Archeological Investigations Part 13

The princ.i.p.al caves in the vicinity have distinctive names, as "Onyx"

(there being two thus called), "Robbers'," "River" (this because there is a stream in it which can be crossed only in a boat), "Bridal," etc.

Others are named for the owners of the land, or from some peculiarity, as "Dry," "Bunch," "Morgan," "Arnholdt." Many are not deemed of sufficient importance to have specific t.i.tles.

All those named were visited, as well as a number of the others.

A detailed description is not necessary. Not one of these caverns has ever been occupied unless as a temporary shelter. Some are flooded at intervals, either from the outside or by interior drainage; some have very restricted entrances and are dark at the front; some have rock floors or muddy bottoms; some can be entered only by clambering over talus to an opening at the bottom, or near the bottom, of a sink hole.

Some shallow cavities, which under different conditions would be available as rock shelters, are in places difficult of access, remote from water, or otherwise unsuitable.

Some of these caverns have wonderful deposits on ceilings, walls, and floors, rivaling in beauty and ornate patterns those of the most famous caves of the country; and if they were easily accessible or could be conveniently explored, would attract hosts of visitors. One in particular, the "Bridal Cave," so called from a ma.s.s of stalact.i.te material fully 10 feet from side to side at the top, which hangs in delicate translucent loops and folds and convolutions, equals Luray or Wyandotte for beauty, though not for extent.

It was reported that two walled graves stand on a "bald" on the farm of Will Robert Eidson, on the divide between the Niangua and the Little Niangua Rivers, about 4 miles north of Roach post office. They were described as "rocks laid up in a regular wall about 4 feet high, and about 30 steps square, and filled up inside with rocks." A visit to the site disclosed two ordinary cairns, made by throwing weathered limestone boulders into a rounded heap. Both piles have been scattered, and as they now exist one is about 25 feet, the other about 30 feet across. Such exaggerated, misleading descriptions are common, and result in much fruitless investigation.

Several caves are reported in the vicinity of Toronto, in Camden and Miller Counties; especially the c.o.kely Cave, 4 miles from Brumley on the Linn Creek road. From the descriptions given by informants, none of them appear to be suitable for habitation.

Many cairns exist on the ridges in this region, especially on high points overlooking valleys. All of them were built up with chert or limestone blocks, and all are more or less torn up. So far as could be learned there is no sign of a wall in any of them.

In the present state of knowledge, Camden County offers no inducement for archeological research.

A FOSSIL CAVE (29)

The geological deposits in this region comprise three princ.i.p.al formations which are named in the State report as the Jefferson City limestone, the Roubidoux sandstone, and the Gasconade limestone. It is in the last (which is the lowest) that caverns are found.

In various places erosion, either internal or superficial, or both, has formed crevices or sink holes through which the disintegrated sandstone finds its way into caverns below, where it acc.u.mulates and hardens until more resistant than when in its original condition.

Further erosion has in several places carried away the limestone from around these intrusive ma.s.ses, allowing them to project above the present surface. Sometimes, where the sand piled up, they resemble haystacks; but usually they are of indefinite form, having spread out on the floor of the cavern, as such material will do in a shallow stream.

An interesting example of this action is the "Standing Rock," 4 miles west of Linn Creek, the county seat. Here was formerly a large cave with an eastward trend until near the mouth, when it turned sharply southward, the opening being in the direction of a little stream. The lower end of this cave became solidly filled with sand, and the water found an outlet farther back. All the limestone which formed the roof and walls of the middle portion of the cave is gone, a narrow ravine marking its course. The sandstone obstruction held its place, and now extends directly across the ridge between the two ravines. Its surface is an exact cast of the interior of the cave which it filled, and nodules of chert, remaining when the limestone dissolved, are still imbedded in its surface. The line of demarkation between the limestone matrix, where this still exists in part, and the siliceous filling is as distinct as that between the stone and brick in a building. The loose cave earth shows plainly under the sandstone near the former mouth of the cavern. Plan and section are shown in figures 20 and 21.

MILLER COUNTY

WRIGHT CAVE (30)

A mile and a half west of Brumley, near Glaize Creek, is Wright, or Brumley, Cave. The entrance is 15 feet high and 40 feet wide. At 20 feet from the mouth the width contracts to 20 feet. The depth is 120 feet in daylight to a stalagmite floor. Dry cave earth extends for 35 feet from the entrance, at which distance it reaches tough, sticky clay; this continues to the stalagmite. Above the clay are growing stalact.i.tes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 20.--Plan of Fossil Cave.]

In front of the entrance were a few flint chips, but no indications of pottery or sh.e.l.l. A small implement, shown in figure 22, was found which is of interest because it was worked to a sharp point at one end of a narrow drill, while the other end widened into a squared form with a straight base which was dulled and polished from use as a cutting tool; the entire surface was polished from long service. An object of this kind would be highly suitable for mending moccasins and leggins. Finding this and nothing else strengthens the probability that this cave was used as a temporary camping place, but was never permanently occupied.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 21.--Section of Fossil Cave.]

