Grandfather's Journal: In Search Of

By C.W. Hanes

This is a story I was told when I was fourteen or fifteen years old and it is based on a true story about a cave at the top of a mountain along the Red River.
Three men went into a cave that overlooked Red River around 1923 or 1927. You could see the river from the cave, but you couldn't see the cave from the river. As they were searching through the cave they found a pit with a log lying across it about two feet across with a hair rope tied around it descending down, down into the pit. They said it looked like horsehair. They lowered one of the men into the pit to approximately thirty or forty feet where he landed on a rock ledge. He walked around the ledge shining his carbide light and noticed the pit descended another 100 feet or so. Circumferencing the ledge area he noticed another opening. He yelled out to the two men at the top of the pit to let them know he found another cave entrance. As he shined his light into the opening of the cave, he became excited; he saw Spanish helmets, breastplates, muskets, bows, and arrows. There were also spears, trunks with clothing, gold, and silver. His heart began to race as he stood at the edge of the entrance. He looked down and noticed a mask mostly covered with dirt on the cave floor in the opening. He bent over, picked it up and brushed the dust off the mask. When he did, the mask began to glow and voices filled the air around him. The voices were deafening and the mask glowed as if it were on fire. He threw the mask down to the cave floor and started screaming pull me up, please get me out of here, pull me up. They said when his feet hit the cave floor he ran out of the cave never stopping until he had gotten back to the car. He had covered five miles to get back to the car, crossing over mountains and dry creek beds. They couldn't catch him. An hour later when they got back to the car, he was lying on the back floorboard covered with a blanket. When they finally coaxed him out of the car, he told them everything that he experienced. He said: "I'll never go into that cave again as long as I live!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yorkshire Publishing
• Release date: Jun 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952320378

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ISBN 978-1-950034-98-7 (Hardback)

ISBN 978-1-952320-38-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-952320-37-8 (ebook)

Grandfather’s Journal

Copyright © 2020 by C.W. Hanes

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

For permission requests, write to the publisher at the address below.

Yorkshire Publishing

4613 E. 91st St,

Tulsa, OK 74137

www.YorkshirePublishing.com

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Printed in the USA

In Search Of

When I was little, my Grandfather would take me for long walks along the Red River. As we walked along the trail by the river, Grandpa told me stories about when he was a little boy and stories that his Dad had passed down to him. While telling me about our ancestors, Grandpa told me he was almost full-blooded Cherokee (tsa-la-gi) and he said I was over half Cherokee.

This story begins when I was thirteen years old. Grandpa (Clarence James—his nickname was C.J.), was born on May 26, 1877. He was my father’s father. My father was born on March 4, 1916. His name was Clarence Lee. My name is Jacob Wayne and I was born on May 26th, 1956.

The legendary Spirit Cave was high upon a mountain top, overlooking Red River. No one knew which mountain it was located on except for three men, my Grandfather and two of his friends. The story that is told about this cave is that you could see up and down the river for miles from the cave, but you couldn’t see the cave from the river during any time of the year.

My Great-Grandfather and two of his friends found the cave in 1797. They each had a journal with maps and a piece of a flute that locked into place with the other two. When putting together, there wasn’t a seam that could be seen.

Starting with my thirteenth birthday, Grandpa gave me a clue every year on my birthday about where he had the journal hidden. I had to solve the clues that he gave me in order to find the journal. I also had to keep a journal of my own to keep up with all he shared with me. The items you see in parentheses most of the time show how it is spoken in the Cherokee language. For instance, Hello is pronounced o-si-yo.

So, come along with me and Grandfather on our journey to find his journal. Mysteries surround the mountain, with treasures that are hidden in the pit deep down inside the cave. I was told there were trunks of gold, silver, and other artifacts with a curse to keep them from being removed from the cave that was placed on them by the natives who placed them there to keep them from being removed from the cave. Let us search together and gather the clues to find the journal and the right words of the native language that will allow us to remove the curse so that the items from the cave can be removed! If we find the journal and follow the clues Grandfather gives us, we can unlock hidden treasures and perhaps even a hidden world long since forgotten by modern times.

CHAPTER ONE

Jacob’s First Five Clues

When I was a little boy, my Grandfather would take me for long walks along the Red River in the hills of the Ozarks. As we walked along the trail beside the river, Grandpa would tell me stories about when he was a little boy; stories that his Dad passed down to him. Grandpa was almost full-blood Cherokee (tsa-la-gi) and he said I was over half.

Grandpa and I had a favorite place where we would go to sit and watch the river’s dark waters roll by. It was a huge rock ledge that hung over the river. I guess it was between 100 and 140 feet above the river. It had stairs made of rock going down to the water to a lower ledge that was only a few inches above the waterline. You could see where the rock was worn down from boats and perhaps canoes; the Indians used this area more than a hundred years ago. I asked him, Who built these rock stairs? He looked at me and smiled. Native Americans built those several hundred years ago.

