Caves

Onondaga Cave

Posted at August 10, 2006 12:30

Beauty Beyond Measure By Rebecca Smith

Over millions of years, the Lost River meandered through dolomite bedrock, creating some of the most spectacular speleothems, or deposits, in the country, in Onondaga Cave. The origin of the Lost River is unknown, but ultimately, it emerges from the rock and joins the Meramec River just south of Leasburg. It was this spring that caught the attention of the locals.

Diving into the dark requires an insatiable curiosity of the unknown. That adventurous spirit took hold of Charles Christopher, John Eaton, and Mitis Horine in 1886 when they explored an ever so slight opening above the mouth of the spring that led to what would become known as Onondaga Cave.

After navigating the entrance flat on their backs by partially submerging a john boat, the men stepped into a cavern that would be fought over for nearly a century until finally becoming a National Natural Landmark in 1980 and the centerpiece of Onondaga Cave State Park in 1982.

In 1902, Christopher’s share of the cave sold to Indian Creek Land Company, owned by George Bothe, Sr., for the mining of the calcite rich deposits; however, that soon proved unprofitable because “cave onyx” was more brittle and weak than the marble it was meant to replace. The owners reopened it as a show cave.

The World’s Fair in 1904 brought visitors from St. Louis to the cave, and part of the fanfare included giving it a name. The name Onondaga, submitted by a woman named Myrtle Land during a contest, comes from an Iroquois word meaning “spirit of the mountain.”

The profitability of tours soon led to disputes over land rights. Tenants and owners above ground claimed rights to the cave below for income purposes. In 1935, the Missouri Supreme Court settled the dispute by finding that property lines extend underground and allowing both sides to exploit the cave.

Bought by Lyman Riley and Lester Dill in 1953, the cave continued its life as a showplace; however, more trouble was on the horizon. In 1967, Congress authorized construction of a dam on the Meramec River that would have flooded the cave. Today, the red paint measurements taken by a private surveyor hired by Dill are still visible and indicate about eighty percent of the cave would have been lost. Following major opposition to the dam by Missouri voters, in 1981, Congress rescinded the bill that would have built the dam, thus preserving the cave for future generations.

In the nearly mile-long, ninety-minute tour of the cave, only the Missouri Caverns area is not open to humans. This area, once part of the land dispute, is reserved as a haven for the sixty species of animals that inhabit the cave.

Currently, a handrail improvement project is underway to improve the accessibility of the cave. Concrete paths, slightly steep in places, take visitors through an entrance, excavated in 1938 as the walkout exit, down to the landing just inside the natural entrance and into the Big Room that houses the Queen’s Canopy — the largest active formation in the cave. The Big Room is the second largest known cave room in Missouri behind Marvel Cave in Silver Dollar City near Branson. Just before the Lily Pad Room, Jericho’s Wall, a row of stalagmites once used like a xylophone to hammer out “Happy Birthday,” stands below the lifeline of the cave along the ceiling.

The cave is open for daily tours March through October; check with park office for times. For more information, visit www.mostateparks.com/onondaga.htm or call 573-245-6600.

April 2006

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