The river cane torches that illuminated the ancient miners’ underground journeys had to be gathered, processed, and prepared before any trip underground could begin.

River cane — Arundinaria gigantea — is the only species of cane native to North America, and it grows in dense stands, called canebrakes, in floodplain environments.

The Green River’s banks and the low-lying areas near the cave entrance would have supported canebrake patches — stands where the tall, bamboo-like plants grew densely enough to provide essentially unlimited material for torch-making.

The cane had to be harvested at the right stage of maturity — dry enough to burn readily, not so brittle that it crumbled.

The stalks had to be cut and bundled, probably with strips of plant fiber or with cord.