Early Historic Explorations

In 1542, only 60 years after the landing of Christopher Columbus, a French explorer named De Soto led an expedition into the southern Ozarks in search of Cayas (Kansas), a fabled Indian city of gold. At Chicasaw Bluff, near Memphis, Tennessee, he and his party became the first Europeans to encounter the Mississippi River. He sent two men, Hernando De Silvera and Pedro Moreno, north to investigate Indian reports of salt deposits at the La Saline River, which flows into the Mississippi just south of St. Genevieve, Missouri. Just how far these men penetrated westward from there is unknown, but it is suggested that they may have been the first to discover lead near modern-day Fredericktown. De Soto himself died enroute and was buried in the swift, muddy water of the Mississippi, but his expedition continued down the great river to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. Their stories of the vast, rich wilderness to the north would survive for over a century to inspire renewed explorations.

In 1673 a french explorer, Louis Jolliet, with Father Jacques Marquette, encountered the Mississippi at the mouth of the Wisconsin River near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where the Indians told of the river’s source beyond several lakes to the north. From June to July of that year, Jolliet and Marquette floated as far south as the Missouri bootheel, and retreated north on the Illinois River to avoid the south-ern threat of hostile Indians and Spanish soldiers.

Only nine years would pass before the arrival of yet another Frenchman named Robert de La Salle. In 1682, his expedition traced the legendary river from the mouth of the Illinois to the Mississippi Delta, where they divided into three parties, each of which followed a different route to the Gulf of Mexico. As they regrouped, La Salle knew they had linked the previous explorations of De Soto and Jolliet.

In 1700 a French missionary, Father Gravier, kept a journal of his voyage down the Mississippi, claim-ing the discovery of the Meramec River. The Indians called it the “Miaramigoua,” and told Gravier of a very rich lead mine located upstream. That same year, another explorer named La Sueur gave similar re-ports of a lead mine and credited the savages” as his source of information. Just west of today’s St. Gen-evieve, the Indian reports of lead were proven true when, in 1 70 1 , Frenchmen located thick veins of the valuable metal. With the prospects of rich mines and plentiful resources, the French pioneers began to settle the countryside that became known as the “Old Settlements” territory, the first cradle of white man’s civilization west of the Mississippi.

Philipp Renault, son of a noted iron founder, heard of the wealthy prospects in the new frontier. He assembled a group of 200 experienced miners, and set sail from France in 1719 to establish a mining industry in the heart of the wild, unexplored Louisiana Territory. Enroute they sailed to the Spanish-speaking island of Santo Domingo, and “purchased 500 Negro slaves for working the mines.” By 1720, Renault’s huge armada had endured the mosquito-ridden, snake-infested swamps of the Mississippi Delta, before arriving at the 2-year-old settlement of New Orleans. They proceeded upstream to Kaskaskia, and west to the “Old Settlements” territory where he established his headquarters and planned his exploration of the mineral-rich land to the west.

With the help of Osage Indian guides, Renault explored west, beyond where Potosi is today, crossed the Big River, and discovered lead to the north at “Old Mines,” along a tributary of the Big River he called Mineral Fork. With his Indian guides, miners, and slaves, he studied the tributaries, searching for sources of ore, and noting possible river channels for transport. They reached the Meramec River by following “Renault’s Fork of the Meramec,” now known as Big River.

Proceeding upstream on the Meramec River, Renault’s company began to notice caves in the lime-stone bluffs. There was renewed excitement among the Indian guides as they grew nearer to “a great cave,” the sacred home of their god, “Ucapago,” where the walls were said to be glittered with veins of “yellow metal.” They eventually led Renault to the arched opening of an enormous cavern, where daylight penetrated into the cave for 50 yards. Birds cried out and fled from the overhang as the men advanced against a steady, cold flow of moist air from within. Seeing no gold, the ambitious Renault peered beyond the daylight, deep into the cave where the Indians refused to go. Temporarily frustrated, he sent some men to the cave’s entrance to fashion some torches. While waiting for their return, he examined the surroundings and noticed some animal scratchings in the soil of the cave floor. Always speculating, he bent to his knees to examine small white crystals embedded in the soil. An expression of pleasant surprise brushed across his face as he tasted the salty, bitter flavor of the white crystals. He knew it was saltpeter. Then and there began the 200-year legacy of Saltpeter Cave, now known as Meramec Caverns.

