The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock (Shawnee Classics) (Paperback)

~ Otto A. Rothert (Author), Robert A. Clark (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“From 1795 through 1820, the rock-ribbed walls of the Cave-in-Rock cavern echoed the drunken hilarity of villains and witnessed the death struggles of many a vanquished man. Otto A. Rothert chronicles the adventures of an audacious cast of river pirates and highway-men who operated in and around the famous Cave-in-Rock.”—Metropolis Planet

"This book is intended to give the authentic account of the famous Cave-in-Rock of the lower Ohio River...and to present verified accounts of the most notorious of those highwaymen and river pirates who in the early days of the Middle West and South filled the Mississippi basin with the alarm and terror of their crimes and exploits."—Otto A. Rothert

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Product Details Paperback: 370 pages Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press; 1st edition (February 27, 1996) Language: English ISBN-10: 0809320347 ISBN-13: 978-0809320349 Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #511,615 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in these categories: (What's this?) #4 in  Books > Reference > Genealogy > United States > Ohio #6 in  Books > Reference > Genealogy > United States > Mississippi #10 in  Books > Reference > Genealogy > United States > Illinois

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Look Inside This Book

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover

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Citations (learn more)

1 book cites this book:

• The Gold of Cape Girardeau: A Novel by Morley Swingle in Back Matter

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews 5 star:  (1) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 17 of 18 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Outlaws of the Early West, April 13, 2000 By  Wanda Avila (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This book tells the story of the outlaws of the early West (western Kentucky, southeastern Illinois, and Tennessee from around 1795 to 1820). These men were not the gun-toting, bank-robbing criminals of the Wild West but were highway robbers and river pirates who most often wielded knives and axes. They preyed on pioneers living in isolated cabins in the wilderness and on traders coming down the Ohio River on flatboats or traveling inland along wilderness trails. Most of these criminals at one time or another used Cave-in-Rock as their headquarters. This huge cave, on the Illinois side of the lower Ohio River, is about 85 miles below Evansville, Indiana. The most notorious of all the criminals of this time and place were the two Harpe brothers, who were said to kill men, women, and children simply to gratify a lust for cruelty. One story epitomizes the brutality of their exploits: Traveling through western Kentucky, the Harpes came to a cabin, where they found only a mother and her baby, the husband being off hunting. They asked to spend the night, and the next morning they asked the woman to prepare breakfast for them. She consented to do so but said that it would take her some time because her child was not well and she had no one to nurse it. The men then said that she should put the baby in its cradle and they would rock it while she cooked. After the woman had served their breakfast, she went to the cradle to see if the child was asleep, expressing some astonishment that her child should remain quiet for so long a time. She found the infant lying breathless, its throat cut from ear to ear. "Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock" was first published in 1923 and was recently reprinted by Southern Illinois University Press. Historians, amateur and professional, will value this book interesting for the light it sheds on a period of the nation's history that has received too little attention. 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Cave in Rock Pirates and Gangsters, June 23, 2005 By  Dennis D. Kaegi - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This book by a noted historian tells how river pirates and wilderness highwaymen (and women) preyed on westward travelers in the 1800s. As the country developed westward, a particular mix of men and women criminals practiced their arts at the moving edge of civilization and law. Whether traveling by land or river, many travelers passed through Southern Illinois during this time and had to deal with criminals whose practices were sometimes beyond imagination. A central player in this drama was the "Cave-in-Rock", a large cavern that opens appealingly upriver on the Ohio near the present day village and state park of the same name. While the cavern functioned as an Inn and Tavern that was a welcome sight to travelers, at times the proprietors served up meyhem and murder along with the grog and gruel. This was aptly shown in the movie How the West Was Won. The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock focuses on the major criminal elements and their leaders that operated along the Ohio River near Cave-in-Rock and the nearby inlands of the Shawnee Hills. Mr. Rothert does an excelent job of distinguishing between documented and oral history and tells about the individuals as well as the events of interest. The blood lust and gold lust of some of the central figures is astounding and their resourcefulness in obtaining both is frightening. In showing the flavor of the dark side of humanity that plagued these westward travelers, The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock is unmatched. 5.0 out of 5 stars The Outlaws of Cave in the Rock, August 23, 2009 By  Barbara A. Balas - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Amazon Verified Purchase Very interesting, would have liked more factual records, but realize going back to Revolutionary times might be hard to cover.		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press; 1st edition (February 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809320347
• ISBN-13: 978-0809320349
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #511,615 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #4 in	Books > Reference > Genealogy > United States > Ohio
  #6 in	Books > Reference > Genealogy > United States > Mississippi
  #10 in	Books > Reference > Genealogy > United States > Illinois

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outlaws of the Early West, April 13, 2000

By	Wanda Avila (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book tells the story of the outlaws of the early West (western Kentucky, southeastern Illinois, and Tennessee from around 1795 to 1820). These men were not the gun-toting, bank-robbing criminals of the Wild West but were highway robbers and river pirates who most often wielded knives and axes. They preyed on pioneers living in isolated cabins in the wilderness and on traders coming down the Ohio River on flatboats or traveling inland along wilderness trails.

Most of these criminals at one time or another used Cave-in-Rock as their headquarters. This huge cave, on the Illinois side of the lower Ohio River, is about 85 miles below Evansville, Indiana.

The most notorious of all the criminals of this time and place were the two Harpe brothers, who were said to kill men, women, and children simply to gratify a lust for cruelty. One story epitomizes the brutality of their exploits: Traveling through western Kentucky, the Harpes came to a cabin, where they found only a mother and her baby, the husband being off hunting. They asked to spend the night, and the next morning they asked the woman to prepare breakfast for them. She consented to do so but said that it would take her some time because her child was not well and she had no one to nurse it. The men then said that she should put the baby in its cradle and they would rock it while she cooked. After the woman had served their breakfast, she went to the cradle to see if the child was asleep, expressing some astonishment that her child should remain quiet for so long a time. She found the infant lying breathless, its throat cut from ear to ear.

"Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock" was first published in 1923 and was recently reprinted by Southern Illinois University Press. Historians, amateur and professional, will value this book interesting for the light it sheds on a period of the nation's history that has received too little attention.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cave in Rock Pirates and Gangsters, June 23, 2005

By	Dennis D. Kaegi - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book by a noted historian tells how river pirates and wilderness highwaymen (and women) preyed on westward travelers in the 1800s.

As the country developed westward, a particular mix of men and women criminals practiced their arts at the moving edge of civilization and law. Whether traveling by land or river, many travelers passed through Southern Illinois during this time and had to deal with criminals whose practices were sometimes beyond imagination. A central player in this drama was the "Cave-in-Rock", a large cavern that opens appealingly upriver on the Ohio near the present day village and state park of the same name.

While the cavern functioned as an Inn and Tavern that was a welcome sight to travelers, at times the proprietors served up meyhem and murder along with the grog and gruel. This was aptly shown in the movie How the West Was Won.

The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock focuses on the major criminal elements and their leaders that operated along the Ohio River near Cave-in-Rock and the nearby inlands of the Shawnee Hills. Mr. Rothert does an excelent job of distinguishing between documented and oral history and tells about the individuals as well as the events of interest. The blood lust and gold lust of some of the central figures is astounding and their resourcefulness in obtaining both is frightening.

In showing the flavor of the dark side of humanity that plagued these westward travelers, The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock is unmatched.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Outlaws of Cave in the Rock, August 23, 2009

By	Barbara A. Balas - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Very interesting, would have liked more factual records, but realize going back to Revolutionary times might
be hard to cover.