RIVERBLUFF CAVE
A Walk through the Ice Age
By Nicole Ryan
Imagine yourself standing in Springfield
(MO) along the James River 630,000 years ago.
It is one of the coldest Ice Ages. Temperatures
here are like those in Alaska, with small patches
of pine trees along rivers and small bodies of
water. The rest of the land is open grassland,
where animals graze for miles upon miles. Some
of the animals are not too different from the
animals you can see today.
Standing on a hill looking out over the
river valley you see animals like horses grazing
on the tall grass, except they are smaller, close
to the size of a zebra today. Along with the
Baby Mammoth Tooth (Riverbluff Cave)
horses you see moose, buffalo, and deer.
Looking out towards what is now called the
James River, you could possibly even see a
giant beaver. The giant beaver looks like
beavers today except it is eight feet long and
weighs about 480 pounds, compared to the
standard 4 foot long 50 pound beavers we have
today. Just imagine how huge the dams were
that the giant beaver built! With all of those
Fall 2006
Adult mammoth with her calf.
animals, many of which are still alive today, you
also see the king of the grasslands. Weighing in
at eight tons and reaching heights of 14 feet is
the mammoth.
The mammoth move in large herds. Just
like elephants today, the mammoth were very
family oriented. They would have used there
large numbers to aid them in protection and
raising their young. The mothers were very
maternal, meaning they took care of their young
calves for years, making sure they grew up to be
strong healthy adult mammoths. Looking out
over the grassland there would have been a
large female mammoth that had stopped her
grazing. She would be acting strangely and the
other mammoths would have stopped their
grazing to watch the miracle about to take place.
This female mammoth was about to give birth!
After a few hours of labor she would give birth to
her calf. A baby mammoth weighing a few
hundred pounds at birth would have been
something special to see. The legs would have
been unsteady and the calf would have wobbled
all over the place during its first few steps.
Eventually, it would have gotten the
hang of it and then it was time to (continued)
www.fantasticcaverns.com
Page 1
OZARK ADVENTURE
Fall 2006
explore. At first it would have stayed close to its
mother dodging in and out and around her
enormous legs. Because of their weight the
mammoths would have moved slowly so there
was no worry about hurting the young calf. After
having the bottom portion of its mother fully
explored it was time to venture out into the
unknown. There would be grass to run through,
and water to splash in. This would be the most
fun a mammoth would have in its life, because at
this time it is the adults who look after the
dangers.
For a baby mammoth this is the time to
learn, and everything is new - from how to hold
water in its trunk and trickle it down his back to
what grass feels like for the first time on your
tongue. All the new sounds, colors, and
creatures would have kept him busy for years.
This would have been a magical sight to
witness.
As you walk down the hill you were
standing on you would come across an opening
in the rock. Warm air would have gently blown in
your face as you stared into the opening of a
cave. Looking back from that opening, you
would look back out at the wondrous creatures
eating, migrating, and exploring the valley below.
Spelunker James Corsentino surveys massive columns inside
recently discovered Riverbluff Cave near Springfield, Mo.
Photo courtesy Jonathan B. Beard
This cave you were standing in front of
would later become known as Riverbluff Cave.
Fall 2006
Fossilized Millipede (Riverbluff Cave)
This brings us back to today. How can
we as paleontologists describe in such detail
what was going on so many years ago? It all has
to do with bones and fossils. What we have
found in Riverbluff Cave tells us in detail what
Greene County (in southwest Missouri) was like
when mammoth walked the earth. In Riverbluff
Cave we have layers of clay, and each one of
these layers was laid down at different times.
Scientists date these layers and then everything
found within that layer is approximately that age.
We have one layer we call the mammoth layer.
This layer of clay dates back 630,000 years. We
have found pine needles, specifically Douglas fir,
a tree that only grows now in the mountains out
west. This tree needs a much cooler climate to
survive. That is how we can say there were pine
trees and the temperature was like that of
Alaska.
So how is it we know what kind of animals
were walking around? That is because we have
found those animals, at least their bones. In
Riverbluff Cave we first discovered an adult
mammoth. Currently we have found two bones
of an adult mammoth, and we found them in that
630,000 year old layer. This means the
mammoth is approximately 630,000 years old,
placing it in that Ice Age we described earlier.
