Meramec Caverns Stanton Missouri

A day or so after out little tour of downtown St. Louis, we wanted to explore more of the area. We had seen signs for Meramec Caverns Stanton Missouri and found out that it was about an hour away.

How could we be that close and not check out where Jesse James and his gang hid out from the law? We had to go. Wouldn’t you?

The last time I visited caverns was as a little girl. My parents took me to Crystal Cave in Kutztown PA, which was not too far from our home in suburban Philly. I remember long crystals hanging from the top that were dripping with water. And it was so quiet in the Cave that you could hear that – drip – drip -drip. It fascinated me. But I never could remember the difference between stalactites and stalagmites!

Learning more about caves was long overdue. So we hopped into the Jeep (dubbed Cheri Hawk) and drove off to Meramec Caverns Stanton Missouri! It was a glorious day be we were forwarded that it could be quite chilly inside the caverns. We came prepared wearing our puffy jackets. We were not cold. That’s for sure.

Meramec Caverns Stanton Missouri

History

According to the Meramec Caverns website: “The Meramec River cut gently through its beautiful and mostly unexplored bluffs, as a small boat emerged from the fog carrying a few men, an Osage Indian guide, and French explorer Philipp Renault. The year was 1720 and Philipp Renault was drawn to this area by Osage Indian legends. The Osage told Renault of a gigantic hole in the earth they would use for refuge when they were caught in extreme weather. The ‘natives’ also claimed along the walls of the cave were ‘veins of glittering yellow metal’, which captured the Frenchman’s attention.

As the boat reached the shore, Renault could immediately see what the Indians had told him. In front of the boat, just off the riverbank, the men of the Expedition party saw a gaping 50 feet wide and 20 feet high hole in the bluff. Philipp Renault had inadvertently discovered the largest cave west of the Mississippi, but, inside the cave, it wasn’t gold he discovered as the Native Americans’ legend had promised, it was saltpeter. Renault eventually named the cave, Saltpeter Cave, after the abundance of the mineral.”

Saltpeter

Saltpeter, or potassium nitrate, was a key ingredient for the manufacturing of gunpowder in the early 18th century. Renault’s discovery launched 144 years of saltpeter mining from the cave that would be known, years later, as Meramec Caverns. The history of saltpeter in Meramec Caverns ties directly to the history of the cave itself for years. Many disputes for control of the cave and its precious mineral would follow the 1720 discovery. This lasted all the way until the Civil War. In 1864, Confederate troops destroyed a Union-held gunpowder facility inside of the cave. In addition to bringing down the Union forces, the Southerners also brought an abrupt end to saltpeter mining in Meramec Caverns.

Cave parties

The 1890’s brought a new era of human interaction to the cave. During that time, locals from Stanton, Missouri would hold ‘cave parties’ during summer months to avoid the extreme heat. Meramec Caverns was especially popular for these types of events. The reason for this was that a very large room lies just 300 feet inside the cave entrance. This room was large enough to accommodate big crowds, as well as a 50-foot by 50-foot dance floor in the center. This earned the room the nickname of the ‘Ballroom’. In 1898 Charles Ruepple purchased Meramec Caverns, then known as Saltpeter Cave. He headed a dance committee along with other local men from Stanton. Dancing continued through the 1890’s and spilled over into 1900, but it would be another 33 years before the most significant event in the cave’s history.

Lester Benton Dill is cave’s new owner

Lester Benton Dill, born in 1898, spent the majority of his youth exploring caves in the Meramec River Valley. Les began his cave promotion days with a small cave in Meramec State Park, known as Fisher’s Cave. Though Fisher’s Cave was exciting to work with, Les wanted more, and in 1933 he approached Charles Ruepple about the prospect of purchasing his cave. Mr. Dill’s sole interest in the cave was to develop it into a show cave and allow it to be entertainment for the public. Charles was reluctant at first, but soon agreed to sell the cave to Les. Les changed the name from Saltpeter Cave to Meramec Caverns and quickly began promoting and offering cave tours to the public.

