Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.
Please see the reasons for this title in the "Behind the scenes" section below, and/or the relevant discussion on the talk page.
The Hopi cave was an abandoned Hopi settlement built into a mountain cavern in Arizona. It contained adobe dwellings built inside, and was entered through a cave entrance on the mountain side, and had a smoke hole exiting through the top of the mountain.
Adventures at the Hopi cave[]
Around 1936, Busby Giles had discovered the cave and realized its potential as a perfect underground lair for criminals, similar to the Hole-in-the-Wall a generation earlier. He bribed local government to declare the caves unsafe, and began construction of new rooms and passageways, installing plumbing and electricity, and destroying the Hopi archaeological record. He even built a disguised runway leading to a larger back entrance, and hired many gun-toting guards to protect his project.
Not knowing about Giles' plans, Indiana Jones had applied to lead an expedition to excavate the site with his "Archaeology 223" class at Marshall College. Arriving at the site in 1936, Jones learned that the caves had been closed for geological instability, and focused his dig around the mountain exterior. After Warren tried to reach the cave entrance, a rock slide started, forcing Jones to save his student. Shortly after, Oinkster and Dominic arrived, pretending to be Bureau of Indian Affairs agents, to discourage the class from the unsafe cave area, with their guns.
That night, Jones slipped back to the cave, and knocked out the two guards at the entrance. Discovering that the boarded cave entrance was a disguised door with a blackout curtain, Jones was aghast to realize that someone had begun construction in the cave, destroying its history. After beating up a group of thugs, Jones was surprised to see one of his students, Lucy Giles inside, and while distracted, Jone was knocked out. Recovering, Jones learned from Lucy that she had followed him and was now also a captive of Busby, who revealed his plot to build a criminal hideout. Using Lucy as a hostage, Busby forced Jones to leave the site and not reveal what he had learned.
The next day, Jones sent his students back to Tucson, but secretly stayed behind. That night, he used a bag of tarantulas to distract Mel and another guard at the smoke hole, then knocked them out. Climbing down through the smoke hole, he found the airstrip's radio room and called the state patrol. Sneaking around the complex, he found Lucy reading a magazine and tried to rescue her. She called for help, summoning Busby and many armed men. Busby revealed that Lucy was his daughter, and she had been planted in Jones' class as a backup plan. Jones revealed that he had called for local law enforcement, and as sirens were heard in the distance, he began fighting his way out. Busby and Lucy ran for the hangar, while Jones came under fire from Oscar's machine gun. Using the ricochets to start a fuel fire, Jones escaped the room and managed to catch Lucy in the hangar, who tried to fight back, but tripped into a pile of rope. As Busby started a biplane and began to take off, Jones hooked a chain onto the landing gear, and was dragged toward the exit. Pulled outside, Jones avoided getting caught on cactus and let go when he saw an opportunity to stop the plane. Jones drove a slow steam roller onto the trailing chain, which caused the airborne plane to be yanked from the sky and crash. State troopers arrived and arrested the criminal construction crew, Busby, and Lucy Giles while Jones lamented the loss of the history contained in the cavern.