DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, there are old places in Texas, and then there are old places. Longhorn Caverns, up in Burnet County, is the kind of old that makes human history feel like a footnote — a young geologic formation, the marker calls it, only a few million years old.
Only. You gotta love that qualifier. And what has lived and died in that darkness?
Elephant. Bison. Bear.
Deer. Others. Their bones have been found down in those chambers, silent witnesses to ages nobody was around to name.
Then came the people. When white men arrived in the area in the 1840s, the Indians already knew the caverns well. The Rangers learned that the hard way, or maybe the right way — they found and rescued a kidnapped girl from Indians in the chamber known as the Council Room.
Think about what it took to go into that dark, and what it meant to come back out. The caverns didn't sit quiet during the Civil War either. From 1861 to 1865, gunpowder was manufactured and stored inside those walls.
The earth itself pressed into service for the conflict above. Then the 1870s rolled in, and so did the outlaws. The Sam Bass gang among them, using the cavern as a place to light for a while when the world outside got too close.
It is something — Rangers, soldiers, outlaws — all of them finding this place useful in their own particular ways. By the 1920s, somebody had the notion to put a night club down there. Which, honestly, is either the best idea or the strangest one, depending on what you ordered.
In 1932, the caverns were opened to the public. A few million years of geology, bones of ancient giants, powder smoke, outlaws, rescue, revelry — and finally, a door with a welcome mat. Longhorn Caverns had seen just about everything before most folks ever got the chance to see it at all.
What the marker says
Rich in history and folklore. A young geologic formation, only a few million years old. Bones of elephant, bison, bear, deer, other animals have been found here. When white men came to area in 1840's, Indians knew the caverns; Rangers once found and rescued a kidnapped girl from Indians in "Council Room." During Civil War (1861-1865) gunpowder was manufactured and stored here. In 1870's outlaws, including the Sam Bass gang, sometimes lived in the cavern. Site of night club in 1920's. Has many unique features. Was opened to public in 1932.