I asked Grandpa, Why do we call this mountain on the river ‘Spirit Mountain?’

He looked down and said, "Well, there have been stories passed down for generations about this mountain. Things have happened here that cannot be explained; people have seen visions of the past, or what some would call ‘spirits’ of our ancestors while walking through these woods. They’ve seen the spirits of Indians walking or hiding behind trees and rocks as they did hundreds of years ago.

"Do you remember, Jacob, where the creek runs into the river about 1,000 yards upriver from here? When you walk up the creek, if you look closely, you will see some of the rocks are displaced from their original locations. There is a path that crisscrosses back and forth across the creek, just wide enough for a small two-wheeled cart to be pulled over. The path goes from the creek all the way up to the top of the mountain. About three-fourths of the way up, you will find a round rock wheel, nine inches thick and about four feet in diameter, with a square hole, cut out in the middle of it. It’s the wheel off an Indian cart that is about three hundred years old. If you follow the path, you will come to a dead-end unless you know where to change course, and if you do, it will take you to a hidden place; a cave that is about two-thirds of the way up the mountain. This cave is protected by native spirits so that nothing found in the cave can be removed without serious consequences or repercussions to those trying to do so. This sacred place of our people is called ‘Spirit Cave.’

"When you stand at the mouth of Spirit Cave, you can watch up and down the river for miles. But the cave can’t be seen from any place on the river at any time of the year. The natives would watch the river for settlers as they traveled up and down the river. They would slip down to the ledge that we are sitting on and wait until the settlers got close. Sometimes they would attack them, taking their possessions. They would load everything on a cart and take it up to the cave. Other times, they would watch them float down the river through the rapids.

"Stories have been passed down about a pit inside the cave that leads to another cave entrance deep in the mountain. That is where they would store the items they stole from settlers. There is supposed to be gold, silver, weapons, Spanish helmets, breastplates, muskets, and other artifacts.

"Jacob, I have a journal that one day I will pass down to you. In my journal, I go into more detail about a lot of things that you’re not old enough to understand yet. I have the journal put away in a special place that only I know the location of; not even your grandmother knows where to find it. It would have gone to your father if he hadn’t passed away so early in life. So, when I die, it will be left to you and you must find it. You will have to prove yourself worthy before you will be ready to find it and it won’t be an easy task. I have placed maps and one-third of a flute with the journal and an explanation of how to use it. There are three parts to it, and it must be put together in the correct sequence for it to work without any evil consequences. To learn the contents of this journal, there are a lot of people who would do whatever it took; regardless of the cost to themselves or others. But only those who are chosen are the ones who will find it; to everyone else, it will just disappear.

"I will only give you clues on your birthdays to help you search for my journal and, if I die before the task is complete, I have given instructions to my best friend, Adam, to help you complete your life’s journey.

"Jacob, today you turn thirteen. From this day forward, you need to begin writing in your journal. You must write down the clues I will give you so that you may use them to find my journal about the cave. I will also tell you very important things to help you find your way on life’s wonderful journey.

"Here is your first clue:

‘There is a secret stairway leading down to the place where my journal resides and the only way to find it is by the directions that I, and I alone, will give to you.’

Remember, Jacob, this is for you and you alone. You cannot tell anyone about my journal until the time is right, not your best friend, not even your mother can know about my journal.

Grandpa, how will I know when the time will be right?

"As you listen to me over the next few years, I will teach you as much as I can and as you grow and mature to the young man I know you will be, you will know who you can trust and whom you can tell this great secret to by looking into their eyes. Jacob, the eyes are the window to a man’s heart and soul; they never lie. Those are the places where secrets live inside of us!

I pray to GOD that you will listen to me and make me proud of the man that I know you will be. A man like your Dad, I was proud of him. He was a man’s man. He stood up for what he believed in and never backed down unless he found that he was in the wrong. At these times, he was man enough to say he was sorry and would apologize. I was proud of him and I’m proud of you. Jacob, you are very special to me. Every grandfather should be as fortunate as I am. You’re a smart young boy and I know you will do the things that are right. I have told you some things today that will help you find the cave. Only three men know where the cave is today. We have sworn an oath to one another to never go there alone or with anyone other than our immediate family after they have first gone through the training, we all agreed to. They would have to search for a journal that would then help them locate the cave. The journal could not be given to them. Remember, I will leave you clues in the things that I say and have written down for you to read in order to find my journal.

On my fourteenth birthday, he told me: "The journal resides in a library that is very close to him and it took many years for this library to be built. The journal is with two books: one is a very spiritual book that most people have but don’t read and the other, most people had never heard about or even know of its existence."

We took a lot of walks in the woods up and down Red River, talking about which side the moss grew on the trees, the rocks, and the different sounds the animals make in the woods. He taught me to turn around as I was walking through the woods and look behind me because that’s what I would be looking at when I came back through the woods. This way, it would look familiar to me and keep me from getting lost. At night, the woods appeared to be a whole new forest; the trees looked very different. You thought you were heading to the north when you were really heading to the east. It was easy to get turned around in the dark. Nothing looked familiar, not even remotely the same as it does in the daylight. Make sure you look behind you in the dark just from time to time just like you do in the daylight, it helps you to stay on the right path, he told me.

