Orange County
Indiana

CROSS CAVE

Article written about 1957. Contributed by: H.E. Grider

The story of French Lick would be incomplete without some reference to Cross' Cave. In 1886, Ferdinand Cross, the son of John Cross, a stone-carver of Binghamton, New York, came to Orange County prospecting among the hills that surround French Lick Springs. He came upon a natural amphitheater, a sheltered ravine hemmed in on three sides by great over-hanging cliffs, coot and moss-covered in the shade of mighty forest trees. With a clear, cold spring trickling from a small cave that was thenceforth to bear the Cross name. Here, he built a house, with a studio nearby, where at last he could indulge his fancy with the tools of his beloved trade. And before long, thanks to a capable wife, Cross' Cave became a popular chicken dinner place for hundreds of French Lick hotel guests, who came to partake of the excellent cuisine and explore the small cave.

It was then that wonderful carvings began to appear on the hillside, were once shapeless blocks of limestone had been. among them, was a life-sized group of cattle standing by an old well. There was a pair of turtles, too, bearing their young on their backs. with owls, monkeys, lizards, eagles, snakes and all manner of wild things. There was the thorn crowned head of the "Man of Galilee," and in inscription in stone, "He was wounded for our transgressions."

Then came the younger brother, Henry Cross, to work beside him with his brush and palette, Henry had studied under Rosa Bonheur in Europe, and had painted a series of rare horses that had won for him the intimate friendship of Lucky Baldwin of gold-rush fame. He had known Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, Carson and Jim Bridger, and had painted their portraits along with those of Geronimo, Sitting Bull and other famous Indian chieftains. He had one portrait, too, of Abraham Lincoln, Gen. Grant, King Edward VIII, President Diaz of Mexico and Brigham Young. His portrait of Lincoln was made to be hung in a private car built by popular subscription - for the presidential use. While, his portrait of Grant found its way to the palace of the Sultan of Turkey.

It was doubtless his association with Buffalo Bill that finally made him turn his attention to painting the American buffalo. And from one of the best of his buffalo pictures later destroyed by fire, the sketch on the nickel was taken. In that canvas, the animal stood on the brow of a high cliff, watching the plains below, where a band of Indians was trekking across country. Hence the lowered head of the buffalo.

The remarkable career of this American artist, whose best paintings finally landed in a Minneapolis art gallery came to a close in his Chicago home shortly after the death of his sculptor brother. And his last request was that his remains be cremated and the ashes brought to Orange County and buried in the same grave with Ferdinand, in the little Sulphur Creek burying ground.

Today only the crumbling foundation of the old house where they spent so many happy hours remains. And all that is left of the carvings is a part of the group of cattle by the old well, with here and there a broken fragment of some lesser evidence of the stone carver's skill.

The end of the trail! A sheltered spot in the beautiful southern Indiana hills, which must have been a source of great inspiration to these two lovers of the beautiful, on the many occasions when they worked side by side, Henry with his brush and palette and Ferdinand with his chisel and mallet.

Copyright (c) 2000 by Sandra Sanchez

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