New cave discovered

The same year that Dill bought the cave, 1933, Les made a significant find. While inspecting the little portion of the cave he owned, Les noticed a small crevice in one of the cave walls. Climbing up to the crevice, he felt a small, cool breeze flowing through the opening. Les decided to shout into the hole in hopes of receiving his echo back from the other side. When the echoes of his shouts returned, he knew immediately there was more cave beyond the wall, but just how much he had no idea. After the wall had been removed, the additional cave found was ready to be explored.

Theater room

Among the numerous formations found in what were dubbed the ‘upper levels’, Les stumbled across what would become the cave’s most prized possession. The ‘Stage Curtain’, as it has became known, stood before him, tall and proud. Standing nearly 70 feet tall, the ‘curtain’ was an impressive sight, and the room it stood in quickly became what Les Dill would build his show cave around, thus the ‘Theatre Room’ was born. Les enjoyed success for another 8 years before his next significant finding, one that would launch Meramec Caverns to international fame.

Jesse James hideout discovered

In the summer of 1941, Missouri was in the midst of a pretty severe drought. The drought was so intense, it not only dropped the rivers and streams above ground, but the water table itself also depleted. At that time, the main level of Meramec Caverns seemed to ‘dead end’ at a wall with a small pool of water spilling out below. With the drop of the water table, the pool of water below the wall receded nearly six inches and allowed a cool breeze to push into the cave between the wall’s bottom and top of the water. Les Dill was alerted to this change by his cave guides. Being the adventurous man he was, Dill chose to go under the wall, through the water, and see what was on the other side. Once past the wall, he happened upon yet another large area of branching networks, discovering even more cave! It was there that Les found the artifacts traceable to the infamous Jesse James and the cave was dubbed ‘Jesse James Hideout’.

Bumper signs

After the discovery of 1941 and the addition of an opened lower level room in 1947, uncovering miles of new passages and spectacular views, Meramec Caverns was complete. Meramec Caverns Stanton Missouri soon became well known through signs plastered along the roads to attract tourists to the Caverns. Advertisements for the Caverns were also painted on barns in 14 states. Dill also pioneered the use of bumper stickers, then called bumper signs because the vinyl and adhesive used to attach stickers to cars had not yet been developed. While visitors toured the cave, Dill would have “bumper sign boys” tie the Meramec Caverns bumper signs on their cars giving him free advertising and visitors a free souvenir.

Meramec Caverns today

Today, all seven levels have been transformed over the years by continued mineral deposits from water creating the unbelievable and remarkably impressive underground world young and old enjoy to this day. The legacy of Mr. Dill’s dream and promotional strategies have inspired generations that have followed.

Stalactites and stalagmites 

So to answer that burning question “What is the difference between stalactites and stalagmites?” Stalactites drop down from above and stalagmites grow up from below!!!

But of course there is much more to the story. There’s a word, speleothem that refers to a spectacular variety of cave formations. These range from the most delicate of ripples of calcite drapery on glistening caver walls to the thick layers of sparkling, wet rimstone that dams the edges of ancient subterranean pools. Among the most familiar and plentiful of all speleothems are stalactites and stalagmites . Stalactites are the famous cone shaped speleothems that descend like icicles from cave ceilings. And stalagmites are the standing formations that rise like ghostly figures from the rocky cave floors.

With every drop of water from the cave ceiling, successive rings of calcium carbonate are deposited as calcite crystals. These accumulate over time to form long, fragile speleothems known as soda straws. If passage through a soda straw becomes blocked, water must begin to flow around the outer surface, depositing its calcite and forming new, unique stalactites as it descends. Where the water drops fall, a stalagmite rises, and the two speleothems grow ever toward the other at a rate of one inch per century! After thousands of years, the two may connect to form one magnificent column. Like all speleothems these columns inspire awe and wonder.

You could spend days at the caverns. They even have campgrounds. We just stayed for lunch and the tour. The tour was truly awesome. Especially the ending. After winding our though the many “rooms” of the caverns we ended up in The Theater. There the stalactites and stalagmites had formed a beautiful curtain on which a light show and film was projected. Our group all sat in chairs mesmerized by the sheer magnificence of what we were hearing and witnessing. As I told you we weren’t cold with our jackets on. But we did have chills from the finale!