Meramec Caverns Development

After the Civil War, the nation made great advances in education and the arts. By the end of the century, this cultural boom had cultivated feelings of enthusiasm and optimism, and nurtured one of the most care-free periods in American history, the so-called “Gay Nineties.”

In the communities of Stanton and Sullivan, as in most places, celebration and frivolity was the rule on Friday and Saturday evenings. With the hotel and saloon, owned by Joseph Schmuke, and the dance hall all on one block facing the Train Depot, Stanton inevitably became a loud and lively little town. On one particular hot, humid sum-mer evening, one of a group of energetic fun-seekers suggested a party at Saltpeter Cave. The brawling group of excited revelers, bearing torches and lanterns, found both fun and cool relief in the huge underground chamber, 300 feet inside the cave. The limestone walls absorbed their shouts and laughter while many a dancing pair of feet packed the loose soil on the cave floor. On that sweltering summer night, a “cool” new tradition had found its wayinto the history of Saltpeter Cave.

Joseph Schmuke and D.N. Gideon took notice of the idea and quickly sought permission from the cave owner, Charles Ruepple, to form a dance committee that would exploit this promising new resource. Lanterns were positioned throughout the cave, a wooden dance floor was constructed, the entrance was cleared, and the old wagon road to the cave was refurbished. Dates were selected, musicians retained, and handbills distributed throughout the area. The parties were a grand success. Between the years 1895 and 1910, hardly a summer weekend passed without some type of event sponsored at the cave. In 1900, it was reported that St. Louisians regularly took the train to Stanton, and were shuttled to the cave by mule-drawn wagons. The mule teams, with their eager pay-loads, were often driven all the way into the cave where the dance was in progress, and then returned to the cave entrance where they could cool off and drink from the spring while the guests carried on with their summer celebration.
The early success of these underground “ballrooms” led to heightened public interest in the natural beauty of Missouri caves. Lester B. Dill recognized the public’s fascination, and in the 1930’s, he renovated the old “ball-room” and wooden dance floor of Saltpeter Cave, and carried the tradition of these early underground galas into the present day.

New Era of Meramec Caverns

In the year 1933, Lester B. Dill leased Saltpeter Cave, changed the name to Meramec Caverns and established it as a “show cave.” With his extraordinary imagination, promotional genius, and hard work, he was able to forge a business and purchase the cave property during the most difficult• economic period of this century, The Great Depression. By the age of 40, he became known as America’s #1 caveman.

Born in St Louis on November 28, 1898, Lester Dill moved as a child with his family to where his father had been raised, the rich farmland of the Meramec Valley. During breaks from his work on the farm, he accompanied his father, Thomas Benton Dill, who was often asked by vacationers from St. Louis to serve as a guide through Fisher’s Cave, located just across the riven Les soon became preoccupied with caving adventures. After high school and a brief enlistment in the Army, he pursued economic booms around the country in the oil, rubber and real estate industries, all the while attending night classes in math and engineering. Eight years later, he returned home to follow in his father’s carpentry trade. But the establishment of Meramec State Park in 1927 would change the lives of the Dill family, and give Les the opportunity to draw from his childhood caving experiences.

With the new park land, the state acquired twenty virtually unexplored caves that, by their presence, inspired heightened public interest and created a growing demand for cave guides.

Les’s father was appointed the first Park Superintendent and was kept busy day and night acting as a guide to Fisher’s Cave. His father urged him to approach state officials about leasing Fisher’s and Mushroom Cave to start a guide business. The state agreed to a stiff 50/50 deal, but because the cave was on state property, prohibited Les from advertising. In dealing with this setback, he devised a number of innovative promotional ideas, such as the hiring of a local singer to act as a guide. The singer’s status as a local celebritv quickly prompted news features that lured eager patrons to Fisher’s Cave. Clever tactics such as these kept Les in business for five years until, in 1933, a new administration in the state capitol forced him to abandon the site.

Believing that he could stay in business, he toured the country searching for his new showcave. Ignoring the odds and the skepticism of local business people, he set his sights on the old Saltpeter Cave. Without the necessary funds himself, he established a partnership with Edward Schuler and made a deal with the owner, Charley Rueppele, to lease the cave under the stipulation that they buy the property in five years or lose their investments. There were virtually no improvements at the cavesite when the venture was launched, and the wagon road from town was nearly impassable. But the countless obstacles would not prevent Les from opening by the end of May, 1933. There were all of six visitors to the cave on opening day, the beginning of yet a new era in the legacy of Saltpeter Cave, which would be known from that day forward as… Meramec Caverns!