page_title: Onondaga Cave State Park
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Onondaga Cave State Park / History
caption_attribution_description: Onondaga Cave State Park formation known as the Rock of Ages. Taken on cave tour 9-23-17
context_page_description: Onondaga Cave State Park is a Missouri state park located on the Meramec River approximately 5 miles southeast of the village of Leasburg. The park was established in 1982. Park activities include cave tours, camping, fishing, hiking, picnicking, and swimming.
context_section_description: In 1850, the area was settled by George and Statirah Cresswell, who moved to the region from Washington County, Missouri with Statirah's adopted family, the Allisons.  The family built a mill on the Meramec River near Saranac Springs.When a large flood destroyed Cresswell's mill in 1881, the property was purchased by William Henry Rollision Davis. A new mill was built on the property further away from the river at Davis Spring (now Onondaga Spring).
  In 1886, while studying the outlet of the spring that powered the new mill, a local resident by the name of Charles Christopher discovered that a cave existed behind the spring.  With a borrowed boat and two of his friends (John Eaton and Mitis Horine), Christopher entered the cavern and spent an entire day exploring the tunnels within the property.  Inspired by their adventure, Christopher and Eaton acquired the land over the cave and began developing their discovery as the "Mammoth Cave of Missouri", spawning a property dispute with Davis that lasted more than fifty years.
  At the time, "cave onyx" was in demand for architecture, and many caves in the area were being harvested for this purpose.  Funds for development of the cave was something neither Christopher or Eaton could spare.  Unable to decide whether to continue the cave as a mine or as a tourist destination, the pair had the cave surveyed in 1897 for mining but also gave tours to make the money needed to develop the caverns further.  Arthur Hitch, one of the first tourists in the cave system, released a publication about the cave using Eaton's own flash-powder photographs.
  In 1899, Davis died and his property was sold (against the wishes of his widow, Artressia Davis) to a St. Louis group owned by George Bothe, Sr.  In 1902, over 15 years after their discovery, Eaton gave up on the cavern and sold his holdings to the Indian Creek Land Company in the care of Eugene Hunt Benoist.  Upset about this turn of events, Christopher in turn sold his portion of the holdings to the Bothe group.
  Bothe and Philip Franck formed a company with the intention of mining the cavern, and some test mining was performed.  The cavern's difficult access and a drop in interest in cave onyx made this venture a fruitless endeavor.  The cave was opened as a tourist attraction for the upcoming Louisiana Purchase Exposition planned in St. Louis for 1904.
  The name for the cavern system was chosen in 1904 by Myrtle Land, and was named for an Iroquois tribe.  The translation of Onondaga is "People of the Mountain."
  In 1910, the property owned by Bothe was sold to his niece, Catharine Weinborg, who in turn leased the property to Bob Bradford in 1913.  Bradford eventually bought the cave property from Weinborg, but property disputes with Artressia Davis continued.  In 1930, this dispute became a three-way struggle over the land when Dr. William Mook (who leased the Indian Creek Land Company property from Benoist in 1913) discovered that about half of Onondaga Cave was under his land.
  This discovery came from Ed Houser and Edward Myers, and with the help of Robert Lee Mook (Dr. Mook's brother), a tunnel was dug into Onondaga Cave and a fence was erected where the supposed property line existed.  Their half of the cave became known as Missouri Caverns, with Robert Lee Mook as the manager.  Another problem for Onondaga came from the commercial opening of the nearby Cathedral Cave (owned by Timmerman Nielson and managed by Al Keber).
  In 1932, Missouri Caverns was opened as the first electrically lit cave in the Missouri Ozarks region.  Though the entrance is now sealed, the ruins of the buildings over the entrance still exist not far from the current visitor parking area.  Onondaga now had competition on two fronts from both Cathedral Cave and from the back portion of itself under the name Missouri Caverns.  The court battles continued over the land disputes, and Onondaga suffered due to its more distant position from US 66 on State Road H, as compared to the closer Missouri Caverns.
  A situation occurred that mirrored the land disputes in 1934 when senat
caption: A column formation known as the "Rock of Ages"
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