Deep in the Ozark foothills near the tiny town of Cushman, Arkansas, is a cave with a very strange story.
Blowing Cave is a real place. People have been exploring it for generations, and the cave itself is fascinating. But according to an Arkansas legend, the passages inside Blowing Cave may lead to something much bigger.
An underground world inhabited by a mysterious race of people.
Blue people, to be exact.
I know. I know.
This might be one of the strangest Arkansas legends I’ve come across yet.
Here’s the story.
Blowing Cave in Cushman, Arkansas
Blowing Cave is located in north-central Arkansas near Cushman, northwest of Batesville.
Like many caves in the Ozarks, it was formed in ancient limestone and contains underground water, large rooms and narrow passages. Archaeological evidence also shows that people were using the cave thousands of years ago.
The entrance to Blowing Cave is enormous, more like a huge open room in the side of the hillside than the kind of narrow cave opening you might picture. The front portion is large enough that people once held dances inside the cave, complete with a wooden dance floor and early electric lighting.
So Blowing Cave already had plenty of history. Pretty normal history.
Then things got weird.
Who Was Richard Shaver?
To understand the legend of Blowing Cave, you first have to know a little about a man named Richard Shaver. Shaver was a writer who became famous during the 1940s after his work began appearing in the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories.
The stories involved an ancient civilization that had once lived on Earth and built enormous underground cities filled with advanced technology.
According to Shaver, some of the descendants of that civilization still lived underground.
There were benevolent beings called the Teros.
And then there were the decidedly less friendly Deros, who Shaver claimed used ancient technology to torment the people living on the surface.
Wow. That could explain a few things for those of us who live above ground.
Most of us would think that this was just an interesting piece of fiction. But Shaver insisted that his stories were true.
And readers went crazy for these tales! The 1945 issue of Amazing Stories containing Shaver’s I Remember Lemuria! sold out, and the stories inspired thousands of letters and even Shaver Mystery clubs.
Apparently, plenty of people were open to the possibility that another civilization might be living right beneath their feet.
Eventually, one Arkansas cave became part of the story.
The Shaver Mystery Comes to Blowing Cave
During the 1960s, people interested in the Shaver Mystery began exploring various caves looking for entrances to the underground world Shaver had described.
And Blowing Cave in Cushman was one of them.
One account of the story says that in 1966 a group of explorers spent several days inside Blowing Cave. When they came out, they claimed they had found something extraordinary.
According to the story, the explorers discovered a passage deep inside the cave that eventually led them to an underground civilization.
They even claimed to have encountered intelligent human-like beings. The Teros. The good guys from Shaver’s underground world. I bet they were glad they didn’t run into the Deros!
Later versions of the Blowing Cave story often describe these mysterious underground inhabitants as having a bluish tint to their skin.
And that’s how Blowing Cave became known as the Arkansas cave where the blue people supposedly live.
The Mysterious George Wight
One of the names most often associated with the Blowing Cave story is George Wight.
According to the legend, Wight was part of the group exploring the cave and became convinced that they really had discovered the underground world Shaver had written about.
Then he supposedly went back and decided to stay underground with his new friends the blue people. He did resurface long enough to leave behind a written account of his experiences.
Then, according to the story, he went back into the cave…and never returned.
I don’t know, y’all. Sounds pretty implausible to me but I’m a skeptic. So I had to do a little research on this Wight guy.
And things didn’t get much clearer.
Most of what I could find about George Wight comes from later writings about the Shaver Mystery and underground civilizations. I couldn’t find much independent information that would help me separate the real man, if there was one, from the story that grew up around him.
But real or not, he definitely lives on in the Blowing Cave legend.
Did Anyone Ever Find the Secret Passage?
Not that we know of.
In 2019, Chuck Dovish visited Blowing Cave for an episode of Arkansas PBS‘s Exploring Arkansas.
The supposed entrance to the underground world was said to be somewhere between the main cave entrance and an underground waterfall room.
They looked for it. They didn’t find it. They didn’t find any blue people either.
Of course, I doubt that’s going to change the mind of anyone who truly believes there’s another world beneath the cave.
That’s the convenient thing about a secret underground civilization. You might not be able to prove that it does exist…but it’s also hard to prove that it doesn’t.
Richard Shaver Eventually Moved to Arkansas
Here’s one more strange Arkansas connection.
Richard Shaver himself eventually moved to Arkansas.
He and his wife settled in Summit, near Yellville, during the 1960s. Shaver continued pursuing his unusual ideas and artwork until his death in 1975.
As far as I can tell, Shaver wasn’t the person who originally connected Blowing Cave itself to the underground civilization. That came later through people who believed his stories and went looking for evidence.
Still, I find it interesting that the man behind the whole Shaver Mystery eventually ended up living in the Arkansas Ozarks himself.
Can You Visit Blowing Cave?
Yes, although this is not a typical commercial cave attraction.
Blowing Cave is privately owned, and the owners occasionally open it to the public. These open-house days are announced through the Blowing Cave Cushman Arkansas Facebook page, so check there for current dates before planning a visit.
You can also arrange a private guided tour of the cave by reservation.
And don’t expect paved walkways and handrails. This is a wild cave.
Depending on how far you go, exploring Blowing Cave can involve crawling through tight spaces, climbing and wading through water. If you want to do one of the deeper tours, contact the owners directly for current information about reservations, requirements and what you’ll need to bring.
Please also remember that this is private property and an important archaeological site. Don’t enter without permission, disturb anything inside the cave or attempt to find your own way into areas that aren’t part of an approved visit.
I haven’t explored Blowing Cave myself, but I have to admit I’m intrigued.
Do I expect to find blue people living beneath the Ozarks? Probably not.
But if I ever get the chance to tour the cave, you can believe I’ll be looking for them.
We have a post with even more Arkansas legends that you might enjoy!
