The
Mark Twain Cave welcomes you to our web site. We would like to share
with you some of its history. The cave was discovered in the Winter of
1819-1820 when a man named Jack Sims was hunting and his dog chased an
animal into a small opening. It would seem, that from that point on,
this fabulous cave would forever hold its place in the history books.
Of course, most of its accolades came from a young man by the name of
Samuel Clemens, who explored the cave quite frequently.
The
Mark Twain Cave is also the oldest show cave in the state of Missouri,
giving tours for over 114 years. The cave has also served as a place of
hiding for Indians, trappers of animals for trade, the infamous Jesse
James and slaves searching for freedom via the Underground
Railroad.
The
grounds also hold the newest show cave in the State of Missouri,
Cameron Cave. Cameron Cave was founded much the same way as Mark Twain
Cave, by the land owners, Judge E. T. Cameron and Archie Cameron. They
noticed steam coming from a hole in the ground during the Winter months
of 1925. Cameron Cave has hosted guided lantern tours that are more
geographical in nature since 1978. This cave and its sister cave, Mark
Twain Cave, are still owned and managed by the Cameron family.
The
unique and intricate formation of its passageways, one of three show
caves in the United States with its likeness. Covering 9 acres of land,
the cave holds 260 passages, which total 6 miles in length if they were
to be put end to end. Cameron Cave is the second of the three maze type
caves with these passages, holding over 480 on half as much land .
