Mr. Stewart and those connected with the cave emphatically deny the rabbit story and say the discovery is due solely to childish curiosity.

It is significant that shortly preceding the discovery, the virgin timber had been removed from the hillside upon which the entrance was found.

Mr. Stewart upon whose land the discovery was made noticed that people returning from the cave were carrying numerous mineral formations that they had broken from the walls or ceiling.

Another incident, purely accidental, saved the most beautiful part of the cave from mutilation by the first party of explorers.

When this part of the cave was first discovered, directions for the preservation of the mineral forms had already been given, so this section remains today in all of its primitive glory.

Blanche worked as a cook at the local Marengo Academy and had heard some of the boys discussing a sinkhole they had found in the woods close.

The children crawled down a narrow passageway, approximately 50 feet long, and were the first humans known to set foot in Marengo Cave.

The kids thought they had found diamonds because of the sparkling flowstone formations their candles revealed briefly while they were inside the cave.

Believing the cave to possibly contain diamonds, Stewart quickly organized a group of men from the town and explored the cavern.

With better roads, an increasingly mobile population and aggressive promotion and quality improvements, the cave business began to grow again.

1992 A small crawlway known as "Blowing Bat Crawl" was finally broken through on June 14, 1992, leading to the discovery of the stream level of Marengo Cave.

Today Marengo cave is open all year long and offers two different walking tours.