User:Linguistic Nerd/sandbox

= Robber's Cave (Lincoln, Nebraska) = Robber's Cave is a series of caverns which run under portions of the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. The cave walls are formed from Dakota Sandstone, and the entrance to the cave is found at 11th and High Streets.

Prior to European-American settlement
Little known

Probably not very important

Not site of cultural importance according to Pound

Settlement period
The 4.2-acre parcel of land which included what would later become Robber's Cave was deeded to Harriet Green on December 16, 1864. Green was the widow of Roswell Huntington, a veteran of the War of 1812. Though Huntington survived the war, he died in 1827, leaving Green the heir to his estate and thus his military benefits. In accordance with the Military Tract of 1812, Green was awarded 160 acres of "bounty land" for her husband's service. Green was uninterested in developing the land and instead immediately sold it to Messrs. Low, Cochran, and Chipman.

Daniel Low, Andrew Cochran, and William Wirt Chipman attempted to start a quarry on the site to take advantage of the Dakota sandstone in the area. The sandstone was so soft that quarrying in the area caused the entrance to the cave, of which Low, Cochran, and Chipman were apparently unaware, to collapse. The area was prone to flooding from the nearby Salt Creek and the instability of the soil made quarrying unfeasible so the partners sold the cave to the City of Lincoln for $760 in 1867.

In 1869, Michael Ulmer and Andrew Lindner of Wisconsin purchased the land in order to establish the first brewery in Lincoln, The Pioneer Brewing Company. Ulmer and Lindner planned to make use of the cave as a cool storage area for their beer but the naturally-formed cave proved too small. Ulmer and Lindner hired Jacob Andra, a German immigrant, to expand the cave system, dig a well, and create ventilation shafts. Andra also worked as a laborer for the brewery, helping with brewing. The size of the original cave is disputed but local historians Jim McKee and Tim Wolter agree that Andra, working alone and using only a pickaxe, greatly increased the size of the cave by expanding it to 56,000 sq ft (5203 sq m) by 1873. Andra also dug a 60-ft (18.3 m) well and used a manual ice auger or similar device to drill several 30-50 ft (9-15.24 m) deep ventilation shafts from below. Andra became well-known in Lincoln for his work on the cave and was remembered as a sort of folk hero as late as 1927, 58 years later. The Pioneer Brewing Company closed due to a localized economic depression, a grasshopper infestation, a drought, and the lack of a railroad from the brewery, just outside of Lincoln, to the pubs in Lincoln.

In 1873, Ulmer and Lindner sold the land to John Lutz

Today
Blue Bloods brewery (LJS)

Folklore
Invented history of cultural importance to Pawnee and other tribes (Pound)

Robbers

Winter refuge