The Value of Nature

Driving west from St. Louis on Interstate 44 you encounter dozens of roadside advertisements for Meramec Caverns. Dubbed "America's Cave", it has been transformed over the years from its natural state in efforts to maximize its potential for profit as a tourist attraction. Travelers stop by and amazingly pay $19.50 apiece to "discover the treasures of time."

Meramec Caverns is rich in history. For instance, here is how the cavern's website describes some of the key events in the cavern's history.

The year was 1720 and Philipp Renault was lured to this area by Osage Indian legends. The Osage told Renault of a gigantic hole in the earth they would use for refuge when they were caught in extreme weather. The 'natives' also claimed along the walls of the cave were 'veins of glittering yellow metal', which captured the Frenchman's attention. 

Ha, I bet it did get his attention!

 As the boat reached the shore, Renault could immediately see what the Indians had spoken about. In front of the boat, just off the riverbank, the men of the Expedition party saw a gaping 50 feet wide and 20 feet high hole in the bluff. Philipp Renault had inadvertently discovered the largest cave West of the Mississippi. 

That's right... Renault DISCOVERED the largest cave West of the Mississippi. All this discovery required was a team of Osage guides who would take him directly to the cave and tell him exactly where to look.

 The 1890's brought a new era of human interaction to the cave. During that time, locals from Stanton, MO would hold 'cave parties' during summer months to avoid the extreme heat. Meramec Caverns was especially popular for these types of events, as a very large room lie just 300 feet inside the cave entrance. The room was large enough to accommodate big crowds, as well as a 50 foot by 50 foot dance floor in the center. This earned the room the nickname of the 'Ballroom'. Meramec Caverns, then known as Saltpeter Cave, was purchased in 1898 by Charles Ruepple, and he headed a dance committee along with other local men from Stanton. Dancing continued through the 1890's and spilled over into 1900, but it would be another 33 years before the most significant event in the cave's history.

The "most significant event in the cave's history"... can you guess what that is? Go ahead and take a guess. I bet you'll get this right!

Mr. Lester Dill's sole interest in the cave was to develop it into a show cave and allow it to be entertainment for the public. Charles was reluctant at first, but soon agreed to sell the cave to Les. Les changed the name from Saltpeter Cave to Meramec Caverns and quickly began promoting and offering cave tours to the public. 

Years later another room was discovered in the cave. This room contained artifacts that could be traced back to Jesse James. Thus, the cave was then advertised as "Jesse James' Hideout" and even more folks came out to gawk at the pools of water, stalagmites, and stalactites. Concerned this may not hold the average Joe's attention the cave owners modernized the cave with speakers and ambiance lighting. Now you can sit on benches and watch a patriotic light show flash across a drapery formation while listening to Kate Smith sing "God Bless America." I guess it really is America's Cave.

Here are some photos of this "natural" wonder. Tricia and I did visit the caverns on my twenty-first birthday. I felt like vomiting as soon as we left. These images, however, have been taken from a Google search.

Stalactites are bathed in strange hues.

 

While kind of cool to see, these lights - to me- cheapen the experience and play into an assumption that we can't find beauty and wonder in the natural world. Or at least, fewer and fewer can do this.

What cave experience is complete without neon tubing?

And, of course, what better way to celebrate your hour-and-a-half spent reconnecting with nature than to stop by the gift shop for a piece of rock that has been carved into the shape of an elephant?

 I wrote about a similar experience last month after returning from Oregon. With so much to love and feel inspired by during that trip I couldn't get past the fact that I had spent $20 for Harper and I to take an elevator underground to see a large group of sea lions sitting on a rock in what had been aptly named "Sea Lion Caves". As with Meramec Caverns, this really cool place had been purchased and turned into a cheesy tourist attraction. Nature, it seems, is nothing more than a commodity. An opportunity to charge people money to come flash a few pictures and buy a t-shirt. That is, if there is something relatively uncommon worth coming to see. 

But what if there are no vistas, waterfront access points, or high-interest wildlife nearby? What then? What is the value of that piece of nature? Unfortunately a few of our not-too-distant neighbors have found their own answer to this question. With one simple call they have reduced their land to a series of jagged stumps and piles of debris left behind by logging trucks and bulldozers. With large tracts of land sitting idly by, the owners decided to sell off the very things that made their land so special - the trees. And while I'm sure they have a good bit of extra spending money lining their pockets I can only hope, like the owners of such atrocities as Meramec Caverns and Sea Lion Caves, they feel some sense of remorse when they look out and see what they've done.