Photos: Exploring Peppersauce Cave near Oracle in 1948
These archive photos follow a group that explored Peppersauce Cave in the Santa Catalina Mountains in Coronado National Forest in 1948.
Photos © Arizona Daily Star or Tucson Citizen, where applicable
A couple explores a chamber inside Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
Ann Snow, of Lennox, Mass., explores a narrow fissure while studying stalactite formations inside Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
A group explores a chamber inside Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
University of Arizona student John Ellinwood explores a chamber inside Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
A woman examines stalactites in Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. It appears some have already been broken. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
University of Arizona student John Ellinwood and Ann Snow, of Lennox, Mass., negotiate a ladder on a slippery, clay-covered ledge that drops sharply to an underground pool inside Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
A couple takes a break as they explore Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
William H Woodin, III, right, pauses in a chamber with Ann Snow and Coburn Haskell inside Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
A group of explorers pause in a chamber in Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
Once outside, William H Woodin III, Coburn Haskell and John Ellinwood examine some ancient sea fossils found in the limestone inside Peppersauce Cave in January, 1948. Located off the Mt Lemmon Control Road, the cave, between eight and 10 miles outside Oracle, Ariz., is limestone and is in the Santa Catalina Mountains. According to Wikipedia, the cave was made known to the local public in February 1948 by an article in Desert Magazine. However, it was already a well-explored cave when it was mentioned in an Arizona Daily Star story in January 1948. It is open to the public, has no guided tours and for the most part is relatively humid. It has a big room, a slide, a rabbit hole and a signing room.
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
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