WILSON CAVE (31)

Facing Barren Fork of Tavern Creek, on the farm of John R. Bond, 8 miles northwest of Iberia and 12 miles southeast of Tusc.u.mbia, is a cave celebrated by reason of a provision in the will of a former eccentric owner.

There is a small cave which has an opening in the bluff, a few feet to one side of the larger cave. This can be reached only by means of ladders 60 feet long.

Jack Wilson came from Ireland and settled on Tavern (or Cavern) Creek in 1822. For a number of years he lived in this cave, with his family. He died in 1855, leaving instructions that his body was to be packed in salt and placed in the small cave, "with a ten-gallon cask of good whisky," the entrance then to be sealed up. In order to carry out his last wishes, and at the same time to give him a "Christian burial," his wife had all his internal organs removed and interred in a cemetery; his body was filled with salt, and placed in a coffin, which, according to his wishes, was deposited in the cave, with the whisky. On the seventh anniversary of his death the whole community was to a.s.semble to "eat, drink, and be merry." For many years residents in the vicinity had used the cave as a place for festive gatherings; but this occasion was to be on a scale beyond anything previously attempted. If necessary, Scriptural methods were to be employed; that is, messengers were to be sent out in all directions, urging every one to come. The floor was to be enlarged, and a platform erected on it. When all were a.s.sembled, the whisky and the coffin were to be brought from their resting place and set on the platform. Then certain famous fiddlers were to ascend the platform and play, while the guests danced. When the whisky was exhausted, and the fiddlers in the same condition, the picnic was over and the a.s.sembly would disperse. The coffin was then to be replaced in the little cave, which was to be again sealed up, not to be reopened until the Day of Judgment.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 22.--Perforator and knife from Wright Cave.]

The preliminaries were carried out according to program, but when the time for the celebration came round the people were more concerned with the Civil War, and especially in the activities of the bushwhackers who infested that part of the country, than they were in picnics; and Wilson's resurrection was brought about by persons whose ident.i.ty was never discovered. They got into his tomb in some manner, drank all the whisky, broke open the coffin, and threw Wilson's bones to the outside, where they were scattered down the slope. Horrified relatives gathered them up, replaced them in the cave, sealed it again, and Wilson is still there awaiting his final summons.

The entrance is 20 feet high and 45 feet wide. Dry cave earth extends for 135 feet; from this point it continues, partially filled with fallen rock and stalagmite, 40 feet farther, or 175 feet in all, in plain daylight, at which distance the cave makes a turn; and the cave earth was followed in this to complete darkness without coming to its termination.

Beginning 100 feet from the entrance and extending for 35 feet, a narrow row of loose rocks fallen from the outcrop of stratum along the center of the roof lies on the surface. The cavern here measures 35 feet in width.

There is a wet weather stream along one wall, but the amount of water pa.s.sing out is never large.

Solid bedrock, with patches of cave earth on it, is exposed, in slightly rising strata, for 10 feet from the little bluff at the mouth; within this it is hidden by the earth which gradually rises to a height of 6 feet; but some of this rise may be due to increased elevation of the rock floor. The entire cave can be easily cleared out to the stalagmite; and it would be advisable to remove at least portions of this in order to ascertain what may lie beneath it.

Refuse appears in considerable quant.i.ty in the bottom of the little stream bed and under the receding walls; and likewise a small amount outside the entrance. But the bedrock crops out frequently in narrow ledges between the mouth of the cavern and the foot of the hill, so very little debris of any kind lies on the slope outside.

Some alteration of the surface of the earth floor has taken place in consequence of the construction of platforms; but aside from this it has remained practically undisturbed.

BAGNELL CAVE (32)

A large cavern is near the top of the "Bagnell Hill" on the Bagnell and Linn Creek road, on the right (south) side of the Osage River, and about 3 miles from the town of Bagnell. On account of the "millions"

of bats which shelter in it, the name of Bat Cave is applied to this as it is to many other caves in the region.

The entrance is so small that the cavern can be entered only by crawling in; and as no traces of Indian remains have ever been observed in it, or around the front, no examination was deemed necessary.

BODE CAVE (33)

Half a mile south of St. Elizabeth is the Ben Bode Cave. The roof has fallen in near the front, leaving the original exterior standing as a natural bridge a few feet wide. The present entrance to the cavern is 40 feet behind the bridge. It has a wet, rocky floor, and much water flows through it after a rain.

LUCKENHOFF CAVE

On John Luckenhoff's farm, three-fourths of a mile south of St.

Elizabeth, facing Tavern Creek, is a small cave with a rocky floor.

The entrance is nearly blocked with a ma.s.s of stalagmite, behind which the cave is dark.

JURGGENMEYER CAVE

It was reported that in a "cave" on the farm of Conrad Jurggenmeyer, 2 miles east of St. Elizabeth, a human skull was discovered. The statement may be true; but instead of a cave there is only a tunnel a few rods in length. Beyond the upper arch is an open ravine.

DAERHOFF CAVE