E-text prepared by Stacy Brown Thellend and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 17354-h.htm or 17354-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/3/5/17354/17354-h/17354-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/3/5/17354/17354-h.zip) CAVE REGIONS OF THE OZARKS AND BLACK HILLS by LUELLA AGNES OWEN. Membre titulaire de la Societe de Speleologie, and Fellow of the American Geographical Society. [Illustration: Entrance To Marble Cave. Page 25.] Cincinnati. The Editor Publishing Co. 1898. The illustrations for this volume are from photographs by the following artists: The Views of Marble Cave, by Stone & De Groff, Warrensburg, Missouri. The Tower of Babel, The Chimes, The Knife Blade, The Needle, The Bridal Veil, by Meddaugh, of Leadville, So. Dakota. Top of Glacier, by L.W. Marble, Wind Cave, So. Dakota. White Onyx Masses, Fairies' Palace, by J.W. Pike, Hot Springs, So. Dakota. The Wilderness Pinery, by D. Benton Miller, Alton, Missouri. Approaching Deadwood, by H.R. Locke & Co., Deadwood, So. Dakota. Copyrighted The Editor Publishing Company. 1898. TO MY MOTHER THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE. I A General View 1 II Marble Cave 25 III Marble Cave Continued 43 IV Fairy Cave and Powell Cave 58 V Other Stone County Caves 73 VI Oregon County Caves 82 VII The Grand Gulf 95 VIII The Black Hills and Bad Lands 103 IX Wind Cave 113 X Wind Cave Continued 127 XI " " " 141 XII " " Concluded 151 XIII The Onyx Caves 162 XIV Crystal Cave 175 XV " " Concluded 183 XVI Conclusion 211 Cave Regions of THE OZARKS AND BLACK HILLS. CHAPTER I. A GENERAL VIEW. "O'er mountains bright with snow and light, We crystal hunters speed along, While grots, and caves, and icy waves, Each instant echo to our song; And when we meet with stores of gems We grudge not kings their diadems." --_Thomas Moore._ The southern half of the State of Missouri, and the Black Hills of South Dakota, offer exceptionally delightful regions for the study of caves, or Speleology as it has been named, and the sister sciences of geology and geography at the same time. In fact it is impossible to study either without giving attention to the other two, and therefore, instead of being separate sciences, they are the three branches of a great scientific trinity.