Lewis Wetzel's Cave

Lewis Wetzel was the fourth child of seven of Mary Bonnet and John Wetzel. Lewis was born in 1763 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1764, the Wetzel family, along with the Bonnets, the Zanes, the Eberlys, and the Rosencranzes, moved across the Alleghenies. This little group settled near present day Wheeling. The Wetzel's settled on a farmstead out in the forest, fourteen miles from the Ohio River, along the Big Wheeling Creek. Indians captured Lewis from his home when he was 13. Lewis managed to escape and return back to Wheeling. After this incident, he perfected shooting a long rifle and fighting with a tomahawk and a knife. He was to have been able to shoot anything that was big enough to see and he could load, prime, and shoot a long rifle while running full speed through the woods. He was known as an Indian hunter. He never took up land, built a cabin, farmed, or did 'normal work'. He roamed across Ohio country hunting Indians and carrying out one man raids. As the years passed, people began to question his sanity. He wore tassels in his split earlobes and took great care of his almost, knee length hair. Wetzel's Cave is where he would lure Indians so he could kill them. It is also where he would sometimes camp.

Most of the cave system has now collapsed. All that is left is the outer structures.