Stephen Bishop

Stephen Bishop (c.1820–1857) was a mulatto slave who is known today for his work in exploring the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Many the individual rooms in the cave were named by him, and his map of 1842 was in use for forty years.

In 1972, Patricia Crowther discovered the muddy passage from the Flint Ridge Cave, northwest of the Mammoth Cave, linking the two into the longest cave in the world. Then it was found that Bishop had the muddy passage marked on his 1842 map as a passage lead, 130 years earlier before the connection was made.

The part of the Mammoth Cave called the Bedquilt Cave was the basis for William Crowther's Adventure, the first text adventure. Bishop's room names and discoveries helped give Adventure its distinctive American/classical flavor.

Game appearances

As an NPC:

• Zig-zy (Jonathan Rosebaugh; 2001; Glulx). Speed-IF XYZZY. Stephen Bishop was brought into the future because he was nominated for Best Game for his rewrite of Adventure at the XYZZY Awards.

As a cameo appearance:

• Behold! (Admiral Jota; 2001; Z-code). Speed-IF XYZZY. Stephen Bishop was supposed to present an XYZZY Award, but was turned into a basket of mangoes. He's restored to human form at the end.

As a reference:

• Adventure: The Interactive Original (porter: Graham Nelson; 1994–1996; Z-code). In the help menus for the Z-code port of Adventure, the story of the Mammoth Cave and Stephen Bishop is told. (Also see The Craft of Adventure.)

Links

• Download Craft.Of.Adventure.txt from the IF Archive - The Craft of Adventure is an essay by Graham Nelson. Chapter 2 (In The Beginning) is about the history of the Mammoth Cave, including Stephen Bishop, and their connection to the original Adventure game by William Crowther.
• Stephen Bishop (cave explorer) at Wikipedia.