Near Mauchport in Harrison County, Indiana — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Squire Boone Burial Cave

Squire Boone Jr. 1744 - 1815

Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 8, 2022

1. Squire Boone Burial Cave Marker

Inscription. Into this cave opening Squire Boone escaped pursuing Indians about 1790. Thereafter he considered the cabe holy ground. At his request, he was buried in this cave in a walnut coffin hewn from native timber by his own hands. At the time of his burial, this entrance was sealed by his four sons, Moses, Isaiah, Jonathan, and Enoch.
Devoutly religious and an ordained Baptist minister, he performed the first white marriage in Kentucky and preached the first sermon at Louisville. He built Old Goshen Church in 1807, the first Baptist church in Indiana.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Natural Features • Wars, US Indian. A significant historical date for this entry is August 5, 1815.

Location. 38° 3.948′ N, 86° 7.963′ W. Marker is near Mauchport, Indiana, in Harrison County. Marker can be reached from Squire Boone Road Southwest near Pleasant Grove Road Southwest. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 100 Squire Boone Rd SW, Mauckport IN 47142, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Frakes’ Mill (approx. 1.3 miles away); Tindall School #3 (approx. 2.2 miles away); Morgan Enters Indiana (approx. 3.9 miles away); Last Home of Squire Boone

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(approx. 4.4 miles away); Morgan’s Great Raid (approx. 4.4 miles away); The Civil War Comes to Indiana (approx. 4.4 miles away); Morgan's Raid (approx. 4.4 miles away); Big Joe Logsdon (approx. 4.6 miles away in Kentucky).

More about this marker. This marker is on the grounds of Squire Boone Caverns. The coffin is found in the caverns, at the end of the guided tour.

Regarding Squire Boone Burial Cave. This profile is found on The Boone Society, Inc. website and is taken "from History of The Ohio Falls Cities and Their Counties, Vol. 1, published at Cleveland O., by L. A. Williams & Co., 1882."

Nothing like justice has ever been done his memory. But he ought not to be forgotten, especially by Kentucky. He watered her soil with his blood in too many places and in too heroic a manner in those early days, when the settlers were in constant dread of the lurking savage and his scalping knife, to be overlooked in the history of those times ... Squire with his family, having joined his brother Daniel at Boonesborough in 1775.
He made his home at the Falls of the Ohio for many years, during which time he had to endure trials and privations harder
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 8, 2022

2. Squire Boone Burial Cave Marker
to bear than his contests with the Indians. The property he had accumulated – which was considerable for those times – was taken from him by the land-sharks who hunted up the title to all the lands he owned, and he found himself in his old age stripped of every vestige of property, quite insolvent and utterly destitute.
It was then that he turned his back on Kentucky – ... he formed a settlement in Harrison County in the then new Territory of Indiana...
After reaching his new home, Squire Boone began with energy and industry to repair his shattered fortunes. He built a mill and for a long time supplied the neighborhood with meal, employing his spare time in making guns, and in cutting out stone from the neighboring hills to build himself a house.

Sealed Entrance to the Squire Boone Burial Cave image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 8, 2022

3. Sealed Entrance to the Squire Boone Burial Cave

Coffin Containing the Remains of Squire Boone. image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 8, 2022

4. Coffin Containing the Remains of Squire Boone.

Squire Boone died of congestive heart failure, at age 70, on August 5, 1815 and was buried per his request in the cave on his property in Harrison County, Indiana. The cave was sealed by his sons and his remains were left undisturbed for many years; but in the mid-20th century, relic hunters began taking parts of his coffin and even some of his bones. The cave eventually was brought under local guardianship and became a commercial attraction (Squire Boone Caverns) with guided tours. In 1973, his remains were removed from the cave and placed into a new coffin built by employees of the cave and reburied in a recessed part of the cave, where it resides today, at the end of the tour of Squire Boone Caverns. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squire_Boone

Squire Boone Caverns image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 8, 2022

5. Squire Boone Caverns

Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, June 8, 2022

6. Squire Boone Caverns

Credits. This page was last revised on September 9, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 4, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 207 times since then and 40 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on September 4, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.