Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1900-03-06
GRAND GULF CAVERN
A GREAT CAVE THAT IS IN SOUTH
WESTERN MISSOURI.
Its Mysferious Depths Were First
Explored by Two Men OF More Than
Ordinary Courase-The story of
Their Pe%rilous Journey.

Its Mysferious Depths Were First
Explored by Two Men OF More Than
Ordinary Co~urase-The story of
Their Perilou. Journey.
Southwest Missouri is full of strange
earth formations that are called nat
ural' curiosities In spite of their un-
n~aturalness. The earth is full of caves
and sink holes. One OF the most cele-
brated of these Is the Grand Gulf. in
Oregon county. about four miles from
koshkonong. 1t is a sort OF canyon,
In shape not unlike a horseshoe and
serves the purpose of a drainage bed
in the wet season for a II mile area of
hills. The canyon is DO feet deep, with
a Natural bridge in n place and a
su-bterranean lake and river that opens
at one end. The river only exists dur
ing the wet season. for the earth at
the bottom Of the canyon is porous
and absorbs the water. The lake. how
ever. is full the whole e round.
This cave. containing the subter-
ranean river and lake. had never been
explored to the end till the summer of
1885. when Pat Foley, a saloon keeper
- liz 49, 1890 -
formed the exploit. Foley had made
two trips before into the cave, but had
not been able TO secure a companion
enough to ~persevere in the
enterprise. Each man had weakened
and returned before the end Of the
cave was cached. On the third trip.
however, Foley had with him a man
of courage.
The entrance to the cav is wide and
deep. The bed is of broken stones. Owe
which trickles a tiny stream of water
in the dry season. \ hundred feet in
side the cave the entrance suddenly
narrows into a hole so small that a
man must get On hands and knees 10
pass throuEh. Beyond this narrow hole
the entrance widenS into a large grotto.
There is a steep hill to climb; next tie
hill descenGs sharply into a lake. To
penetrate to the end of this lake it was
necessary to have a boa so small that
1t could be dragged through the narrow
passage into the grotto.
Foley and his companion built a boat
of suitable size and hauled it through
the narrow entrance. They took with
them also a long coil OF rope. a quaint
ty of matches, some railroad lanterns
and four torches with cotton wadding
on the ends soaked in kerosene. The
cave of curse is perfectly dark. The
men used their lanterns till they got
through the narrow place. cut to their
amazement the lantern flames inside
the grotto slowly grew dim and finally
went out. They tried TO light them
again. but the sulphur of the matches
xx-a11II tia ~. M. only rn la nv tin oliGhad
Immediately. The reason of this was
that the atmosphere was exceedingly
damp and heavy.
The men succeeded in lighting the
four Kerosene torches. and grasping
one of them in each hand they made
their way down the slope to the lake
and stood the torches up between the
rocks. The torches smoldered like hot
Goals. giving out very little dame. The
boat was dragged Town to the lake. the
torches fastened at the prov and stern,
one end of the rop tied to a bowlder
and the rest of the coil thrown in the
boat. When the two men sat down in
the frail craft they found the water
rose to within three inches of the gun
witholS 1t was impossible to use oars
sink II tipping the boat far eno ,o a. to
die P~o
They forced the little crarl INTO Tue
unknown lake, the Smoldering torches
lighting up the blackness for only a
few feet around them. Outside it was
a warm summer day, they knew. but
inside il was like a closed refrigerator.
all blackness and dampness and cold.
The water of the lake was ice cold.
and at every few dips they had to stop
and warm their hands. There was
nothing to be seen on any side-noth-
ing but darkness. No sound could
penetrate the cavern If the boat
should capsize-as it was likely to do
with the slightest disturbance-they
would be cramped in a minute in the
cold water without a chanc of help
IRON the outside.
After a long and tedious padding the
boats prov was suddenly buried in a
ban of mud and gravel. Foley took
a torch and stepped out cautiously in
his rubber boots into the mud. He
found he had come to the end of the
lake and that a sharply inclined wall
of rock rose before him. The saloon
climbed up the wall about 40
feet above the lake searching for a
continuance of the cavern. But he
could find none. Apparently the cav
ern ended there. He returned to the
boat. where his companion sat The
W. men made their way across the
lake n II through the narrow place
in safety. They had been gone an
hour. and their friends outside had be
gun TO fear an accident had happened
to them.
SO far as people know. the a in the
Grand Gulf has no outlet. The Indian
traditions about the cave are that ii
Was q SlIhfnrraiaan GATEWAY mnch |