Fantastic Caverns and Luella Agnes Owen

In 1867, twelve women gathered around a dark, mysterious abyss in the rugged Ozark hills. With ropes and flickering lanterns they climbed down into the unknown darkness of what would one day be known as Fantastic Caverns.

The twelve were the first known explorers of the cave which had been discovered by a farmer some five years earlier. He wanted to know what was inside, but had no desire to go look for himself. He placed an ad in the local paper seeking cave explorers. No one imagined it would be a group of twelve women from a Springfield athletic club that would answer the call. Far from today's ride through cave, Fantastic Caverns in the 1860's wasn't even a walk-in cave. The only known entrance was a small hole in the bluff that made entering the cave a tight squeeze. We don't know how long
these twelve explorers stayed inside the cave, how far they explored or if they ever made a return visit. Yet, their names are inscribed on a cave wall and can still be seen by visitors today. These women left their mark in history and, in doing so, joined a group of pioneers in what was largely a man's world. From geologist and explorers to cave owners, Missouri women have played an important role in the history of caves for more than a century.

Perhaps the best known of these women was geologist Luella Agnes Owen, born in St. Joseph in 1852 (deceased in 1932). She had a lifelong interest in geology & beginning in her early 20's, spent
seven years exploring caves. She was thought to have been in more caves than any other woman in the world. Also known for her study of loess (`lo-es), the yellow soil found along the Missouri River in northwest Missouri, she had established an international reputation as a scientist & author by the turn of the century. Although she lived most of her life in her childhood home in St. Joe, her work took her around the world, studying & presenting scientific papers.

SOURCES
Fantastic Caverns Science Research Program
image: http://members.socket.net/~joschaper/luella.html

This amazing woman was a Fellow of the American Geographical Society and an incumbent member of the Societe de Speleologie. In 1898, Luella Agnes Owen released her book  "Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black Hills". This book is now available at no cost through the Project Gutenberg eBook: Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black Hills by
Luella Agnes Owen

Submitted by Carole Devillers