During the early the 20th century, museums and archaeologists were running amock, digging up half the country for relocation to their dusty warehouse bins on the east coast. One Samual Dellinger, a trained zoologist was not impressed. He recognized the value of archaeology in the Arkansas region, and began a program of excavations of Ozark bluff shelters in the 1930’s to preserve and protect discoveries in the state for further study. Much of his work endures today.
One such site lay near the town of Edgemont, just east of what is now Fairfield Bay. Eerie and impressive geologic features litter the landscape in this area, coupled with equally interesting rock art at what has been dubbed “Indian Rock Cave” or “Indian Rock House.” Formally known as the Edgemont Shelter, it is attached to a local golf course and consequently, one of the the most accessible of the bluff shelters in the state.
The starting point for the trek down to the shelter is a small museum within a reconstructed log cabin, which interprets the shelter and early historic settlement in the region. It hosts a variety of artifacts found on site, to include a few items from late-period Native American occupation of the region.
A brief descent along wooden stairs leading from the museum opens on to a relatively well maintained track for a few hundred meters. It quickly opens on a clearing where the dominant feature is that of the shelter. A 1934 plaque installed by the Daughters of the American Colonists declares proudly that Hernando De Soto once visited this site. Although, more current understanding of the route of that particular explorer denies the probability.
Native Americans used the site at various times during the past 8,000 years. That much is certain, as evidenced by petroglyphs carved into the rock face. Very little else is known about the true archaeology of the site though. It was never professionally excavated and the only known artifacts were collected by amateurs during operation of the site as a tourist destination in the 1930’s. Later in the 1960’s, a backhoe removed about six feet of dirt, further complicating efforts to comprehend anything that might have occurred at this location.
The shelter is not the only thing of interest in this neck of the woods though. The remainder of the 1.2 km journey through the surrounding hardwoods around the bluff and is equally intriguing. Cracks and crevices abound and beg exploration from multiple angles. It is a veritable playground of karst features at nearly every turn. What one first considers a brief hike to a natural wonder quickly and quietly expands into an exploration of a strange and wonderful crumbling world in the heart of the little resort community of Fairfield Bay.
