Now that you had a chance to explore the hiking trails outside the caverns along with some of the gorgeous antique vehicles scattered about in the part one post, it's time to see the real attraction here, the caves! So climb aboard the wagon and let's get this show on the road.
While we may be taking this tour in a wagon towed behind a Jeep, the first known visitor inside came in on four legs and through a much smaller hole. The caves were discovered way back in 1862 by a farmer from the Ozarks, more specifically, by the man's canine companion who disappeared through a small hole in the rock pictured here.
It took nearly five years for the man to have the caverns explored. He placed an ad in the local newspaper looking for volunteer explorers and in response 12 women from the town of Springfield were ready for an adventure. All they had as a light source were candles so they created a simple and somewhat effective solution to their lighting problem. While it wasn't a giant search light like you can find today, it got the job done. They simply cut a hole into a tin can and stuck a candle in it. The metal inside of the can would reflect the candle light giving the light a bit more projection to help guide the way. After exploring a decent distance into the cave, the women encountered a sinkhole that was impassable at the time so they turned tail and headed back out the way they came. Before exiting the cave system, they all wrote their names on a wall inside which can still be seen today.
The caverns were home to many concerts over the years from the 1950s thru the 1970s. It was also the home of a speakeasy during the time of the Prohibition in the U.S. There was a large dance floor, casino-style gaming tables, a stage for performers and of course a bar. In the picture below you can see the stage that was used, it's still standing today.
The large item to the right on the stage was actually once used as a vat that contained what was a valuable substance at the time, not to mention stinky. In fact, it was this resource that made the man who discovered it wait for a few years before having the caves explored. I'm not sure which actually may be more surprising to you, the actual resource itself or the reason why it was so coveted at the time. The valuable resource that could be found in abundance here in the caves was bat guano, if you're not familiar with the term guano it means poop. Yes, bat poop was a very valuable resource back in those times.
During the time that these caverns were discovered, there was this little conflict taking place throughout America known as the Civil War. The reason why the man did not have it explored until several years later is because he did not want neither Confederate or Union governments learning about it's existence then exploiting the location as a possible source of saltpeter and raping the resources in turn.
Niter is the mineral form of potassium nitrate, KNO3, also known as saltpeter. Because of its ready solubility in water, niter is most often found in arid environments and often in conjunction with other soluble minerals like halides, iodates, borates, gypsum, and rarer carbonates and sulphates.
Wikipedia
The reason why the bat guano was so valuable in those times was because saltpeter could be extracted from the poo. When mixed with a few other ingredients, saltpeter can be turned into gunpowder. As you can imagine, during the Civil War gunpowder was a very valuable commodity.
Besides the beautiful formations of stalactites, stalagmites and others that are the main draw of the caverns, there are a few small animals that can be found inside the cave system. This small group includes a species of crayfish, a species of fish, bats and small salamanders. All of these animals are also blind. They have evolved in this manner because deep within the caves there is no light so they were forced to adapt. Here you can see a small salamander that was spotted right before the exit of the caverns. Besides the salamander we also saw a few small bats that our tour guide kindly pointed out for us.
Ok, enough of my babbling. I'll stop now and just let you enjoy some pictures from our tour of Fantastic Caverns!
Thanks for stopping by, please upvote/resteem if you enjoyed this post!
photos captured with Canon 80D 18-135mm - all rights reserved
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until next time...
#thealliance #steemusa
until next time...
Nice photos, and the history bit was nice, too. Those rock formations are pretty fascinating. Some look an awful lot like teeth!
It sounds like people during Prohibition knew how to party, although you would think it would have been a bit damp and dreary. Nothing a little moonshine can't fix, I suppose.
Would've been an interesting place to have a drink for sure!
Caves are so interesting and literally cool! I have not yet been to that one, but it is on my list of hopefuls! It was great to finally meet up with you today!
Awesome to finally meet up as well bud, the caves are definitely worth the small fee for entry!
Avid Cave lover, those are gorgeous shots....you ever been to Mammoth Caves? There is something very ethereal about worlds beneath
I have not had the pleasure of visiting there yet, someday....I've definitely heard good things about it. I've been on several cave tours before but this was the first location they had the tour experience 'cave darkness.' They shut off all of the lights and you couldn't see something right in your face. Amazing what early explorers did!
So dark and scary it must have been for those WOMEN!?! Ahhh I love geology so much in all its splendor.. rocks are sweet.
I am baffled they had concerts in there... how big was this cave?! And no one was worried about anything falling from all the sound?! Would be a super cool bar tho.
I can certainly imagine that it was quite the swinging joint back in it's heyday as a speakeasy.
And yes, those were certainly some very adventurous women to take on that challenge, most of them were actually only teenagers!
And around the time of the civil war? Can only imagine the stir that caused.. having 12 women go cave hunting. Or if it did at all, I don't know.
It definitely caused quite the hub-bub...there were several articles about it in newspapers if I remember correctly while reading about it.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know how I would feel at the time letting my lady do some crazy exploring such as this.. but hey, only live once!
Makes me wonder how much of that "hollow Earth" theory is true...
I tend to think not completely hollow but massive pockets of void in the rocks below. Sinkholes fascinate the hell out of me, because its like an uncharted cave complex potentially opening up!
Awesome cave! I have not been to any caves yet. But looking at your photos till the end it looks creepy yet tempted to go there. Great photos for sure, gave us a very same view as what to be seen in reality.
Caverns like these are definitely something you should experience at least once, thanks for stopping by @kulasago!
The nearest to me is Mulu Cave, located in Miri Sarawak, Borneo. The pics are pretty awesome too
Wow, look at the stalagmites and stalactites formation in the caves, this place will surely have crystals, absolutely fabulous pictures. You got them very well
Thanks @nainaztengra!
Looks like that would be a fun cave to visit, have they fully explored it, or are there passages that have not been explored yet?
Supposedly it has been fairly well explored but who knows, I wouldn't be surprised if there are
What a great tour! I wish we had time to check it out on our upcoming road trip, but we are making for the crystal mines. Those people running tours of caves always get twitchy when you try to take a souvenir from there... lol!
Yeah, I think they might get upset if you try to take a souvenir directly from the caves....lol
This is so looking cool. I wonder how cool it will be inside there, hope it isn't hot? I hope to visit a place like this someday and @liberty-minded thanks for the pictures. I will contribute to more people seeing this by resteeming. Such a good sight
thanks @blacktechie! The caves are certainly cool inside maintaining a year-round 60 degrees F
Woo, me saludas a los Simpson? 😂
You have a talent for steemit
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