After Grandpa taught me how to find my way around the forest at night, he would take me out blindfolded. Then he would take off the blindfold and tell me to find my way back home.

When I thought I had it all figured out, he would surprise me by taking me up the river for thirty minutes. Then he would stop paddling the boat and let it drift back for a while. He would pull over to the bank, let me out and lead me through the woods, up and down the mountain, crisscrossing back and forth over every little creek that came out of that old mountain. Always, I was blindfolded when he took me out on most of our adventures.

One night, though, it was so foggy that he didn’t have to blindfold me. I didn’t know which way was up, let alone know how to find my way home. I didn’t know south from north or east from west. I couldn’t see the stars or the moon. I did well to see twenty feet in front of me. I couldn’t see any sign of light in any direction. It took me all night to find my way out of the forest. When I finally did come out, Grandpa was standing there waiting for me, even though it was three miles from the house.

He must have followed me all night, keeping a close watch on me; I never knew he was around or heard him make a sound. I’ve watched him walk up to a deer within twelve feet and the deer never knew he was there.

For my fifteenth birthday, he took me up the river again to a rock that he hadn’t shown me before. It had carvings and paintings with strange words all over it. When I asked him what it meant, he told me it was all in his journal and I would have to figure it out when the time came. Grandpa and I have a special bond between us – we have the same birthday. I have often wondered if that was just a coincidence or fate from GOD that we were both born near the end of the month of May.

Grandfather reminded me of last year and the library and then gave me a new clue.

Jacob, in this library there are forty-eight warriors standing seven feet tall, all in a row, twelve warriors above facing the north are facing seven Angels from the south, twelve warriors below facing the east are facing seven Angels from the west, twelve warriors above facing the west are facing five Angels from the east and the twelve warriors below facing the south are facing nine Angels from the north. The seventh warrior above facing the west has a book in his hand. The seventh warrior tells you part of what you need to search for.

We got back into the boat and headed back to the house. As we were rounding the bend in the river, a big black bear was standing on the side of the riverbank looking at us as if to say, I have seen you. I know who you are, and I am watching you. My Grandfather told me that all animals only allow you to see them when they are ready for you too, and not before. If you look back over the years when you have been with a friend, and you saw a deer or some other animal in the wild, and they didn’t see the animal, or the other way around, why didn’t both of you see it? Then there are times that you both see them. Your spirit must be one with nature and the things that GOD has given us to enjoy. We have a world we see all the time but then there is the spirit world that very few of us can see even for a brief moment of time. If people would just read the Bible, they could understand a lot more than we do. GOD talks about it several times about seeing into the spiritual world.

How do you explain knowing things that you shouldn’t know, or seeing things you don’t understand, or knowing about places you have never been?

Some Native Americans believe that you shapeshift in your sleep and travel to places you want to go or to teach you about another past. Shapeshifting is the act of your body transforming into something else, be it a deer, a wolf or even an eagle or some other animal that could teach you what you are looking for. You call upon the spirit of the animal you want to guide you but don’t stay in the spirit with them too long or you may take on some of their animal instincts. Have you ever dreamed you were flying? Just maybe you weren’t dreaming; maybe you shapeshifted while you were asleep. Were you tired when you woke up? Did your arms hurt when you woke up the next morning (sun a le i) and you didn’t know why? Those are things you must learn for yourself. Search in your spirit for the truth! That is what my Grandfather has always taught me.

We took many trips up and down Red River but that was the first time I had ever seen a bear at the water’s edge, watching us closely. We floated on by the bear and I watched Grandpa. He looked as if he were talking to it, telling him I was his grandson, and to watch after me when he was gone.

Several months went by before I saw Grandpa again. But he would call me and talk to me every week, asking me to study hard. But don’t let people influence you, making you think too small, he would say. What if the Wright brothers had let people influence them? People laughed at them and said if a man were meant to fly, they would have wings. Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone would never have been more than a kid’s toy. Your dreams are important to no one but you because they are your dreams and your dreams alone. Yes, there will be people that believe in you, but there will also be those who are jealous of you and your accomplishments. Those are people who say they believe in you but don’t really, and you can tell by the way they either encourage you or they say it’s already been done. This is what to listen for when people claim to be your friend or they are just fair-weather friends and they are too busy being concerned about themselves.

Jacob, he would say, you need to care more about others than you do yourself and serve others before yourself and you will go further than you could ever dream possible.

My sixteenth birthday was coming up soon. It was only a couple of months away. I couldn’t help but wonder what was in store for me this year with Grandfather. I thought about the last three years, about the clues he wanted me to remember, the library, the forty-eight warriors facing twenty-eight Angels.