Finding a mammoth in a cave is rare in itself,
and this cave discovered mammoth is the oldest
Ice Age mammoth ever discovered in North
America. Our newest discovery, however, is
even more amazing. We didn’t just find one
mammoth in the cave at 630,000 years old, we
found two. The first bone we found from our
second mammoth was a tooth, and because of
the size we knew we had a baby (continued)
www.fantasticcaverns.com
Page 2
OZARK ADVENTURE
Fall 2006
mammoth. Now because the mammoth mothers
were so maternal we can assume that the adult
we have in the cave was its mother. We don’t
know exactly how the two mammoth got into the
cave. Maybe they walked in looking to mine out
certain minerals from the cave, or maybe they
were both washed in by a flood. Those
questions may never be answered, but because
they were laid to rest in Riverbluff Cave we can
show you and the world how amazing our home
was. The Ice Age isn’t just a movie it was real
life, right here in the Ozarks.
Layers of Clay in Riverbluff Cave
Now, let’s jump ahead in time from
630,000 years ago to about 20,000 to 30,000
years ago. We have some very large animals
found in Riverbluff Cave, but we also have some
equally important small ones found as well. Just
one year ago we discovered something very
strange. While exploring in the front room of the
cave we looked under a piece of flowstone.
Flowstone is a hard formation that grows along
the floor of a cave. We saw what at first looked
like a small piece of white rock attached to the
back of the flowstone. We looked closer and
noticed it wasn’t a rock at all, but a small
creature. At first we didn’t know what it was, so
Fall 2006
we began to look for more. Then one day, we
found a large lump of clay attached to a broken
piece of flowstone. We took it to the lab and
started to go through the clay. What we found
were about a dozen complete fossilized
millipedes. We were amazed! They were in such
good condition. One of them has its legs and
even its antenna still in place. These are the only
fossilized millipedes ever found in the world from
the Ice Age.
A lot of people ask us why millipedes
would be so important. Well, actually the
millipedes tell us more, scientifically, than the
huge mammoth does. The reason for this is that
the smaller the animal the more delicate it is to
climate changes, and so as soon as it gets too
hot, or to cold for the animal it will leave the area
to find a more suitable environment. They also
will normally eat very specific things. So as soon
as we can tell the species of the millipede we will
know what kind of plant life was around at the
time they were alive. So, the small animals give
us more specific detail as to what the past
environment was like around them.
Riverbluff Cave is a time capsule for the
Ice Age. Each layer uncovered reveals the
secrets that the earth has hidden deep within
her. Naturally, people want to see this Ice Age
wonder. Because the cave is so fragile people
can’t be allowed inside, but we are able to bring
the cave to the people. Riverbluff Cave has been
wired with fiber optic cable. This is a
glass wire no bigger than a human hair that
carries sound and video through the internet. By
using computers we are able to talk to anyone,
anywhere in the world from inside the cave. This
means you can see and talk to us while we are
in the cave, and anything you want to see we
can move the cameras and show you.
Sometimes you can even hear the water
dripping in the cave.
Right now we are doing this for schools.
Sitting in your classroom we can show you, live,
the work we are doing. You can ask us any
question and we can not only tell you the
answer, but most of the time we can show you
the answer. We are working on getting cameras
set up so that you can see the cave (continued)
www.fantasticcaverns.com
Page 3
OZARK ADVENTURE
Fall 2006
from inside your own home. Through the eyes of
technology you can take your own walk through
Riverbluff Cave.
Plans are underway to build a Natural
History Museum. We intend to have on display
all the fossils from Riverbluff Cave, as well as
other fossils from Missouri, and around the
world. Some of these will include a T-Rex skull,
and a skeleton of a Giant Short Faced Bear. We
will also have an 80 foot whale on display.
Everything you would ever want to see from the
beginning of time here on Earth will be available
at the new Museum. This won’t be just like any
Museum. You will be able to interact with people
who are knowledgeable, and any question you
have can and will be answered. There will be
fossils to run your hands over and touch
something millions of years old. If you want to
take a walk through time, be sure to come and
see us. We will show you a past you never knew
existed.
Editor’s Note: Nicole Ryan is the Operations Director for
Riverbluff Cave/The Natural History Museum of the Ozarks.
She was assisted with this feature by Museum Curator Matt
Forir and board member/ Greene County Presiding
Commissioner Dave Coonrod. For classroom connection
information: (417) 883-0594 / [email protected]
Keep Us Posted
NEANDERTHAL
More than sixty years ago, four boys in
Montignac, France ventured into a long hidden
cavern and discovered one of the most important archaeological finds of modern history...
