Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black Hills — John Shaqi
Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black HillsOwen, Luella Agnes
Science
Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black Hills
Owen, Luella Agnes
Caves -- Black Hills (S.D. and Wyo.); Caves -- Ozark Mountains
Other State reports make mention of many caves and fine springs, and
also several natural bridges worthy of special notice. In Mr. G.C.
Broadhead's report for 1873-1874, he gives a short but interesting
chapter on caves and water supplies, in which he says that "Caves occur
in the Third Magnesian Limestone, Saccharoidal Sandstone, Trenton,
Lithographic, Encrinital and St. Louis Limestone."
"In Eastern and Northeast Missouri there have not been found many large
caves in the Encrinital Limestone, but the lower beds of this formation
in Southwest Missouri often enclose very large caverns; among the latter
may be included the caves of Green County with some in Christian and
McDonald. Those in McDonald I have not seen, but they are reported to be
very extensive and probably are situated in the Encrinital Limestone."
Under the head of "Special Descriptions" he says: "On Sac River, in the
north part of Green County, we find a cave with two entrances, one at
the foot of a hill, opening toward Sac River, forty-five feet high and
eighty feet wide. The other entrance is from the hill-top, one hundred
and fifty feet back from the face of the bluff. These two passages
unite. The exact dimensions of the cave are not known, but there are
several beautiful and large rooms lined with stalactites and stalagmites
which often assume both beautiful and grotesque life-like forms. The
cave has been explored for several hundred yards, showing the formations
to be thick silicious beds of the Lower Carboniferous formations."
"Knox cave, in Green County, is said to be of large dimensions. I have
not seen it, but some of its stalactites are quite handsome."
"Wilson's Creek sinks beneath the Limestone and appears again below."
"There are several caves near Ozark, Christian County, which issue from
the same formation as those in Green County. On a branch of Finly Creek
a stream disappears in a sink, appearing again three-quarters of a mile
southeast through an opening sixty feet high by ninety-eight feet wide.
Up stream the cave continues this size for a hundred yards and then
decreases in size, and for the next quarter of a mile further it is
generally ten by fourteen feet wide. A very clear, cool stream passes
out, in which by careful search crawfish without eyes can be found."
"There is another cave a few miles south of Ozark, and another ten miles
southeast occurs in the Magnesian Limestone."
"In Boone County there are several caves in the Encrinital Limestone.
Conner's, the largest, is said to have been explored for a distance of
eight miles."
"In Pike and Lincoln there are several small caves occurring in the
upper beds of Trenton Limestone, which are often very cavernous. On
Sulphur Fork of Cuivre, there is a cave and Natural Bridge, to which
parties for pleasure often resort. The bridge is tubular with twenty
feet between the walls, and is one hundred feet long."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account