -- wow. It's possible.

You know, the Underground Railroad --

most people think of it as being underground,

but the underground part is just a reference

to how secretive it was.

If this cave is actually part of, you know,

the Underground Railroad, then there were places

that were, you know, underground.

Literally underground.

Literally. Yeah.

I have a couple things I want to investigate, but thank you.

Thank you. [ Chuckles ]

♪♪

WOLTER: Caves were used in the Underground Railroad

to hide slaves.

That much is fact, but which caves, exactly --

caves in Shippensburg like Chris Courtney's?

♪♪

♪♪

The thing about small towns is everyone knows everyone,

and it didn't take long for someone to hear I was in town

and offer up another piece to the puzzle,

which I'm heading back to Shippensburg to investigate.

♪♪

I heard that you might have a cave on your property,

possibly associated with the Underground Railroad.

It's right across the street from us.

Oh, okay.

Do you mind if I ask you a couple questions about it?

We'll be glad to talk to you for a couple minutes about it

because we really delved into the history on it.

You want to come in? Yeah.

And I'll show you some stuff.

That'd be great.

♪♪

I have to say, it looks a little barren in here.

Is something going on?

Well, we're finally moving after almost 50 years.

So, my timing was pretty good.

Yep. Your timing was perfect.

Well, tell me a little bit about the history of this house.

Well, the original owner was a slaveholder,

and then 66 years later, a family member

named Charles White bought the home,

and they actually were on the Underground Railroad.

And we know that because one day,

I was here in the afternoon, and a woman knocked on the door

and said, "My grandfather lived here during the Civil War."

So she told the story of her aunt who died in 1937.

Their aunt carried food across the meadow

to the slaves hiding in the caves.

They had the young kids take it

because the Fugitive Slave Act was in effect at that time.

It was passed, I think, in 1850.

If you got caught helping slaves escape,

it was a federal offense,

and you had a chance to go to federal prison.

Do you think that I could maybe take a walk over there

and take a look at the caves?

Sure. It's down the hill and across the meadow.

WOLTER: Bill pointed me in the right direction of the cave

and called the current owner,

who agreed to meet me there to let me take a look.

♪♪

At least one cave in Shippensburg

was used to harbor slaves,

and I think there's a good chance

Chris Courtney's cave was used that way, too.

♪♪

ALLEN: So, here it is.

This is the north entrance to the main chamber.

Oh, wow.

♪♪

[ Chuckles ] Now this is a cave.

♪♪

♪♪

WOLTER: I came to Pennsylvania to solve a mystery.

Who used the cave Chris Courtney stumbled upon as a kid?

What did they use it for?

When were they here?

There's a tunnel this way.

Now, I'm exploring a different Shippensburg cave --

one that's deeper with more twists and turns,

but my gut and the history in the area

tell me that they both could have served the same purpose --

a hideout for slaves making their way toward freedom.

If I was fleeing from people

that were trying to hunt me down,

this cave would be more than welcoming.

ALLEN: Normally, the floor here in the mid-summer is all dry.

That's enough ventilation,

you could imagine someone building a...

Oh, yeah, you could... ...a fire right in there.

...probably, yeah -- there or here.

Someone could hide for days, I would think.

♪♪

I think we found an Underground Railroad cave.

I'd like to think so.

I think we should head out.

I'm all for that.

[ Both chuckling ] Okay, here we go.

Well, Allen, that was [Chuckles] pretty exciting.

This cave is consistent with your neighbor, you know, Bill --

his story about there being a cave over here

that housed these fugitive slaves.

We're just north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The Underground Railroad ran through here,

so it's perfectly plausible that Bill's story is true.

I hope so. I'd like to own a little bit of history, so...

Well, I think you do.

♪♪

♪♪

WOLTER: There's only one thing left to do --

tell Chris Courtney I think I've got his cave all figured out.

♪♪

Howdy, stranger. Hey, Scott.

How are you? [ Chuckles ] I'm good.

♪♪

Why'd you want to meet here?

Well, this is Mason-Dixon Distillery,

and we're right near the Mason-Dixon Line.

This was literally the dividing line

where slavery ended and freedom began.

WOLTER: I tell Chris this figures into the end of my story,

but I'm going to tell him what I discovered

in the order I discovered it.

What did you find out about my cave?

Well, I found out a number of things,

and I think it's had a rich history

that spans quite a time frame.

I think it was used for many things.

I think that date that you saw...

The 1794.

...1794, which is when the Whiskey Rebellion was.

It's quite possible that they were

distilling whiskey down there --

fresh water, you got to have that.

You and I both know that you get down in that cave,

that water is cold, it's clear, and it's fresh,

so I think that's a big part of it.

Another thing you and I talked about --

you remember that medallion you found?

Yes.

One of the things that I found out was

the original owner of that property

was not only a member but one of the founding members of the

Knights of the Golden Eagle.

Really? Absolutely.

They have rituals that are very similar to Masonic rituals

that I've actually been through,

and one of the things that they had

in the Knights of the Golden Eagle's ritual

was something that involved a hermit inside of a cave.

The hermit would give the initiate a skull,

and the whole idea is you sit in there alone.

The skull makes you think about your own mortality,

that life is short and to make the most of it.

WOLTER: I tell Chris the 1896 date could correspond

to the time the K.G.E. used the cave.

It's just 6 years after Edwin Hamilton,

the owner and K.G.E. member, built this house.

If it wasn't for you finding that medal,

we never would have known about it.

Right.

The last and probably,

I would have to say maybe the most important aspect,

is the whole Underground Railroad story,

and that was a huge part of the Cumberland Valley

and this part of Pennsylvania.

Remember those initials that were

carved down in the bottom of the cave...

Yes. ...the W.R. and the W.T.?

Well, actually there were some slaves

whose names matched those initials --

William Taylor, Willis Redick.

Really? Yep.

It's quite possible that there was a slave in that cave,

and he carved his initials.

And it was documented by William Still.

Not too far from where your cave is, there's another cave,

and it's huge, and it's well-documented

that slaves that had escaped did seek refuge there.

If it wasn't for you finding that cave,

I wouldn't have gone on this journey

in the first place to learn myself

and to share this information with you, so job well done, man.

Thank you.

I really wanted some answers. Now I have some.

Alright.

[ Glasses clink ] Cheers.

[ Smacks lips ] That's good. That's good.

WOLTER: In this case, which started with

an unbelievable discovery by a little boy in his backyard,

ends with a better understanding of three different time periods

in the history of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

and the history of the United States.

I'm glad my investigation led to some real discoveries,

since clues were already washing away underground.

It's easy to think of caves as dark, scary places,

but in the case of the Underground Railroad,

this investigation reminds me that they can,

instead, be a source of great light.

And that's what I want to be, too --

someone on a quest to illuminate the forgotten pieces of our past

so we can all be more informed in the present.

♪♪

If you have a mysterious artifact or site I need to see,

I want to know about it.

Go to travelchannel.com/ americaunearthed.