Lascaux Cave with its prehistoric paintings
dating back to the Ice Age, over 17,000 years
ago. The 2007 Neanderthal pro-gram will recreate a portion of that adventure! Visiting
students will extract natural pigments used by
ancient artisans, try to make fire with primitive
resources, conduct an archaeological dig of a
fire pit, and learn about cave dwellers and bluff
dwellers throughout time. There is even an area
with a likeness of the ancient art. This unique,
hands-on activity all happens in the warm 60
degree comfort of the caverns during the coldest
months...January, February and March. Real
learning is fun!
If your class or school has a science
project that involves caves or springs,
please tell us about it. You never know,
we may feature your work in an
upcoming issue of Ozark Adventure
On-Line.
You can reach us at:
Fantastic Caverns
Science Research Program
4872 N. Farm Road 125
Springfield, MO 65803
Fall 2006
www.fantasticcaverns.com
Page 4
OZARK ADVENTURE
Fall 2006
CAVES ARE WARM!
Temperatures in caves stay about the
same all year long. A cave's temperature is
approximately the same as the average annual
temperature in the region where it is located.
For example, caves in the northern portion of the
Ozarks have an average temperature of 56
degrees, according to "The Wilderness
Underground: Caves of the Ozark Plateau," by
H. Dwight Weaver.
In the southern Ozarks the average
temperature is near 60 degrees. Thus, cave
temperatures vary from region to region. Winter
is heating up as a vacation season in the
Missouri Ozarks, and with the region becoming a
year-round leisure destination; a cave is a
perfect place to come in out of the cold.
At Fantastic Caverns, in the heart of the
Ozarks just north of Springfield, Missouri, the
temperature is a comfortable 60 degrees
throughout the year, regardless of the weather
outside. Warm during the winter -- cool during
the summer.
OZARKS COUNTRY MUSIC'S
UNDERGROUND ROOTS
(This is the first in a series of reports on historical or nonconventional uses of caves.)
Thirty years ago, before the stars came
to Branson (MO) before the theaters and the
glitter and the neon and millions of tourist built a
country music empire in a quiet hill town, live
country music had another home in the Missouri
Ozarks. Home was fifty miles north, just outside
of Springfield at Fantastic Caverns.
Fantastic Caverns, with its cool, roomy,
natural auditorium, has had its share of live
musical entertainment over the years -symphonies, gospel, even grand opera. But in
the late 1950's and early 1960's, Fantastic
Caverns was the Ozarks' premier country music
cave.
The cave in those days was the home of
Farmarama, a live music program produced by
Lloyd Evans, farm service director for a
Springfield radio station. At eight o'clock almost
every Saturday night during the (continued)
At the Cave of the
Mounds in Blue
Mounds, Wisconsin,
the average
temperature is about
50 degrees. It's near
53 degrees in Wind
Cave at Hot Springs,
South Dakota, and at
Skyline Caverns in
Front Royal, Virginia, the mercury stays in the
mid-50s. Kentucky Caverns in Horse Cave,
Kentucky, hovers between 58 and 60 degrees.
Lake Shasta Caverns in O'Brien, California,
averages 58 degrees. But in warm south Texas,
the average reading in the Caverns of Sonora
is 71 degrees.
Caves by their nature are humid places,
and the 98 percent relative humidity in Caverns
of Sonora makes it feel like the temperature is a
sultry 85 to 90 degrees!
Fall 2006
Poor Herkimer gets whacked by Caveman Davey
Farm-a-rama Show.
www.fantasticcaverns.com
Page 5
OZARK ADVENTURE
Fall 2006
summer, for the sum of one dollar, fans who
made the short drive into the countryside north
of the city could see a variety of local country
music and comedy acts. And about once a
month, the local performers were joined by some
of the biggest names in country music.
"The big stars knew about Fantastic
Caverns and they knew about Springfield," said
Jim McCurdy, who was a regular on the
Saturday night shows. Buck Owens, Sonny
James and Bobby Bare have performed on the
underground stage, in front of audiences seated
in folding chairs. So have Billy Walker, Ray
Price, Jimmy Newman, Mac Wiseman and Lefty
Frizell. McCurdy remembered a visit by a
Hollywood band headlined by Jay Silverheels,
the actor who played the Lone Ranger's Indian
sidekick Tonto on television. "There's been all
kinds of people down there," McCurdy said.
"There's been many a show in that old
cave," says Lloyd Presley. Presley would know.
The Ozark Playboys performed at one of the Ozarks
first shows. They later went on to Presleys Country
Jubilee in Branson.
The “Caveman” was a unique part of the Farm-arama Shows in Fantastic Caverns.
He and his family have owned and performed at
their Branson theater, Presley's Mountain Music
Jubilee, for more than 25 years. But several
years before their move to Branson, the family
spent plenty of Saturday nights on the Fantastic
Caverns stage as a part of Farmarama making
up part of the group The Ozark Playboys.
