Ohio's Old Man's Cave is named for a man nobody can prove lived there

Old Man's Cave in the Hocking Hills is named for Richard Rowe. One story says he came from Tennessee around 1796, lived under the ledge with two dogs and is buried beneath it. A 1975 state guidebook says he was a fugitive who showed up after the Civil War. No deed, census record or grave settles it.

Everyone else left proof: the ash heaps on Ash Cave's floor, a beech carved "This is the road to hell, 1782," "W. J. Conkle, 1797" at Conkle's Hollow, the pawpaw riddle by Rock House's door, and the CCC's tunnels.

Trader or fugitive? Which old man do you believe?

Every old map of the Hocking Hills: crackedbuckeye.com

Narration: AI voice. Sources: M. C. Hansen, Ohio Geological Survey Guidebook 4 (1975); S. P. Hildreth (1837) in Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio; ODNR; hockinghills.com. Pictures: Ohio Federal Writers' Project (Ohio History Connection); Columbus Metropolitan Library; James St. John (CC BY 2.0); a Cracked Buckeye reader.