"Sometimes there'd be a thousand people in
there in folding chairs. We used to pack that
thing out," said Lloyd Presley's son Gary, who
was a Fantastic Caverns tour guide as well as a
performer in the show.
Fall 2006
Gary Presley's alter ego is Herkimer,
the grinning hillbilly comedian in a floppy hat and
overalls whose face can be seen today on
billboards all over the Ozarks -- and the
Presley's music show in Branson. Herkimer was
created at Fantastic Caverns, Gary said. "One
night they needed somebody to do a little
comedy, so I said I'd dress up and try it," Gary
said. "I've been doing it ever since."
Presley's cohort in cave comedy was
McCurdy, alias the Cave Man. Wearing a
shaggy wig and a leopard skin costume and
wielding a rubber club, the bewhiskered Cave
Man chased Herkimer around the audience and
stage. The routine included jokes and comic
capers. McCurdy sometimes played a
harmonica attached to a toilet plunger. "But a lot
of it was ad lib," he said. "We were (continued)
www.fantasticcaverns.com
Page 6
OZARK ADVENTURE
Fall 2006
just kind of winging it with no script. If something
worked, we'd use it." For example, one night the
Cave Man came riding out on a broomstick and
accidentally slipped in some water and fell. "The
audience liked it, so we did it every night," he
said.
Performing in a cave could be a little
adventurous, Presley and McCurdy recalled.
One night after a heavy rain, the show went on
while water flowed under the stage. And the
dressing didn't exactly insure privacy -- it was a
space back of a large rock behind the stage.
Other performers and even audience members
walked through frequently, McCurdy said. "Me
and Gary had to change in a crowd," he said.
By their nature, caves are damp places
and this one is no exception. The wooden stage
rotted from the moisture and needed repaired
from time to time. One night the bass player
came running on stage and crashed through the
Farm-a-rama Caveman on stage!
floor. "All you could see was his upper half and
the bass," Gary Presley said. "He kept on
playing."
Keeping instruments in tune was tricky,
said McCurdy, who also played guitar and sang
in the show with his brother. "The moisture was
bad. You had to tune up on every song, just
about," he said.
ground auditorium are actually very good. There
are enough irregularities in the walls that the
sound doesn't bounce around that much. It's a
natural reverberation."
The last Farmarama show was
performed in 1968. The Presleys had left earlier
to perform in another cave, one called
Underground Theater at Kimberling City. In
1967 they moved to Branson and opened
Presley 's Mountain Music Jubilee. It's still
there, billing itself as the original music and
variety show on 76 Country Music Boulevard.
Jim McCurdy, a local businessman,
looked back fondly on his entertaining days, but
admitted that while it was fun, it could be a
struggle. "It was mostly a hobby," he said. "You
couldn't afford to play too much. Two nights a
week for $10 a night doesn't feed a family."
At Fantastic Caverns, the strains of
country music, the voices of the stars and the
commotion of the Cave Man chasing poor
Herkimer are now echoes in its long history.
Today, visitors taking the leisurely ride through
the cave hear tour guides talk and answer
questions about how caves are formed, describe
the origins of assorted formations and pass
along some basic lessons in conservation.
The cave’s well-trained staff works with
regional schools to educate young people about
the environment through various educational
programs and a couple of very special hands-on
tour experiences. It's all part of an effort to
insure that after the last tour of the day has left
Fantastic Caverns, life down under will go on
pretty much as it has for untold ages and the
cave's natural beauty will be preserved for
visitors to admire and enjoy for generations to
come. For more information and photos of the
cave and cave life, visit the Fantastic Caverns
web site at www.fantasticcaverns.com.
Still, it's not a bad place to play music,
Gary Presley said, “The acoustics of the under-
Fall 2006
www.fantasticcaverns.com
Page 7
OZARK ADVENTURE
Spring 2006
WORD SEARCH
ADVENTURE
AGE
ART
ARTISANS
AUDITORIUM
BABY
BONES
CAVE
Fall 2006
CAVERNS
CLIMATE
DEGREES
EXPLORE
FANTASTIC
FARMARAMA
FIBER
FOSSIL
GRASSLANDS
HERKIMER
HUMIDITY
ICE
MAGICAL
MAMMOTH
MUSIC
NEANDERTHAL
www.fantasticcaverns.com
OPTIC
OZARKS
PROJECT
RIVERBLUFF
SCIENCE
TEMPERATURE
THEATRE
WEIGHT
YEARS
Page 8